Rose-coloured starling watchers descend on house near Norwich

Birdwatchers in Stephen Leake's living room Image copyright Stephen Leake
Image caption Stephen Leake said more than 150 birdwatchers have visited his home to see the starling

A man's living room has been besieged with birdwatchers trying to get a glimpse of a rarely-seen bird.

Stephen Leake first saw the rose-coloured starling in the back garden of his house near Norwich on 7 October.

He reported it to the RSPB and logged his postcode, thinking it was for recording purposes.

Mr Leake has since had more than 150 people visit his home, including some who had travelled from north England. He said they were "wowed" by the bird.

The RSPB said the starling should be migrating from Mongolia to Asia.

Mr Leake, a teacher from Costessey, said it was a "mystery" as to why it had decided to settle in the back garden of a new-build home.

Image copyright Henry Page Photography
Image caption Mr Leake phoned the RSPB which confirmed the bird was a rose-coloured starling

He said he first thought it was a woodpecker or a juvenile magpie until he contacted the RSPB, which confirmed it was a rose-coloured starling.

Mr Leake said 24 hours after giving his postcode to the RSPB, he noticed a group of people outside his house.

He said he spoke to a couple of them and asked if they were there for the starling and they said they were.

"I thought I'd invite them in off the street and let them have a look.

"They were wowed by it. One woman even welled up," said Mr Leake.


Rose-coloured starling

Image copyright Henry Page Photography
Image caption The RSPB said the bird should be migrating from Mongolia to Asia

Source: RSPB


You may also like:

He said up to 30 people had visited his house at a time, including a man who had travelled from Burnley and another from Huddersfield, over the past two weeks.

Mr Leake said they had been staying for about 20 minutes, "satisfied with a sighting or photographs".

"He's 4,500 miles off course so he'll never find his way home but while he's here, he's getting plenty of care and attention," said Mr Leake.