An extremely rare bird which has only been sighted a handful of times in Northumberland was spotted in the county over the weekend.
Pallid swifts, which are named due to their paler flight feathers, breed in the Mediterranean and migrate to southern Africa or South East Asia for the winter. However, their winter migration this year has seen a detour via Amble, Warkworth, Howick, and Embleton Quarry on the Northumberland Coast.
And thanks to a notification from app Rare Bird Alert and pictures on social media, the swifts got quite an audience. Luke Nash, a second year Biology student at Durham University and keen birder, travelled for almost an hour to see the birds.
