A bee-eater with a difference

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Judd Hunt)

I look forward to late April each year when the birding company Shetland Wildlife sends out a group to spend a week's holiday in Extremadura. They stay at our home, Casa Rural El Recuerdo, and I share the role of leading the group with my good friend Judd Hunt. I had not known Judd before we met about ten years ago in the Monfragüe National Park, but it transpired that we had a great number of mutual birding friends and we both birded in our adolescence in South Wales. I left the region in the late 1970s, but Judd lives there still and I always enjoy a catch-up with him on how the birds (and birders) are doing there now. Judd is not only a wonderful person, he is also a great guide and superb birder. He gained great acclaim last year when he found Britain's first Siberian Accentor.

It was the final full day of this year's tour and in the latter part of the week the weather had changed quite dramatically from hot and settled conditions to being cold and windy, with rain (although a huge respite from the devastating drought that we have suffered this spring). We normally take the group high into the edge of the Gredos Mountains on the last day, to look for Western Bonelli's Warblers singing in the deciduous Pyrennean oak and Ortolan Buntings returning to their territories on the moorlands of broom scrub above the tree-line. But with the forecast of low cloud, a fierce easterly wind and showers our plans were quickly changed.

We spent the morning on the plains west of Trujillo, having the best views so far of Great Spotted Cuckoo and enjoying once more the medley of larks, with some Pin-tailed Sandgrouse thrown in. Then, after our picnic, eaten in the shelter of our vehicles, I suggested that we headed south-east to visit a pool which earlier in the week had delighted us with its show of Collared Pratincoles. A few waders had been present which would also be interesting to look at again, just in case other species had arrived. Struggling against a head-on wind, a quick scan showed that the pratincoles had gone, but the variety of waders had been enriched with the presence of a Temminck's Stint, two Curlew Sandpipers, three Sanderling and a Spotted Redshank, amongst the couple of dozen of Little Stint and Dunlin already there.

It was now mid-afternoon and pleased with the selection of birds we had found, I considered how best to make use of our remaining time. As we had driven through the rice-growing area I had noticed that some of the fields were now flooded, announcing that moment in the rice-growing calendar when the the spring landscape of parched, dry bare-earth transforms to a vast wetland as the rice gets sown. It would be worthwhile driving through this area in case we found places where there may be more waders feeding. I decided to take a short-cut through an area of dehesa, along a dirt track which would take us onto the rice fields. That track I knew would give us some good opportunities to see and photograph birds such as Woodlark and potentially Turtle Dove.

As we turned onto the track, I led the way and after just a couple of hundred metres stopped to watch a small group of Bee-eaters that were coming to settle on the fence in front of us. The bad weather was forcing them to prolong their perching and make fewer foraging sallies for bees. We watched two in front of us, their heads facing the wind, making minor adjustments with the line of the bodies to ensure balance. As they flew off, I drove on to let Judd and his group take up position to enjoy them whilst we slowly continued along the track. The track rose and descended and I stopped to wait for Judd to arrive, as we could now longer see his vehicle.  Suddenly my walkie-talkie crackled but the incoming message from Judd was inaudible. I replied "Can you repeat?". My mobile phone rang and I struggled to get it out of my pocket. It was Judd with what turned out to be a wonderful understatement "Hi Martin, I think I have a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater".

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Judd Hunt)

I reversed up the track until reaching a place to turn and parked up directly in front of Judd. He was pointing to my right and we checked the wires and trees: nothing. Carefully I got out and went over to Judd: "It's on the ground". And there it was, sitting huddled and rather miserable-looking, on a clod of earth, a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. We managed to get everyone in the team to see it and cameras worked overtime. This was the first time this species had ever been seen in Extremadura (and only the ninth time in Spain - see the other records here) so I sent a photo directly to some other birders in the region to tell them of the find. Judd described to me how he had been photographing the Bee-eaters and suddenly in the viewfinder of his camera appeared one which looked all green.  There was a bubble of excitement which rose as simultaneously we obtained as much documentary evidence as possible, whilst at the same time simply absorbing this unique moment. What struck me whilst looking at the bird was the sheer size of its bill, looking longer that the length of the head.

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Martin Kelsey)

We watched until the bird flew off, moving further into the dehesa with the other bee-eaters. There are perhaps a million Bee-eaters in Extremadura - no one really knows - and they can be found almost anywhere. What were the odds of finding the one group in the region to which this rarity had become attached? Pure serendipity to take that particular track, along which we did indeed have some splendid views of Turtle Dove, although we never did see Woodlark. That is birding.