05/07/2019
A European
Roller was seen and photographed on a boat in the Bristol
Channel between Milford and Lundy Island, Devon, on 30 June 2019.
The bird
arrived on deck when the vessel was some 10 miles off Lundy and stayed with the
bewildered crew for some time until the boat came within a few miles of
the island.
Skipper
David Milledge explained: "It stayed with us for about two hours, mainly
perched on the crosstrees high on the mast. It took a few short flights but
always returned to perch.
"It
was about the size of a large thrush. When we looked in the book it was rather
the colour of the bee-eater, but the tail was fan-shaped with no central tail
feathers."
David
sent the photos to Lundy Warden Dean Jones, who was able to confirm that the
bird was indeed a European
Roller, an identified which David had suspected, and then kindly
passed the news onto BirdGuides. The bird is presumed to have flown towards
Lundy, as it was seen leaving the boat not far from the island, but was not
seen there and news only came to light on the evening of 4 July.
Find out
more about Lundy Island at lundybirds.blogspot.com and www.landmarktrust.org.uk/lundyisland.
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