Twitchers flock to Chipping Norton (From Cotswold Journal)

Twitchers flock to Chipping Norton

12:04pm Wednesday 16th February 2011 in News

TWITCHERS from across the country flocked to Chipping Norton this week to get a glimpse of a rare Oriental Turtle Dove.

The home of Steve Akers in The Leys, was beseiged by 500 twitchers, who queued down the street to see the bird, which has never been seen in Oxfordshire before and not seen in the UK since 2002.

Keen amateur birdwatcher Mr Akers, 56, who spotted to the dove last Saturday, charged visitors £5 to come into his kitchen to take pictures of the dove, which had drifted from its normal migration route between Siberia and South East Asia. The money raised will go to help conservation group BirdlifeMalta.

Mark Thomas, an RSPB investigation officer from Bedfordshire, who came to see the bird said: “For most people it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”