Twitchers are in the dock as exhausted rare rose starling is hounded to death

When a rose-coloured starling landed in Carole Barnes's garden, it could have been forgiven for being tired.

It was, after all, some 3,000 miles from home, and all it wanted was a rest and a bit of a feed before flying on.

But the starling - Sturnus roseus, an occasional visitor to these shores - did not bank on the attentions of a small army of dedicated bird-watchers...not to mention the neighbourhood cat.

So enthusiastically did they pursue their quarry, twitchers and cat alike, that the starling eventually died of exhaustion.

The starling, which is normally found in central Asia, arrived in Mrs Barnes's garden in Winterton, Norfolk, just before last weekend.

But no sooner had it settled in than a group of 30 or 40 birdwatchers turned up.

"It started off with two or three and then there were crowds converging on the village," said Mrs Barnes, 66, a nursing sister and RSPB member.

"I would not have minded if these people had come, seen the bird and gone, but by the time they left it could not fly. It was only a young bird."

"They were not interested that it was frail and did not care if they chased it to death."

There were men with long-lens cameras pointed at our house, racing up and down pathways and leaving cars in private parking spaces.

"They hounded him for two days solid...It was tired and desperate to eat but they wouldn't leave him alone."

Mrs Barnes told how a neighbour's cat saw its chance and pounced on the exhausted bird.

It was chased away, but the starling died the next day.

RSPB spokesman Chris Durdin said: "If it is the case that the bird was disturbed then that is a pity - there is a code of conduct to avoid harassing tired migrants."

"Sometimes people get carried away."