EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) – A rare red-footed falcon has been spotted on Martha’s Vineyard, the first time the bird of prey has ever been seen in North America.

About 120 people rushed to Katama Airfield in Edgartown on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the slate-gray, juvenile male, which is thousands of miles from its normal summer home in Eastern Europe. Experts said the falcon was likely blown off course en route from its winter home in Africa.

“It’s the biggest birding news in the last 10 years,” said Vineyard birder Vernon Laux, who first spotted the falcon.

“All indications are that a wild bird somehow made it across the Atlantic. It’s like having a Martian walking around.”

Laux said birding fans were scrambling to get to Martha’s Vineyard before the bird takes off.

“It’s out of control,” said Laux. “They’re all coming. Just about every plane and boat coming to the Vineyard has birders getting off it.”

Bob Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, predicted a lonely future for the bird.

“There’s no way it can get back to where it came from,” said Prescott. “It could become a resident of the island. It could migrate south, maybe end up in Argentina, in the Pampas.”

AP-ES-08-12-04 0929EDT