Puffin gets them Twitchin'!
Hundreds of avid birdwatchers from around the
Puffed out! - The tufted puffin at Oare Marshes © Murray Wright
The sighting of the exotic-looking tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) - a member of the auk family - was reported to the Trust on 16th September, after the bird was seen at its Oare Marshes reserve on the Swale Estuary near Faversham.
If verified, it will be the first time the puffin, which is found in the Pacific and is recognisable by its thick red bill and yellow tufts, has been seen in the UK, and possibly the first time in Europe.
Kevin Duvall, the Trust’s reserve warden, said: "The sighting of this puffin is almost certainly unprecedented in this country, and has lead to one of the biggest "twitches" for years as birdwatchers rushed to the reserve. We had to open up the overspill car park to accommodate the traffic and I know of two guys who travelled down from Middlesborough overnight. B&B in and around Faversham appeared to be in great demand!
"The bird was first seen flying up and down the Swale. Fortunately it settled long enough for photographic evidence to be gathered thanks to the quick thinking of Murray Wright of the Kent Ornithological Society."
Kevin added: "It is remarkable to see any puffins - which are sea-going birds that normally colonise cliffs - in an estuary area such as the Swale, which might suggest that this bird arrived here because it was hungry or exhausted after an immensely long journey."
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