Blue-cheeked Bee-eater & North Ronaldsay Trip Report – Sunday 9th August 2026

Breakfast was at 8.30am which was a help yourself continental breakfast, but you could order a full breakfast which I did and also Alan the other birder staying for one night had also ordered. I had also ordered a sandwich to take away for lunch. There was another birder camping here called Lawrence who I bumped into a few times whilst I was here. After breakfast at about 10am, AW Maddy kindly gave Alan and I a lift to the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, which saved us a long walk. It was a beautiful sunny day today. The BCBE was still on its favoured fence line and at a further distance than I had seen it yesterday, this was the only time I photographed it today, but saw it four times in all throughout the day – it was much more mobile and elusive than yesterday.

Craig, one of the staff from the obs found the BCBE in a new spot, the Ancum Willows, which was not too far away from where it was previously. These willows are a very dense concentration of willows in a watery area of land with a large iris bed – this looks an excellent spot for migrants and is opposite a large bird hide overlooking Ancum Loch, where there had been a Red-necked Phalarope yesterday. Later whilst with Craig he found a gorgeous Blue-headed Wagtail flava type with Pied Wags, which I just about managed to get distant record shots of before it vanished.

I decided to head up to the beach at Westness again to try and see the Semipalmated Sandpiper, but again didn't see it, but there were a wonderful selection of birds here including: Sanderlings, Turnstones, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew, Ringed Plovers inc. a juv., Gannets, Fulmars, Linnets, Pied Wagtails, House Sparrows and Skylarks. I sat on a lovely wooden log seat here and it felt so beautiful and peaceful here. The lighthouse on the horizon looked inviting and needed to be walked to before I leave this fascinating island. Ambled back to the area at Longar and had my third viewing today of the BCBE on the same fence line as earlier and then it disappeared. Saw a Short-eared Owl which was glorious to see in the sunshine, others had seen two together!

I was told that two birders from Kent were arriving on the mid afternoon plane that Alan was returning on. As I started to head back and was approaching the Ancum Willows, Lawrence beckoned me to get a move on – increased my pace, the BCBE was back in the willows – lovely to see this with a different back drop. It was perched in a willow obscured by branches and catching bees like there was no tomorrow! It would fly round the back over the iris bed and sometimes landed on a willow near to the road. It was now lashing down with rain which was not good for photography at all! The sun came out again, but completely the wrong direction for photography. Lawrence told me he had watched the BCBE catch and eat a Red Admiral butterfly, can you imagine if you had caught that on camera!!!

George (Warden), AW Maddie and Craig turned up in a vehicle. George stayed to keep on eye on the BCBE whilst Maddie went to collect the two birders from the airport and arrived with Rafael M. and Mark D – they had the same huge excitement as I did on day one, they seemed quite stressed to begin with, which I can totally understand, but they got some good views and looked so relieved! They were staying at the obs for two nights. Maddie and Craig very kindly gave me a lift back to the observatory at 5.45pm. Back in my room I had wet gear to sort out and hang up next to the radiator. Dinner was at 6.30pm and I had vege Spaghetti Bolognese with side salad followed by Rhubarb Crumble with Ice-cream again, delicious! An Arctic Skua flew past the window which was spotted by Rafael. Bought Maddy a drink for taking us to the BCBE on the first day, it was the least I could do.

Chatted with Rafael and Mark who follow my blog and Rafael said he remembered and had met my father back in the day. They were very amusing and highly entertaining. I told them the story of how my father set up the NOA in 1962 and all the goings on including the Norfolk Naturalists Trust as it was called then, buying up the Firs House which we lived in, which resulted in my parents having to live in a caravan with me aged one on the now NOA car park, which most people don't know about, but its all in my late father's autobiography, which in unpublished and something I'm intending to get published at some point!

I requested a take away egg sandwich for breakfast and a cheese sandwich lunch for the morning, as I didn't want to waste a second tomorrow and I was told it would be left in the fridge by reception for me to pick up in the morning, awesome!

PICTURES TO BE ADDED