All of a flutter over rare Purple Gallinule sighting in Saltney
Post categories: environment, goodnews
| 08:26 UK time, Monday, 2 August 2010
![Purple Gallinule and chick [generic]](/staticarchive/b8cea1920436fa5b60bc3a42b401077dc3a024bb.jpg)
There's a lot of excitement among bird fanciers online following the sighting of a stunning Purple Gallinule on a building site in Saltney.
One website gives a "rarity status: Mega" in Britain, according to www.birdguides.com, although it is more common in other parts of the world as well as being seen in Spain.
The issue here in the UK is whether it's a wild bird or a captive bird that has escaped.
There's chatter on www.northwalesbirding.co.uk/forum and www.birdforum.net as enthusaists drop by to see it for themselves and, as you'd probably expect, there's at least one mention on Twitter.
And you can also see photos of the Purple Gallinule in Saltney shared by bird spotters via the websites www.rarebirdalert.co.uk and www.birdguides.com.
Updated 12.30pm: A well regarded rare bird spotting site, UK400ClubRareBirdAlert, reports the bird has been captured by a Saltney resident:
...after he claimed that it was one of four individuals he was keeping at his residence (two birds - a pair - originally escaped, the male returning after just a few days on the run). His story was verified and just goes to show what type of bird species are being kept privately.
