Bee-eaters in Norfolk + Hoopoe in Hertfordshire.

 Nice to have Robert with us and he drove us to Norfolk to see the Bee-eaters that are being monitored by the RSPB at Trimingham.

It takes us around two & a half hours before we find the field that has been set up & pay the £5 parking fee, then it's a very short walk to see six of the beautiful bee-eaters sitting on the wires. The RSPB is doing a great job making sure everyone can park and get to see the birds. 

A lot of birders still turning up to watch the birds that have been here for some days now.

We spend over 5 hours watching the birds as they fly around and then back on the wires and we also get to watch them fly into the hole that they are nesting in at the side of the road on the bank. I have seen Bee-eaters on the Isle-of-Wight and also at Nottingham so these are the third ones I've seen and you can never get tired of watching them.

There was a Sparrowhawk hanging about and one of the birds had some wing feathers missing

which is a concern. We only visited this one site today and headed home when we had our fill of these fantastic birds but a great day spent here and always nice to be out with the boys.

Bee-eater

Next trip we head off to Hertfordshire in the hope of seeing the Hoopoe that has been around in the horse paddock behind the church in Hinxworth.

Once again Robert takes the strain off Brian as he drives us, he needed a Hoopoe for a lifer. It takes around an hour and we find the church and park up, it is only a short walk down the side of the 3 paddocks before we are looking at the Hoopoe.

It stays over the back of the paddock for some time before it is spooked and it flies up into the trees and spends ten minutes there before flying back down it followed this pattern over the next couple of hours and then it took off and headed towards the church, so the small crowd all head up to see if we could a get a better view of the Hoopoe.

Hoopoe