The sighting of a crested caracara in Hopewell Hill has bird watchers flocking to New Brunswick to catch a glimpse.
Traditionally the caracara bird is a tropical species, but a lone visitor seems to be off course, making New Brunswick its new vacation home.
Photographer, Mitch Doucet says the bird has only been spotted early in the morning or late before sunset.
Doucet has experience as a nature photographer, but is relatively new to taking pictures of birds.
He says he considers himself lucky to have captured the rare sight with his camera near Hopewell Hill.
“Saturday as soon as we got there he flew over when we were driving by, so we followed around to see where he would land. We didn't want to disturb him too much so we looked at him from a distance and took some photos. It's actually from the falcon family but he looks like a vulture,” says Doucet.
The crested caracara is typically found in northern parts of South America and throughout Central America and Mexico. The bird can also be found in some southern states like Texas, Arizona and Florida.
The bird spotted in New Brunswick is about 3,000 kilometres away from home and it’s not the first time it has been spotted.
“There was one in September. I didn't get a chance to go see it,” says Irene Doucet. “My husband had gone previously to see the bird and he brought us as a family to see the bird again”
The experience was a special one for Irene Doucet as she’s been a bird watcher for more than a year. She says the caracara is by far the rarest species she's ever seen in the province.
“Just to have the bird, to see the bird, we were many cars…we were about four cars trying to find the bird,” she says. “I’m one of the lucky ones.”
There are a few theories on how the bird came to be in New Brunswick, some say recent storms may have set the bird off track.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.
