Hundreds of twitchers flock to sleepy Kent village after ‘extraordinarily uncommon’ sighting of American chook

Hundreds of ‘twitchers’ have descended on a sleepy Kent village after a rare sighting of an American bird.

Birdwatchers from across the country flocked to Kent to catch sight of the ‘extremely rare’ American yellow warbler.

The foreign visitor was first spotted in New Hythe, near Maidstone in Kent, on Christmas Eve – with the bird last being sighted on British shores in 2017.

Since then, camera-clutching bird enthusiasts have travelled from far and wide to catch a glimpse of the vibrant yellow creature.

The species, which is native to North America and the Caribbean, has been spotted in the UK on just a handful of occasions, although it is not listed as endangered in the wild.

This most recent yellow warbler was first spotted by local Glenn Honey, who says he was left ‘shaking’ with excitement after spotting the bird at around 11.20am on Christmas Eve.

The 56-year-old said: ‘I’ve been birdwatching for about 12 years and had an inkling it was an American warbler.

‘It was bright yellow and small like the size of a robin.

Birdwatchers from across the country flocked to Kent to catch sight of the ‘extremely rare’ American yellow warbler

 The small yellow foreign visitor was first spotted in New Hythe, near Maidstone in Kent

This most recent yellow warbler was first spotted in the area on Christmas Eve

Camera-clutching bird enthusiasts have travelled from far and wide to catch a glimpse of the vibrant yellow creature.

‘It made me very excited and I was shaking – it was just different to anything I’d seen before.

‘After I sent some pictures to a Kent bird WhatsApp group the area then became bombarded with people after that.

‘We all think it came from North America and was assisted by the wind caused by some of the storms we’ve had in recent weeks.’

Neil Colgate, another keen local birdwatcher who came to see the warbler, said crowds of hundreds had come down to see the bird.

Mr Colgate, who goes on bird-watching trips to Costa Rica and the Amazon rainforest, said: ‘We were 15 minutes away and out visiting friends.

‘When the news broke, we nipped home and went down there.

‘It was right place, right time for a change.

‘It’s really rare. People came from Yorkshire to see it… It has drawn a big crowd.

‘We were there within about an hour and a half and there were about 60 or 70 people.

‘But on Christmas Day there were three or four hundred people there, I’ve been told.

‘It wasn’t seen yesterday but it could be hunkering down in the cold weather.’

The bird, believed to be an infant male, was last seen in the area on Friday despite huge crowds continuing to gather over the weekend.

One keen birdwatcher drove an incredible 240 miles from Yorkshire in the hope of catching a glimpse of the warbler, which is described by The British Trust for Ornithology as ‘an extremely rare visitor to Britain and Ireland’.

Among the crowds, one keen birdwatcher drove an incredible 240 miles from Yorkshire in the hope of catching a glimpse of the warbler 

The British Trust for Ornithology describe the bird as ‘an extremely rare visitor to Britain and Ireland’

Another twitcher said he’d waited three hours to see the warbler.

Writing on his blog, Saturday Cat Bird, he added: ‘After the long wait, a birder called out.

‘The yellow warbler eventually flew up into its favoured alder trees and put on a top-class performance for the masses.

‘At last I had caught up with this little stunner.’