AN extremely rare bird created a flap when it was spotted in South Lakeland.

Seasoned birdwatcher Dave Finnegan, from Crosby, saw this white bullfinch at Fell End Caravan Park at Hale, near Milnthorpe.

“It’s really unusual. I have never seen one like it before,” said Mr Finnegan, who has been birdwatching for 60 years. “It is an adult bird, and must have lead a charmed life, for it will stand out like a beacon to predators such as Sparrow Hawks.”

Mr Finnegan, who has had a static caravan in the park for the past 12 years, used his car as a hide and took the picture from a distance of 20 feet

He was alerted to the bird by the caravan park's manager who asked him whether he had seen the white sparrow. But when Mr Finnegan saw it he realised that it was a bullfinch.

The male leucistic bullfinch had been visiting the site for several weeks before it was spotted by Mr Finnegan.

“It has got some pink on its chest. That’s how you know it’s a male, because females are grey.”

Leucistic means partial loss of pigmentation on an animal, but the condition is not the same as an albino.

“It is not an albino, since it has black primary feathers in its wings plus black central tail feathers and a black beak," said Mr Finnegan. "Its eyes are also dark and not pink, as they would be if it were an albino.”

“It wasn’t quite as approachable as other bullfinches about. That’s why I used a big lens.”

Mr Finnegan used a Canon 5d EOS Mark III camera and a Canon 500mm lens to take the photograph.