OVER the last few days several local people have asked me if I knew what the fuss is all about at Whittle Dene as the Northumbrian Water owned complex is seemingly attracting a host of paparazzi over the last few days.
Up to 50 people in a day have turned up armed with long distance lensed cameras, and powerful scopes and binoculars, all keen to spot the visiting stranger.
And although the object of their quest is indeed an American VIP, it's not a film star, but a bird.
The rarity is a Franklin's Gull, one of the smaller species of gulls that seems to like using farmer Ed Byerly's ploughed fields as a stopover.
David Hall,
Matfen
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