TWITCHERS flocked to Dawlish at the weekend after the sighting of a bird never yet seen in the UK. Nearly 2,000 avid birdwatchers from all over the country, some from as far away as Belgium, gathered on the seafront to track the movements of a long-billed murrelet busy feeding off the coast. The endangered creature – native to Russia and Japan – had flown off course by more than 4,000 miles. The reason for this is unclear, but it is thought unusual weather systems could have confused it. It was first spotted on Tuesday last week by David Hopkins, from Exeter. He initially thought it was a little auk, but after posting pictures on the internet it was correctly identified by the bird watching community and it drove them into a frenzy. The call went out and within hours of the news trainloads of twitchers began to arrive at the town while others drove and flew from all over the UK and Europe to get a glimpse of the rare bird. Devon Birdwatch Preservation Society spokesman Mike Langman said it was the first sighting in the UK, and the second in Europe. 'I don't think Dawlish knows what has hit it,' said Mr Langman. 'This is the first record for Britain and the second record for the whole of Europe, the first one of these birds was found dead in a lake in Switzerland. 'It has travelled a remarkable distance to get here and is a huge deal for the bird watchers and thousands who have travelled to get a glimpse of it. We only hope she decides to stick around.' Unlike most seabirds the long-billed murrelet does not live in colonies or even near to the sea. It instead settles in the branches of conifer trees. The unlikely siting has also been a boost for the town's economy, with business owners reporting a remarkable increase in trade during the weekend.
