A rare sighting of a North Pacific bird has attracted more than 2,000 birdwatchers to a Devon seaside town. Enthusiasts from as far as Durham and Manchester headed to Dawlish for a glimpse of the long-billed murrelet. Devon Birdwatch Preservation Society spokesman Mike Langman said it was the first ever sighting in the UK, and the second in Europe. The seabird is more at home around Russia and Japan, and is also seen in parts of north America - so this bird strayed thousands of miles off course. News of the bird's arrival spread among the birdwatching community after its photograph was published on the web. The long-billed murrelet breeds in northern Asia, and is known to dive frequently. It bears a black back, white front and has distinctive face markings. A local twitcher spotted it feeding on Tuesday, November 7th 2006, and within a few days, some 2,000 enthusiasts had made their way to the seaside at Dawlish. Mr Langman said: "This is the first record for Britain and the second record for the whole of Europe, the first one of these birds was found dead in a lake in Switzerland. "It has travelled a remarkable distance to get here. "It was first seen on Tuesday, briefly, and photographed and thought to be a little auk, but luckily some of the pictures were published on the internet and one or two birdwatchers had a look at that and said, 'no, that's not a little auk, it's something different'. "People are travelling down from all over the country.听 I don't think Dawlish knows what has hit it." | 
