Keep your eyes peeled for a black swan!

Mid Wales is on another rare visitor alert after a black swan was spotted in Montgomeryshire.

Keep your eyes peeled for this striking bird which has somehow found its way to Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s Dyfi Osprey Project near Machynlleth.

“We couldn't believe it!” said a spkkmesperson for the Trust.

“Idris and Telyn (the reserve’s breeding ospreys) saw it flying by, but realised it wasn't a threat, despite coming very close to the nest.

“The black swan is native to Australia, so it has definitely not flown here! It is a popular bird in zoological gardens and bird collections in Western Europe, especially in the UK, and escapees are commonly reported."

According to the Trust, the UK population is not considered to be self-sustaining and so the species is not afforded admission to the official British List, but the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust have recorded a maximum of nine breeding pairs in the UK in 2001, with an estimate of 43 feral birds in 2003–2004. 

A small population of black swans exists on the River Thames at Marlow, on the brook running through the small town of Dawlish in Devon, near the River Itchen, Hampshire, and the River Tees near Stockton on Tees. 

The Dawlish population is so well associated with the town that the bird has been the town's emblem for 40 years.

A pair of black swans were spotted in Gwynedd two years ago.