First UK sighting of white-throated needletail since 1991

A white-throated needletail, a species native to eastern Asia and Australia, was spotted at Tophill Low Nature Reserve in East Yorkshire on Wednesday, October 8, marking the first recorded sighting of the bird in England since 1991. Yorkshire Water and reserve staff said the appearance drew large numbers of visitors to the site and prompted further reports from the region later that evening.

The bird, a relative of the UKs native swift species, was first seen by reserve visitors Mandy Gregory and Ray Maddison, who captured images and brought them to staff, Richard Hampshire, lead nature reserve adviser, said. "They brought the images to me in the warden base and we quickly realised it was a very special and rare visitor for the UK," he said. Staff posted the sighting on social media and were contacted by a high volume of enquiries. "We got the news out on social media and became inundated with messages and calls. We had about 50 people turn up to the reserve within the hour," Hampshire added.

Tophill Low staff described the sighting as the most notable at the reserve since an Amur falcon in 2008 and only the second recorded occurrence of this species in Yorkshire, after a...