This story begins on Friday evening when a birder saw what he thought was a Temminck`s Stint on the eastern reed bed at RSPB St Aidan`s. The time was about 6pm, after sharing images of the bird, it was quickly re-identified as a Least Sandpiper. This species is a very rare bird indeed, now as the evening progressed and the images were further scrutinised and at around 10-15pm the bird was finally identified as a Long Toed Stint. Now as this species has only been identified in Britain 3 times and the last time in 1982, this makes it an extreme rarity! RSPB St Aidan`s is a large reserve with plenty of car parking and could easily handle the likely numbers of birders that would travel to see this bird. It was quite late when I phoned up Bob K and Kevin C and they both seemed shocked that such a bird had been found only 45 minutes from where we live! A couple of texts to our Huddersfield (where my aunty used to live) mates Rob D & Dave W for an early update. We decided to wait for news of the Long Toed Stint`s presence before setting off to hopefully see it. A restless sleep followed by an early text from Rob D who was onsite and searching for the bird. Then at 8-20am, the news that lots of people were waiting for, the bird was still present! Going into twitch mode is certainly a strange feeling, leaving home with nothing to eat or drink, just focusing everything on seeing the bird, then realising, have I got everything? Met at Kevin`s and we all headed of along the M62 at 9am. News that the bird was still present greeted us as we parked up, but as we got to the spot, it had flown off. Oh dear we thought, should we have set off earlier? The bird was soon found again on the eastern reed bed feeding with some Dunlin and a Ruff, it was a bit distant but most of the identification features could be picked out. A better vantage point was sought and closer views obtained of this distinctive wader, what a feeling to see such a rare species. A Bearded Tit, Kingfisher and large numbers of returning Pink Footed Geese flew over the reserve probably heading for their wintering grounds in Norfolk. Something must have spooked the stint etc as they all flew into the air and headed towards Astley Lake, the gathering crowd followed and were all rewarded with better, closer views of the main attraction. An estimate of birders that saw the Long Toed Stint was around 2000 counted by the staff at St Aidans, it just shows what a truly rare bird it is. Also great to see lots of familiar faces at the twitch, including none other than Alan N from Rochdale, Bob Eckersley, Andy M of Horwich Moors fame, all part of the fun. A refreshing cup of tea before heading home was enjoyed on a memorable mornings birding! David Ousey.