A very rare nesting on the Isle of Wight : Wildlife Extra News - Rare bee-eaters nest on the Isle of Wight for first time on record
A damn nice species, and one I would love to see in the wild one day. The last successful nesting was up my way, but I was too young to seek them out.
At Walsrode we fed them mainly mealwurms and crickets but I know for example Cologne provided them with Bees by placing bee-hives in or near the aviary !
Three young Bee-eaters have fledged successfully (yesterday). They were rather worried about a Stoat which was seen in the vicinity of the nesting burrow but seem to have successfully foiled any predation attempts. There are actually 7 birds at the site - 4 adults( the pair + two 'helpers') and the three young.
it seems there are still at least two chicks yet to fledge! (Making probably nine in total: the four adults, the three fledged young, and at least two still in the nest). https://www.facebook.com/IsleofWightNT August 16: A close up of one of the Bee-eater chicks an hour out of the nest. The 3 chicks that emerged yesterday are being looked after by 2 of the adults today whilst the other 2 adults have been returning to the nest with food, so we believe that there are still 1 or 2 chicks still in the nest. The chicks will start flying further away from the nest site, so keep an eye out on the island on overhead power lines because you may see one of these colourful birds! August 17: Photo of fledged chick preening itself. Two chicks have been seen peeping out of the nest, one considerably larger than the other. The day started slowly due to the rain, however once the sun came out the adults were constantly in and out of the nest with food. Please note that after 6pm the adults are rarely seen so if you want to see them come before then.
Article about the succes sofar : Wildlife Extra News - Four bee-eater chicks fledge successfully on the Isle of Wight
unexpected drum-roll: It turns out that the bee-eaters breeding on the Isle of Wight weren't a pair plus two "helpers" -- they were actually two pairs nesting in the same burrow! Eight chicks have now successfully fledged, making twelve birds total. However now that the chicks have fledged the birds are moving away from the immediate nest-site and will probably soon be off overseas again. Here's hoping they return next breeding season! Just imagine a whole colony establishing there!! (Information from the Facebook page I linked to earlier)
I'm wondering if the comment was meant to refer to the island of Britain* as a whole, and not the Isle of Wight. In which case I would say it was a reference to the black-winged stilts and glossy ibis. *Or whatever the island itself is called. Great Britain? The UK?
That seems very broad when you take into account the first part of the quote, and his remit. It's quite common for rare birds to be kept secret to avoid disturbance - the Cranes in Norfolk were not publicised for years after their arrival in 1979. EDIT: A quick google suggests Little Ringed Plover bred as well
I can't find anything that actually states it was two pairs nesting, though the total number of chicks(8) and the staggered fledging period would indicate that. I would normally expect two pairs to tunnel adjacent holes and nest that way, not sharing one burrow...
oh sorry, I actually earlier read there were two pairs on a Birdforum thread and my mind added it to what I'd read on the National Trust Facebook site. I found it again and the "two pairs" report was a repeat of what someone had said on a Twitter post but I can't see it anywhere else either. I think it must have been, as you say, an assumption based on the large number of chicks and the staggered fledging.
Except if there's only one nest tunnel, it still indicates to me there was only one pair actually breeding. Two pairs would breed side by side, not all crammed into one tunnel... No doubt will be resolved/explained eventually.
Possible... Not sure if they share like that though. As they (National Trust) don't actually say that both pairs bred, I don't think they are sure themselves yet- only that there are 8 young + the four adults. Apparently they normally lay 6-7 eggs and have staggered hatching like Barn Owls etc- so its possible its all the work of one pair- or is it two?!
on the National Trust facebook they have said that in fact there were two pairs of bee-eaters nesting and, as Pertinax suggested earlier, there were actually two nest burrows not one, which is quite confusing because there has previously been zero mention of there being more than one burrow. September 2: September 3: I think all the bee-eaters have now left the island for warmer climates.
