Rare black swan spotted on River Lune near Lancaster

There are thought to be just 37 pairs of the rare bird in the UK at the moment, and Michelle Whitton, who lives in Halton, was lucky enough to spot one on Tuesday morning.

"Being an early bird I watch out for wildlife on the river where we live," she said. "Some mute swans came by for breakfast [on Monday], and [on Tuesday] I was up early and I watched them in astonishment as there was a black swan with them.

"At first I thought it was a cygnet so I rushed off to find bird food, but as they approached I could see it was a highly rare black swan, hardly seen in the UK as it is a native bird of Australia.

"I contacted the Royal Ornithology Trust who asked me to register the swan and our location, but the website told me this was a very unusual sighting and they needed to check I wasn’t mistaken!"

Michelle learned that the last recorded UK sighting of a black swan was in Cleethorpes in March.

However, we reported last month that one was spotted at the landing stage of the John O'Gaunt Rowing Club in Skerton.

Michelle said: "We joke that everyone is wanting to move to Halton these days so it must be true!

"A black swan is thought to be a good omen of something amazing about to happen but we’re happy just to have had a visit!

"It was our 36th wedding anniversary so this added to the magic!"