Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Just what are these men braving the rain to see?

 12:33 Tuesday 10 November 2015 11:00 Monday 09 November 2015

Well actually it is a bird. They’ve all been gathering in Chesterfield hoping to catch a glimpse of an extremely rare bird never spotted in Derbyshire before, which is calling the Crooked Spire home.

The feathered visitor is the rarest bird the county has seen since an albatross in the fifties.

Bird watcher Roy Frost spotted the rare Crag Martin, which usually lives in Southern Europe, around the Chesterfield landmark yesterday (Sunday).

Roy, joint county bird recorder for Derbyshire, said the Crag Martin has never been spotted in Derbyshire before.

He said the bird has only been seen in the UK 13 times ever.

Roy, who has recently written a book called The Birds of Derbyshire, said: “You would normally see this bird in France, Spain, Italy and other places in Southern Europe.

“For it to be in Chesterfield is really exciting. It’s never been seen in Derbyshire before so a lot of people are going up to the Crooked Spire to see it for themselves.”

He added: “It’s difficult to say why this bird has come to Chesterfield. I can only guess that it’s been blown off course with the strong winds recently.

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