A European Bee-eater near Haltwhistle cemetery Northumberland

News of a Bee-eater that had apparently been frequenting gardens and the cemetery in Haltwhistle for over a week eventually came to the notice of the wider birding community on Friday ...

This morning in lovely autumn sunshine while a few Fieldfares flew over this first-winter individual  was perched in a bare tree ...

... and performed frequent low flight circuits ...

... before returning to near its original perch ...

This species only ceased to be a BBRC species in 1990 and records of migrant birds in England have related to birds seen between mid-April and mid-November while most have occurred between mid-May and mid-June ...

It is thought that autumn records may relate to birds from breeding areas in the Middle East and Central Asia ...

... then it flew into the foliage of a large tree in the cemetery and cast a large pellet ...

... after resting there a while it returned to its bare perch and resumed foraging ...