From the purple gallinule to the pink-footed goose, rare visitors blow into N.L.

Take one look at its long legs, curved bill, and iridescent feathersand it's clear:the glossy ibis should not bein Cow Headin November.

"It's pretty far from home. As the weather gets colder here, it's probably wondering where it is and how it got here," said Jared Clarke, who runs runs a blog and tour company calledBird the Rock.

Clarke figures southerly wind systems over the past few weeks blew the bird off course, leaving it almost 3,000 kilometres away from where it probably should be at this time of year Florida.

The glossy ibis isn't the only rare visitor causing a stir this fall.

Birders and bystanders alike were delighted to spot a pink-footed goose casually cropping grass onSignal Hillin St. John's.

Blogger Bruce Mactavish said the vagrant the term for a bird that has veered off course was first spotted after three days of strong northerly winds.

It isn't always the wind that bringsbirds to shore.

Mactavish said tufted ducks, likely from Iceland, show up in St. John's every year because they know they'll be fed throughout the winter.

He said it started 30 years ago with a just few of the birds showing up in the fall.

"Over time I guess they told their friends, and they told their friends, and now we have about 50 to 75 that come here every winter."

Mactavish said there's been a lot of excitement among the birding community this fall, with summer tanagers, scarlet tanagers, prothonotary warblers, and the white-eyed vireo all spotted on the Avalon Peninsula.

A purple gallinule caused a stir in Labrador on Nov. 1 when it was found outside Bruce Rumbolt's house in Mary's Harbour.

He brought the colourful bird, which can usually be found around the Gulf of Mexico, into his porch.

"He's a beautiful bird, blowed in with the storm I guess," he told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

Local birder Vernon Buckle told CBC the purple gallinule was picked up by wildlife officersand taken to Port Hope Simpson that day.

He said efforts were made to feed it blood worms and meal worms, and they even tried scrambled eggs, but the bird was weak and died by lunchtime the next day.

For Jared Clarke,there are mixed emotions when a rare bird showsup.

"I think there is that feeling of bittersweetness when you see a bird so far off course, you think it's lonely, it's probably not used to these climates and having a challenge to survive," he said.

While the glossy ibis on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula has a long way to go, Clarke said it still has time to head south, as long as it leaves soon.

"Apparently it's been feeding quite well, when it's been seen in Cow Head and Daniel's Harbour," he said.

"In lots of cases these birds, especially the ones that are evolved to be good long-distance migrants, they can turn around and recover and get back to where they should be."

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