Rare bird spotted on council HQ

An Alpine Swift was spotted at the East Sussex County Council headquarters.

An email was sent round to employees telling them the bird could be seen clinging to the west block.

A small crowd of keen birdwatchers soon gathered with cameras and the sighting soon made it on to a rare bird website.

In bulk, Alpine Swifts are over twice as big as Swifts and so they make an even more impressive spectacle when they whirl in flocks low over their breeding sites.

They are seen more in Istanbul than in the UK.