I, like most people that call themselves birders love to see Bee-eaters so when news broke of Norfolks first breeding attempt I planned a visit thinking we'd let the crowds die down a bit and go midweek but on arrival yesterday it was still busy with well over a hundred people at any one time. The volunteers are doing a great job organising viewing and monitoring the birds. We paid our £5 entry and walked the few yards to the viewing area to find six birds sitting on the wires. The birds displayed and were seen to mate on several occasions. I'm told there's at least eight birds and the monitors believe they now have three nest holes but one may be double chambered as we watched three birds enter the same hole. Butterflies were on the menu with the bees and a couple of dragon flies were taken. All in all a fabulous morning watching these birds do their thing. These are my third UK breeding Bee-eaters after Nottingham and the Isle of Wight. I hope they do well but seeing Sparrowhawk bother them was a bit concerning and one bird already has a large gap in the wing after being grabbed by the Sprawk. I'm told the volunteers are also worried about the local Foxes but let's hope the birds do indeed manage to fledge some young here.
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| some of the birders |
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| The Quarry |
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| Looking back from the car park |
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| The nest hole with a Bee-eater exiting (bottom right honest) |
As a birder it was a great experience watching their aerobatics and hearing all the calling and I may well return for a bit more if they're successful
Year list now 216
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