A penguin on a Norfolk beach?

It might be a common sight in frozen Antarctica but it was the last thing Jean Edwards expected to see on one of the hottest days of the year on California beach, at Scratby, near Yarmouth.



She did not attempt to p-p-p-pick it up, but did have the presence of mind to snap it on her mobile phone.

While the image is far from clear, and experts are highly sceptical, Mrs Edwards remains convinced it shows a penguin, a southern hemisphere bird you would normally only expect to see in a zoo in this country.

Norfolk Mastermind contestant Hadrian Jeffs, from Long Stratton, who chose penguins as his specialist subject, thought that it would most likely turn out to be a guillemot. He said: “They are not very common in East Anglia and are more typical of north-east Scotland. But there have been a lot of storms up there, and it is possible the bird has got confused and lost, especially in the heat.”