One of the country's rarest and most secretive birds was seen making its way along a main road in Bamber Bridge.
RSPCA staff were stunned when a member of the public called to report a black and gold-coloured bittern – one of around only 75 in the country –in the Station Road area on Saturday, January 24.
It is thought the bird, which was uninjured but considerably underweight, may have been hunting the streets for food.
Animal collection officer Sonia Hulme picked up the bird and took it to RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre, near Nantwich in Cheshire.
She said: "This was a very special rescue for me as bitterns are so incredibly rare.
"I was stunned by how beautiful it was. I have never come close to such a rare species before and to be involved in its rescue and rehabilitation was a dream come true."
The 'booming' bittern – so called because of the male's distinctive call – is usually only glimpsed in its usual reed bed habitat.
In 2008 75 male bitterns were recorded in English reed beds, a 581% increase since 1997, when the UK population hit a low of just 11 males.
Although once widespread, it became extinct as a British nesting bird between 1886 and 1911, due to the drainage of wetlands and persecution.
The population has recovered after conservation work to rejuvenate old reed beds and create new ones, but it remains rare.
Dr Andrew Kelly of RSPCA Stapeley Grange said: "We don't know whether it is one of the breeding birds from Leighton Moss or a visitor from elsewhere. For species like the bittern, every individual one counts."
RSPCA staff fed the bittern a diet of sprats and by early February it had increased from 900g to a healthier weight of 1200g.
Margaret Davies, who has run Odds and Ends on Station Road with husband Jim, for six years, said: "It's unusual. All we've got are some swallows that nest at the top of the house."
The bird will be released into the reed bed at RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve today.
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