A RARE, ‘near threatened’ bird, native to southern Europe, Africa and the Indian subcontinent has been spotted in the UK for the first time.

The bearded vulture, or lammergeier, was filmed by a bird watcher in Sudbrook near the Second Severn Crossing on 12th May. The birds, which when fully grown can reach a wingspan of nearly three metres, mainly eat dead animals and live and breed on crags in high mountains.

The bird shows no obvious signs of bleached flight feathers or colour marks, suggesting that it is a wild animal.

A post of Gwent Birding Blog describes the bird as flying east, then circling and heading west. It also suggests that the bird was likely the same bird previously seen in Belgium on 9th May.

Another lammergeier, thought to be the same bird, was spotted in Dartmoor on Monday (16th May).