Bird enthusiasts from all over the UK flocked to Tenby last week to catch a glimpse of the rare Great Spotted Cuckoo - only the fifth to be spotted in Wales.

The species, which is distinctly larger than the Common Cuckoo, with a tufty blue crest, greyish-brown with bold white spots, a creamy-yellow throat and breast, broad wings and long narrow tail, appeared near Giltar Point on Tuesday, with 'twitchers' out in force around the dunes of Tenby Golf Club for the rest of the week to capture the bird on camera.

The Great Spotted Cuckoos come up in early spring from tropical Africa to nest around the Mediterranean coast.

'Rare Bird Alert Weekly' described the event as the "most exciting news of the past seven days" and said that Pembrokeshire seemed to be a county that continually seemed to be scoring great birds

Colin Davies, a naturalist for over 40 years, with a particular love of birds, travelled down from St Helens to see the rare bird.

"No amount of superlatives could do justice to a breathtaking bird on a glorious day in a spectacular location," said Colin.

"We arrived at Penally, near Tenby at 8.30 am following a four-and-a-half hour drive. The Great Spotted Cuckoo showed on and off until 9.30 am, but very distantly, before finally flying off over the sea to nearby Caldey Island, and for a long while it seemed it was gone for good. We walked up to Giltar Point and watched the Choughs, and then down to the marsh to listen to the Cetti's Warblers and generally admired the Pembrokeshire coastal scenery and soaked up the warm spring sunshine.

"Finally at 1.30 pm we decided to call it a day to head home. We had driven about 20 miles from Penally when news broke that the Cuckoo was back! We immediately turned the car around and half-an-hour later we were watching the bird at close range as it fed on the golf course. What a bird, what a day!"