A WEST Devon woman had an unusual visitor in her Lewdown garden last week ? of the feathered variety.
Jane Colwill, of Lobhill Farm, regularly feeds the birds and the arrival of a very different looking visitor to her garden last Friday sent her running for the reference books.
Jane said: ?It had very distinctive plumage. It was about the size of a pigeon but sleeker, with a pink head and black and white stripey wings.?
Jane said the bird was an African Hoopoe, which only rarely visits the UK. She said it had a distinctive crest on its head, which it apparently only raises when startled or during the mating season.
?I couldn?t stop thinking about it for days,? said Jane. ?We have a bird table and I feed the birds, but I?m not a twitcher. I always have a bird book handy though and I looked it up as soon as I could.
?We do bed and breakfast and I actually had an African couple staying at the weekend. Apparently, hoopoes are very common in Africa but not here ? it was really exciting, it made my weekend!? said Jane, who hoped other people in the area might have been lucky enough to spot the international visitor.