Great Scot, it’s a great knot! - Twitchers flock to RSPB Titchwell Marsh to see rare bird

18:54 17 June 2016

Sarah Cliss

Hundreds of avid bird watchers have gathered at RSPB Titchwell Marsh over the last three days in order to catch a glimpse of a very rare avian visitor.

The bird, a great knot, should have been migrating from its wintering grounds in Australia and heading for the Arctic tundra in Eastern Siberia but somehow took a wrong turn and ended up on the Norfolk coast.

The great knot was discovered on June 15 amidst a large flock of red knot which are common visitors here during winter months and are well known for their whirling flight routines. As the name suggests, the great knot is slightly larger than the more familiar red knot and with this bird in summer plumage it stands out from its European cousins. Red knot have a circumpolar distribution and like the great knot, can also be seen in the Siberian tundra. It is possible that the newcomer feels quite at home with its smaller companions and is likely to remain with the flock for some time.

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Bird-watchers flock to Breydon Water to see great knot

16 July 2014 Last updated at 14:13

Hundreds of bird-watchers have flocked to the Norfolk coast in the hope of catching a rare glimpse of a migratory great knot in Britain.

The elusive wading bird, more at home on the Australian coast, has only been seen in the UK on three occasions since 1989, experts said.

Brian Egan, from the Norwich-based Rare Bird Alert, said the "enigmatic bird" was "exciting for many people to see".

It was first spotted on Breydon Water, near Great Yarmouth, on Sunday evening.

"Great knot breed in a tundra habitat in Siberia and migrate as far as the Australian coast," said Mr Egan.

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Great Knots sighted at Pallikaranai marsh

Siberian migrant birds have only sporadically visited India; last sighting in city was during 1950-60

Naturalists and bird watchers celebrated this Pongal with more than usual joy, thanks to the sighting of Great Knots, Little Terns and a solitary Lesser Crested Tern at the Pallikaranai marshland.

R.J. Ranjit Daniels of Care Earth Trust, a Chennai-based biodiversity research organisation, who recorded the presence of these rare birds, said the Great Knot is a migrant bird that breeds in north-eastern Siberia.

It migrates eastwards in winter through southeast Asia, before finally getting to Australia, he said,

There are sporadic records of the species being spotted in India, while for Chennai, there is an old record in Salim Ali’s Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, which was probably made between 1950 and 1960, judging by the date of its publication, Dr. Daniels said.

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