Rare Siberian bird seen in London

Identifying such a rare bird is very difficult

A bird more often found in the sub-zero climes of Siberia has been spotted in London, over 3,000 miles off course.

The rare Siberian chiffchaff was seen at London Wildlife Trust's East Reservoir Community Garden in Stoke Newington, Hackney, east London.

The chiffchaff is one of the rarest species spotted in the area, along with an Iceland gull (actually from Greenland) sighted in mid December.

An MP3 of the bird's 'call' was used to ensure the sighting was clarified.

Mark Pearson, community officer for the London Wildlife Trust said: "The identification of eastern races of chiffchaff is a dark art, and a whole suite of features are required.

The quality and quantity of migrants that occur here is unrivalled by any other similar sized site Mark Pearson London Wildlife Trust

"The best way to tell them apart (in tandem with a full description of appearance, and ideally good quality photos) is by their contact call."

He added: "Chiffchaff subspecies all call in very different ways - and the clincher with our bird here is that it calls perfectly as a Siberian chiffchaff.

"It even responds instantly to an MP3 of Siberian chiffchaff played via my mobile phone. So we have a full 'body of evidence' to ascertain its ID."

East Reservoir sits in the middle of Hackney and includes a large man-made lake.

London Wildlife Trust is trying to make it more accessible, for both people and wildlife.

Mr Pearson added: "East Reservoir is important for birds for a variety of reasons - it's an oasis of precious, mixed habitats in a very built-up, inner city environment.

"Breeding birds include reed bunting, common pochard and sedge warbler, and, for migrant species, it's an amazing 'magnet' in an otherwise unforgiving urban sprawl.

"The quality and quantity of migrants that occur here is unrivalled by any other similar sized site."