Big fuss over a little visitor 4,000 miles from home
USING its long beak to probe for food in the water, this rare wader seemed oblivious to the fuss as hundreds of bird watchers set up camp a few yards away.
They were eager for a glimpse of the Hudsonian godwit – only the third of its species ever seen in the UK and the first in England for more than 30 years.
It was spotted on the Somerset Levels, 4,000 miles from its breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska. It is thought it became confused and flew off course as it returned from wintering in South America.
Word spread quickly after it appeared at the Shapwick Heath Reserve near Glastonbury. By Saturday afternoon more than 1,000 twitchers armed with binoculars and cameras had come to see it.