You thought the recent weather was cold by Bermuda’s standards? This little auk probably thought so too.

The dovekie, right, which is related to puffins and breeds in Iceland and Greenland, was found at Ferry Point Park by a group of American students on a field trip.

According to birder Andrew Dobson, it is the first dovekie found on the island in almost 50 years, and was brought here by strong winds.

Temperatures on Monday had fallen to a near-record low of 53F (12C), with winds gusting at 37 knots.

The dovekie is the smallest member of the auk family in the North Atlantic.

A seabird, it breeds predominantly in high-arctic regions and it winters in massive numbers in the low-arctic and boreal waters of northeastern North America.

It was discovered on Tuesday by Professor Sea McKeon and students of Colby College, Waterville, Maine, who are studying at BIOS.

The bird appeared healthy and they returned it to the water where it swam away strongly.

Mr Dobson, president of the Bermuda Audubon Society, said: “This is the first dovekie to be reported in Bermuda since December, 1967, so it was a very significant find.

“It was obviously driven much further southeast than normal by the gales we have been experiencing.”

The discovery comes two weeks after Mr Dobson discovered another bird from a cold climate near Clearwater Beach.

The common eider, a resilient sea duck, generally inhabits arctic and subarctic coastal marine habitats across northern Europe, North America and eastern Siberia, but migrates south to Virginia and Florida.

Other sightings over the past few weeks include a snow goose, which breeds in Alaska, Greenland and Siberia, and two northern gannets, also from the North Atlantic.

But according to Mr Dobson this is not a reflection of climate change.

“Unless we had multiple sightings, it’s just a coincidence,” he said.

“Every winter we get a few northern birds that turn up here as a result of winter storms driving them further south than usual.”