As soon as I finished college on Monday I headed out to the last known location of the Great bustard that has been hanging around in Oxfordshire for the past few days.
Great Bustards became extinct in the UK in 1832 but reintroduced onto Salisbury Plain in 2004 by the Great Bustard Group.
The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) is one of the heaviest flying birds. The male can grow up to 1 metre tall and weigh 16kg.
This particular bird has a pink leg ring and has been identified as a male from Wiltshire that has dispersed for its first winter. It will likely return to Salisbury Plain next year.
Although it was quite a distance across a field it was great to see it.
Links to further details about the Great Bustard in the UK
Get Your Boots On can be bought direct from Dived Up Publications
Appleton Wildlife Diary by Alex White 
Wow what a cool bird!
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Such an unlucky name
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A good news story extraordinary bird!
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Well, I’ve never heard of those before…will have to keep my eyes peeled here in SW Berks…
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