THE arrival of a very rare wild bird on Sheppey has caused huge excitement among the country's birdwatchers.

The male pallid harrier, an elegant pearl-grey bird of prey from Russia, is so unusual that over 1,700 people travelled hundreds of miles to get a glimpse of it at the weekend.

Only about 11 have ever been spotted in the UK before, and the only previous male harrier to have stayed for any length of time was on the Orkney islands.

Bob Gomes, warden of the RSPB Elmley Marshes reserve on the Island, said: "It is possible that the pallid harrier has been around since at least Tuesday, but it was only by Friday that we managed to get good enough views to indicate that we were onto something really rare."

The harrier has spent much of its time on the national nature reserve next to the RSPB land. It rests on the ground or on fence-posts.

There are several reasons why it may have ended up on Sheppey. But the most likely is that the bird was roaming Europe freely as it is too young for breeding and does not have strong urges to find a mate.

It is likely that its urge to migrate south to Africa will become stronger in the next few weeks, and it will fly away from Elmley and may well be seen at other places in England on its way.