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Cornwall twitchers claim first sighting of Brown Booby in UK

Keith Jennings BoobyKeith Jennings
The brown booby's normal habitat is in warmer climes on the other side of the Atlantic

Bird-watchers have claimed the first confirmed sighting of a brown booby in the UK.

Twitchers flocked to St Ives in Cornwall on Monday to see the bird whose more regular habitats are Mexico and the Caribbean.

Keith Jennings, who photographed the bird off Porthgwidden Beach, said it was an "amazing spectacle".

Cornwall Bird Watching & Preservation Society (CBWPS) said it was believed to be the first sighting in the UK.

Mr Jennings, from Gloucestershire, said he was "in the right place at the right time" for the sighting.

"It's a massive moment for bird-watchers," he said.

Keith Jennings TwitchersKeith Jennings
Twitchers flocked to Porthgwidden Beach in St Ives where the bird was spotted

Mr Jennings added: "I saw a couple of reports that a brown booby had been spotted in St Ives, but they were not 100% sure.

"I went down early in the morning and got quite a few shots.

"This kind of thing only happens once in a lifetime, it's an amazing feeling."

Keith Jennings Brown BoobyKeith Jennings
The brown booby may have found a good food source, experts said

Mark Grantham, chairman of the CBWPS, said: "Brown boobies just do not belong around here.

"It is one of those strange birds that sometimes find themselves on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

"And they are hard to spot because they can travel hundreds of miles in a day.

"It's probably found a good food source but with a change in the weather it might not hang around."