Hundreds of twitchers flock to see African bird in UK for first time

Hundreds of twitchers from across the UK are flocking to a seaside town in north Wales to see a "rare" heron.

Ornithologist Simon Hugheston-Roberts spotted the western reef heron - more commonly found in southern Europe, Africa and parts of Asia - at Y Foryd in Caernarfon at 10:00 BST on Saturday.

After confirming the grey-blue bird, he alerted a birdwatching WhatsApp group and by the afternoon, about 300 ornithologists arrived in the town hoping to catch sight of the egretta gularis.

Naturalist and broadcaster Iolo Williams said it was a UK first, adding that warm, fairly strong southern winds may have blown the heron out to sea, where it "got lost and was carried here".

Hugheston-Roberts, who has decades of birdwatching experience and conducts monthly bird counts at Y Foryd, said he was on his usual walk when he "was lucky to see a small dark heron flying over me on the shore".

"After getting a better look I thought this is a rare thing," he told BBC Cymru Fyw.

Explaining how he identified it as a western reef heron, Hugheston-Roberts said: "I've spent time birdwatching in Africa and the Middle East, so I'm familiar with a variety of different types of herons and as well as this species.

"So, I applied my knowledge and years of experience of observing birds to inform a process of identification.

"Dark variants of little egrets are very rare but there are species of herons from North America that look similar, such as the little blue heron, but they have subtly different identification features if you look closely."

Hugheston-Roberts explained how he went through a process of ruling out other potential species to be sure, saying "a little egret joined the western reef heron so I was able to compare and contrast the size and structure of the two herons side by side to confirm".

He said he had a "gut feeling" that is was a western reef heron.

"They are very impressive," he said.

After Hugheston-Roberts shared news of the heron's arrival in Caernarfon, word spread.

From feeding in the harbour near Cei Llechi and roosting in trees by Aber Bridge, to flying over the fields of Morfa Dinlle, returning to the Foryd and even passing above Caernarfon Castle, the western reef heron has attracted birdwatchers, photographers and artists to the town.

Among those hoping to catch a glimpse of the bird near the Anglesey Wall on Sunday was ornithologist and artist Richard Partis.

Partis, who had been tracking the bird for almost 12 hours, said it was his first time seeing a western reef heron.

"I knew people had seen him feeding in the harbour early in the morning, then he went into the woods when the tide came in," he said.