A few days after we went up to see the Bee-eaters, we heard that the nesting attempt had failed and they departed the site, flying off south. However they were then seen in Leicestershire, and have been reported for the last ten days or so. It was a bit of a surprise when I got a tweet from Mike Illett that the (presumed same seven) flock had been seen in a garden in Bayford yesterday, and were still showing.
That was just after lunch when I went through the messages, so I hung on until three, when I could finish work and was down there just after 3.30. Unfortunately they had last been seen about an hour earlier flying north towards the station and Brickendon (which is actually east but never mind). I drove down to Brickendon checking where I was able to pull in and then returned to the small group outside the garden they were last seen in.
We spent a lot of time chatting and eventually most drifted off to search. I hung around for a bit and then walked up towards to top of the village for a bit, meeting up with Simon, Ian Bennell and one or two others. Apart from a lot of hirundines over the fields, plus the usual pigeons, crows etc there wasn't much around. After a couple of search parties returned around 5pm, with negative news, I decided to leave.
Maybe they will stick around the area for a few days, just hope they get refund as there are an awful lot of disappointed Herts birders at the moment (plus a few very lucky individuals able to get down in time).
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