Exotic bee-eater returns to UK for second summer in a row

European birds nest in Norfolk much to the delight of twitchers – but environmentalists warn it’s a clear sign of climate change

With plumage cherry red, ultramarine, turquoise and yellow, usually found streaking like multicoloured darts across the skies of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Spain, they present as an epitome of tropical glamour.

British birdwatchers are aflutter to have found European bee-eaters swooping and burrowing in a disused quarry in Norfolk for the second summer in a row.