Twitchers have been flocking to catch sight of a group of waxwings.

The colourful birds, winter visitors to the UK from their home in Scandinavia, have been spotted at a number of locations around Kings Hill over the past three weeks.

Slightly smaller than a starling, they have a black throat, a small black mask around their eyes, yellow and white flashes on their wings and a yellow-tipped tail.

Some years they come in large numbers, when they are referred to as an irruption of waxwings, but sightings are rare enough to cause much excitement among bird-spotters.

They have been feasting on the berries of rowan trees in Tower View, Braeburn Way and Discovery Drive and in the evenings they seem to retreat to the roundabout by the Waitrose store.

Sometimes more than 20 have been spotted in one tree, but on other occasions the twitchers have outnumbered the birds.

Their presence created something of a flutter on Facebook.

One birder, Tim Ballard, described the sightings as “Twitchtastic!”

Other spotting of waxwings across the county can be found here.

It is the Facebook page of the Kent Wildlife Trust.