‘White’ starling became a late-summer tourist attraction but now it may have perished

 

Surveying the scenery - the rare 'white' starling

                                                               

A RARE 'white' starling may now have perished - perhaps at the claws of a predator such as cat, fox or sparrowhawk.

For much of last month, the bird - thought to have arrived in Britain from Russia in the company of normal-plumaged starlings - proved something of a tourist attraction.

It was first seen on ploughed farmland at Tetney Lock, near Louth, in Lincolnshire, but, more recently, it was spotted feeding on sea buckthorn berries on the fringes of the saltmarsh four miles further north in the seaside resort of Cleethorpes.

It is not known if it ventured in into any gardens but it has been spied on rooftops on the seafront.

There are various theories for its pale plumage including one that it might have been caught in a shower of acid rain!

However, the most likely explanation is that it simply came out of the egg that way.