Mayo villagers are very excited by surprise arrival of 'a VIP visitor'

There is great excitement in the Mayo village of Belcarra over the arrival of a VIP visitor.

The Belcarra Ireland Facebook page reports: "The visitor is a 'Yellow crowned night heron', and this is the first sighting in Europe.

"We will share more details on this beautiful creature, throughout the day, but first we wanted to officially welcome the heron, and also extend a céad míle fáilte to the many birdwatchers who have descended on the village.

"Fair play to @lorraine_ryan_jennings who was first to spot the bird, and thanks to @nee.geraldine for the amazing photos.

"The sports centre will be open to the birdwatchers to use the facilities, and we would love you to tag us in any of the images that you might get whilst birdwatching in our little village."

The sighting is also attracting a lot of attention on X, formerly twitter.