As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

American Buff-Bellied Pipit spotted at Queen Mother Reservoir


Birdwatchers have been flocking to a reservoir in Berkshire to catch a glimpse of a rare American bird which has accidentally migrated to the UK.

Almost one thousand people have travelled to Queen Mother Reservoir to see the American Buff-Bellied Pipit.

Less than 20 of the species - which normally migrate from North to South America for the winter - have ever been spotted in the UK.

Ornithologist Paul Stancliffe called it a "tremendous specimen".

Rare visits
This rare UK visitor is part of the Motacillidae family of pipits and wagtails. Members common to the UK include the meadow pipit, pied wagtail and grey wagtailOther recent rare visitors have included a bee-eater in Sunderland and a desert wheatear which migrated to an Essex sandpit.

Mr Stancliffe, who is from the British Trust for Ornithology, added: "It's incredibly rare. In birding terms it's 'mega', and that doesn't mean literally - it's the size of a robin - but in terms of its presence.

"It's phenomenal and you forget it's crossed the Atlantic, and breeds in North America, but this small bird has survived that crossing and found somewhere to its liking.

"It's been caught up in one of the pulsing transatlantic storms and probably arrived here in a couple of days."

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-20767558

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