Twitchers were thrilled last week to catch a glimpse of a rare bird – which has never before been spotted in Britain or Ireland.
Dozens of enthusiasts traveled to the County Mayo village of Belcarra after photos of the yellow-crowned night heron began to circulate on social media.
The heron – which is typically found in coastal areas of the US – is believed to have either been caught up in a weather pattern and flown off course or hitched a ride on a transatlantic ship.
Birdwatch Ireland confirmed this is the first sighting ever of the species in Ireland or Britain. It is thought the bird was previously spotted only once in Europe.
Bird expert and ecologist James Hanlon, 49, has been snapping photographs of birds since he was a child.
He made the trip over from Cambridge as soon as he heard about the sighting.
And after speaking with locals, he believes the bird may have already been there for six months before being spotted.
He said: “It came to light last Sunday when photos were circulated on social media.
“Someone had taken a photo of this funny-looking bird standing on a handrail on the bridge.
“The locals think it’s been around for six months or so and then all hell broke loose when it went viral on social media.
“I always head straight there to see it if it’s something that rare – I’ve been doing it since I was a kid.
“I’ve taken so many awful rarity photos over the years but this bird was an absolute delight because of how close it got – you couldn’t help but get really good photos.”
James continued: “It would be a migrating bird.
“The birds towards the northern part of their range tend to migrate more.
“Now, they’re quite habituated to people and they often hop on ships so there’s a very strong chance that’s how it made it across.
“This is the first one seen in North West Europe.
“Because they were turning up in the Azores we knew we might one day get one here.
“It’s expected to stick around for a while and there’s a good chance it came in the autumn and stayed ever since.
“Usually they migrate in the spring and autumn and somewhere along the line it’s been caught up in a weather system or hopped on a boat and ended up here.
“It’s obviously not going to breed here but it seems to like the place and it’s been catching crayfish.”
The sighting has drawn in birdwatchers from all over Ireland and the UK and more are expected from further afield soon.
James added: “The bird watchers who’ve travelled have come from all over Ireland and UK and I believe a lot more will come from countries on the continent like France and Belgium.
“When I went there weren’t huge crowds as there does tend to be smaller crowds in Ireland.
“But a lot of them were just very interested locals.
“I have seen photos of entire classroms of kids who’ve been down to see it.
“When we first turned up we wandered around thinking it wasn’t going to show but after a few minutes I wandered down behind the back of the building and there was a little crowd of people there and there it was.
“It’s very tame.
“At one point it just flew straight towards us and landed in front of us on the shore a few meters away.
“That just makes it all the more special. Apparently, they are like that in the States as well.”
You can find out more about rare birds in the UK and Ireland in James’ book.
