My turn to see the Roller in Suffolk

Monday 28/06/2021

Icklingham, Suffolk

I just couldn't resist the chance to twitch the Roller in Suffolk - it had been there for several days and it was a "lifer" for me.  The lure was just too much so off I went after lunch, arriving at the site around 3.30 pm.  It turned out to be a very easy twitch with the bird in exactly the same place as was reported on RBA.

• It was perched on the telephone wires in a field adjacent to the A1101, about 250 metres away but showing really well in the scope.  
• Every now and then it dropped to the ground, presumably to gather food, before returning to the wires. 
• I got a few decent flight views but always over a small range.  Needless to say this is a very exotic bird with magnificent plumage as shown by the pictures shown below. 

courtesy of Craig Shaw and Twitter

courtesy of  Birdboyads and Twitter

courtesy of Belvide Birding  and Twitter

Have a look at my summary of the BBC review to understand why it caused such a "flutter".

• A rare visit by a European Roller has prompted hundreds of birdwatchers to flock to Suffolk.
• The colourful bird, mostly seen in Southern Europe, is thought by experts to have overshot its usual feeding grounds.
• The bird, first spotted in Lackford near Bury St Edmunds, is about the size of a crow and usually feeds on small lizards and beetles.
• Paul Stancliffe, from the British Trust for Ornithology based in Norfolk, said the bird "was very rare in Britain" and has only been spotted about five times in the UK in the past five years.