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© Paul TroddAcadian flycatcher in Dungeness
Experts believe the Acadian flycatcher got caught up in a fast-moving Atlantic weather system that took it from the eastern US to Dungeness in Kent

A bird never recorded before in the UK is believed to have landed in Kent, and then died.

Suspected to be an Acadian flycatcher from North America, the historic landing on the beach at Dungeness in Kent sparked one of the biggest mass gathering of twitchers in years.

They hope to catch a sight of the small robin-sized bird that should be basking in the tropical forests of Panama or Colombia.

But today it was nowhere to be seen with fears that the exhausted bird had died.

Somehow it had been caught up in a fast-moving Atlantic weather system that has taken it from its nesting grounds in eastern USA to the famous gravel headland overlooking the English Channel.


But if its identification as an Acadian flycatcher is officially agreed it will mean Dungeness will be go down in birdwatching history.

Confirmation will mean it is the first time an Acadian flycatcher has been seen in the UK. The bird is a member of a nondescript group of American "empidonax" flycatchers famed for being notoriously difficult to identify by birdwatchers.

Martin Casemore spotted the flycatcher, which is olive-green toned and has two white bars on its distinctively long wings.

News of the find was circulated around Britain's population of devoted twitchers by the Rare Bird Alert news service and also made its way across the Atlantic where leading ornithologists seem satisfied of the Acadian flycatcher diagnosis.

Josh Jones of the authorative Bird Guides said: "It was spotted on Tuesday on the beach and several hundred people saw it throughout the afternoon, including myself. It's one you dream of.

"It has not shown today, it is no looking good. It was looking exhausted yesterday and it could have sadly perished. There are plenty of people looking for it but it's not looking hopeful.

"The evidence is overwhelming that it is an Acadian flycatcher which is a first for Britain. It should be on the other side of the Atlantic in somewhere like Panama."

Dungeness birdwatcher Paul Trodd, who took photographs of the bird, said: "We have managed to pick up some of its poo for DNA analysis, which will go towards confirming the bird's identification.

"When the sun came out this afternoon and the bird was just moving around close to our feet was simply amazing."