A wildlife enthusiast has made the first recorded sighting of a nightjar in Rutland in two years.
Richard Jeffs, of Finch Close, Uppingham, spotted the bird in his garden on the morning of August 27.
He said: “I’m not a twitcher but I do feed the birds and enjoy seeing them in the garden.
“As soon as I saw it, I was pretty confident it was a nightjar and a check in my bird book confirmed that.
“A neighbour saw it too – it was here for a couple of hours before flying off.”
Richard reported the sighting to the Rutland Natural History Society and was told it was the first time in two years a nightjar had been seen here.
Nightjars are ground-nesting nocturnal birds, similar in shape to a cuckoo. They have grey-brown plumage.
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