Birdwatchers at the London Wetland Centre were thrilled to see a rare species of bird over the weekend.

A male red-backed shrike, also known as the butcher bird, appeared at the centre, based in Putney and Barnes Common, and stayed for two days.

The bird gets its brutal nickname due to its habit of storing prey such as beetles and bees in a ‘larder’ impaled on thorns.

Jamie Wyver, from the Wetland Centre, explained: "The red-backed shrike was once common in the UK, nesting in almost every English and Welsh county.

"However in the 1990s it became extinct as breeding bird in the UK, its decline accelerated by the activities of egg collectors.

"In the last few years a pair has returned to Dartmoor, but it remains a highly-protected species and is now only usually spotted while on migration.