Unusual Visitors Came Into Town .

[marsh man]

We welcome all our visitors into the resort but yesterday we had nine very special feathered visitors , at the back of the retail park we had a group of nine Bee Eaters turn up for everyone to see , I am sure our knowledgeable members on these matters , Mr JDog and Twenty would have like to have seen such a large group .

Photo taken from our local paper this morning .

[lakeside1000]

Do we know if they were legally here and are they covid free, Very welcome and a sight to see, It always amazes me how something that looks so frail can travel thousands of mile over all terrains and oceans and arrive safe and well, My garden is always full of life and it gives me great joy to feed and watch them, even though many of them are Woodpigeons , Rooks and Jackdaws. none of them do any damage in the garden and all are very welcome. (as long as they stay out of my strawberries)

My wife spotted a small brown bird with black freckles yesterday ,not a normal visitor, possibly a Bunting but I didn't see it so was not able to identify, but we get so many varieties , my favourite are the small bunches of Goldfinch .

One I do miss which was my all time favourite was the male Bullfinch, I have not seen one since the 70's or earlier when I lived in Wiltshire.

Many thanks for the heads up John, quite a sight. 😁👍

 

[7daysinaweek]

What a coincidence, MM.

Mrs 7days and I visited Flatford Mill in Suffolk on Monday and on the 'recent sightings' board was, 'Bee Eater'. We had not heard of one amongst most of the others on the board having some familiarity. 

What a sight it most of been for the lucky few, and they are most certainly a beautiful bird.

atb

7diaw

[marsh man]

43 minutes ago, 7daysinaweek said:

What a coincidence, MM.

Mrs 7days and I visited Flatford Mill in Suffolk on Monday and on the 'recent sightings' board was, 'Bee Eater'. We had not heard of one amongst most of the others on the board having some familiarity. 

What a sight it most of been for the lucky few, and they are most certainly a beautiful bird.

atb

7diaw

Morning 7diaw ... Hope you enjoyed your stay in Suffolk , nice county but only half as nice as Norfolk, this is a slightly clearer photo.

[old man]

WoW!

[7daysinaweek]

Thank you for asking MM, it was a very enjoyable few days. Will post up shortly as I took a few pictures of some flowers which I have never before seen, some of which others may be able to identify. 

The colours on the birds are mesmerising, and I don't think we would ever be fortunate enough for them to visit this far up.

atb

7diaw

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Surely we should be protecting our bees!

[JDog]

Quite a sight that. 

There has been an incursion of Bee eaters and Rose coloured Starlings this year along with some real rarities like the River Warbler.

[twenty]

8 hours ago, marsh man said:

We welcome all our visitors into the resort but yesterday we had nine very special feathered visitors , at the back of the retail park we had a group of nine Bee Eaters turn up for everyone to see , I am sure our knowledgeable members on these matters , Mr JDog and Twenty would have like to have seen such a large group .

Photo taken from our local paper this morning .

They are stunning birds aren't they, I spotted  a few in Minorca some years ago, and in 2005 a pair produced youngsters in a nest along the banks of the River Wye in Herefordshire, unfortunately it was predated by a fox.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, twenty said:

They are stunning birds aren't they, I spotted  a few in Minorca some years ago, and in 2005 a pair produced youngsters in a nest along the banks of the River Wye in Herefordshire, unfortunately it was predated by a fox.

THANKS for the information , in this day age with this so called global warming we never know what will turn up next , we see a lot of what we would call rare wildfowl and we used to put them down as escapees from private wildfowl collections but nowadays you never know , It didn't seem that long ago where the first Egret was sited in our our county , now they nest and turn up in groups all over the place , then I spotted a Great White Egret and reported it to our local bird watcher , he got back and said ( they ) had been about for months and now I see one fairly often , now the next ones that turn up are the Cattle Egrets , these have already nested on the Holkham Estate and no doubt with the amount of cattle we have got on our grazing marshes it will only be a matter of time that the odd ones start turning up , and might already be here .

[twenty]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

THANKS for the information , in this day age with this so called global warming we never know what will turn up next , we see a lot of what we would call rare wildfowl and we used to put them down as escapees from private wildfowl collections but nowadays you never know , It didn't seem that long ago where the first Egret was sited in our our county , now they nest and turn up in groups all over the place , then I spotted a Great White Egret and reported it to our local bird watcher , he got back and said ( they ) had been about for months and now I see one fairly often , now the next ones that turn up are the Cattle Egrets , these have already nested on the Holkham Estate and no doubt with the amount of cattle we have got on our grazing marshes it will only be a matter of time that the odd ones start turning up , and might already be here .

The RBBP, (Rare Breeding Birds Panel) has some very unusual species as reported as breeding in the UK, both native and non native, and the on line site is worth a look, if you are interested.

All the best.