Hoopoe: I've maybe seen around 4 or 5 hoopoe in the UK during my birding years, but I've never seen one like this before. This bird was remarkably tame and not at all camera shy!
Just how I like my birds!
The last time i saw a hoopoe in the Uk was only back in May this year and it too was an urban bird, but was much more shy and prone to disturbance than this individual.
Hoopoes breed across most of Europe, except Scandinavia, favouring open country and clumps of old trees including pollard willows, meadows orchards and olive plantations. Almost all migrate in autumn - usually at night - to winter in Africa, south of Sahara.
So to see one hopping around a residential estate seemingly not bothered by the dog walker, joggers, families doing the school run and the gang of toggers with their large lens's is very odd indeed.
But like i said the bird wasn't bothered, I was literally sitting on the opposite side of the kerb while the bird trundled along in front of me.
This chap was happy foraging along the roadside and pavements using its long slender curved bill to search for food from between the cracks and crevices of the road and even between the cracks of the block paved driveways.
There is no bird that I know which has such a pull with birders and toggers then a hoopoe. Famous for its pinkish plumage, downturned bill and bizarre headdress hoppe are certainly charismatic birds.
I heard later on in the morning that the bird eventually moved on to the nearby cricket pitch but was still very obliging.
A must see, especially if you need hoopoe on your list, it might be a long while before you see one at such close quarters.
