A RARE sighting of spoonbills in Newport has been deemed a “mystery” by one bird expert.

Alison Phillips, 48, of Cwmbran, who takes pictures as a hobby, was tipped off about the rare sighting of a pair of spoonbill birds in Newport’s Wetlands in the Goldcliff Lagoons, by a friend. “It was a nice day so I thought I would go down and see them,” she said.

“I thought it would make a good picture which would be something different.

“They are very unusual and very beautiful as well.”

Denis Jackson, people and wildlife manager at Gwent Wildlife Trust, said it was a “mystery” why these unusual birds had migrated to the Newport Wetlands.

“They are not generally seen in this area,” he said.

“They rarely breed in the UK, I don’t think there have been more than three or four pairs breed here in a year.”

The species is considered of European conservation concern and it is very rare for the birds to breed in the UK.

Most Spoonbill birds migrate south in the winter although many of the birds will remain and spend winter in Western Europe.