Visit South Shields

A first for South Shields and a first for the UK!.

This small bird has flown in from Asia to check out what South Shields has to offer.

The Eastern Crowned Warbler has attracted hundreds of twitchers to the region, and some have travelled from as far south as Cornwall.

The Trow Quarry is home to several families of wild rabbits and the odd Hawk, but over the last weekend we have also seen a huge number of camera’d bird watchers in their flocks.

They have not been disappointed because the bird has made several appearances.

This is the photo (courtesy of the BBC) that sparked it all off, taken by local enthusiast Dougie Holden. He posted it online and the word got around.

Perhaps Dougie announced his discovery on Twitter? Well I hope so!

Here are 20 or 30 twitchers lined up trying to spot the little bird.

One chap get’s a bird’s eye view. Perched perilously on the top of the cliff, this bird watcher looks down on Trow Quarry for the best view.

It looks like a scene from an opening night at a west end theatre. Hundreds flock to catch a glimpse of the Eastern Crowned Warbler.

So what happens to the little bird now? How long will it stick around?

Experts we spoke to suspect it will not survive once the weather changes. Some speculate that it came to our shores about a container ship from an Asian country. It will remain a mystery, but this little bird has become just another famous celebrity that has hailed from this small North Eastern sea resort.