Rare penduline tit seen in Gloucester wildlife reserve

The penduline tits were photographed at Horsbere Reserve in Gloucester this winter

A rare bird normally found in central Europe has been spotted in a Gloucester nature reserve by wildlife enthusiasts.

The Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society has said the penduline tit was seen a few days ago, having been spotted for the first time in 2014.

Chairman Mike Smart said: "It's a bird of reed beds and is sitting out at Horsbere Reserve looking gorgeous on the bulrushes there."

The reserve was created as a flood defence following the floods in 2007.

A book about bird sightings, written in 1902 and called Treaties on the Birds of Gloucestershire, mentions the species.

But the 2013 book, Birds of Gloucestershire brought together a comprehensive list of sightings dating back several years, but no record had been made for the penduline tit.

Mr Smart added: "It's a relation of the common or garden blue tit, but a rather distant one.

"It's a bird of marshes in central Europe and doesn't normally appear in this country."

Horsbere Reserve is also home to herons, kingfishers and egrets.