Tiny warbler's giant presence

WHY THIS SONGBIRD'S UK APPEARANCE IS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

- Stuart Winter

AN EMERALD sprite shimmies through frost-licked leaves in frenzied efforts to survive another day far from its jungle retreat.

The Hume's warbler should be basking in tropical Bangladesh but is braving freezing temperatures in a Bedfordshire country park a few miles from Junction 13 of the M1.

At six grams, the miniscule songbird weighs the same as a 5p piece, and how it finds enough sustenance to survive in frigid woodlands is a miracle witnessed by a procession of birdwatchers.