The West Briton's Redruth office received a tip off from a local resident and several 'eyewitnesses' phoned Radio Cornwall, declaring it was definitely a penguin; they had seen it. At one stage during the afternoon, hopes were high that the bird was Toga, a three-month-old penguin that disappeared from Amazon World on the Isle of Wight in December.
But as the number of press photographers, reporters and well-wishers arriving at Portreath grew, so the doubts about the authenticity of the 'penguin' also began to increase.
Eventually, two local men struggled out across the rocks to where the bird was sitting and identified it is a guillemot.
One man declared it a bit of a wild goose chase.
"More of a wild guillemot chase," declared a freelance photographer, who until then had been salivating over a potential exclusive and lucrative snap of Toga.
Apparently, a huge shoal of sand eels arrived in the harbour earlier in the day, accompanied by seagulls and seals.
It appears that the Guillermot was also attracted by the chance of a free lunch.
