Pretty in Pink! Hoopoe 10th November 2018

As birds go the Hoopoe is an odd looking thing but strangely alluring, probably because it looks so weird. If you were given some pencils and a piece of paper and asked to invent a "made up" bird the chances are that you wouldn't create anything as absurd looking as a Hoopoe! In the birding world though this oddball character proves to be a very popular draw so in the rain on Saturday morning we made our way out of Oxfordshire and into Wiltshire to see the one that had been showing well at a farm and neighbouring house just south of Lyneham.

We arrived at the site and were greeted by long lines of hose reel that had been stretched out on stakes all the way along the frontage of the said house, the owners efforts at keeping Hoopoe admirers off of "their land". The bird itself although supposedly often showing well on the roadside verge and driveways also favoured the garden of the house and when in there isn't viewable from outside on the road. Unfortunately, because some over eager twitchers had taken it upon themselves to enter the garden without permission, the owner being quite rightly annoyed by that, had erected the barrier to stop a repeat. This would make it trickier for us and other "weekenders" to see the bird and so it proved to be, initially anyway. The Hoopoe had been reported at 8 o'clock that morning so at least we knew it was still present. We parked up at just after 10 and joined the dozen or so birders already stood gazing into any areas that could be surveyed from the road. It had last been seen in the orchard next to the house but had apparently flown around behind the buildings into an area with no access. My hunch was that the Hoopoe would reappear at the farm end of the gardens so Mrs Caley and I set up stall next to the farmyard drive contrary to the other birders that all remained looking into the orchard and peering as best they could into the few bits of the garden that were on show. For the next hour and a half there was no sign of the bird anywhere so it must have been "hiding" and feeding in the garden somewhere that we couldn't see. A heavy rain shower that lasted longer than it should have, arrived as predicted, so just before midday we decided that it was time to find some lunch and maybe come back afterwards for another look, a tactic which has worked for us before, most recently when trying to find a Rose-coloured Starling in Scotland this summer.

Finding sustenance anywhere in this part of sleepy England was difficult enough with several likely pubs seemingly closed up for good (such a shame) and we actually ended up with a coffee and cake at the local supermarket, not an inspired choice but in actual fact the offerings were perfectly fine. We returned to the Hoopoe location and found around 8 or so birders staring intently through their optics along the same farmyard driveway that we had studied earnestly an hour or so before with no luck. Joining them we could see the Hoopoe feeding on the mown grass verge next to the drive by a bonfire right at the far end about 50-60 metres away. Views were good though since Hoopoes are open ground feeders but the distance added to the now very gloomy conditions didn't lend to good photography and record shots were my limit. The bird remained feeding by the bonfire for about 10 minutes before another heavy rain shower sent all the birders including us scuttling back to their cars. It rained for about 30 minutes during which time all but us and two other birders had left.

Check the bonfire for Hoopoes as well as Hedgehogs!

Once the rain had almost abated I resumed looking for the Hoopoe but there was no sign of it by the bonfire or anywhere else around the grass verges and lawns. The other birders, a nice couple from Somerset (good to meet you Jules and Paul) joined me and Mrs Caley and we chatted away about birds. A Red Kite flying overhead got the both of them very excited since they don't get many down in Somerset, whereas we were obviously unmoved having several over our house every single day! But it was an addition to the day list which was very short owing to us remaining in the same spot. We had earlier seen a nice flock of Meadow Pipits bathing in a roadside puddle but this was a single bird mission so I hadn't bothered to photograph those birds (we'd seen loads in Cornwall recently anyway). The Hoopoe had obviously sought shelter as we had when the rain hit and must now be feeding elsewhere in the gardens. I left the others at the gate, Mrs Caley was sitting in the car, and went to look back at the orchard and the driveway to the house. I walked past the front garden but nothing was on the lawn there and peered along the drive to no avail either. The orchard trees held a few Fieldfare but again there was no sign of the Hoopoe. Ah well, I thought, at least we'd seen it earlier and had added it to our year list. 

I strolled back down the road towards the car not expecting to see anything now and wondering what we could do for the rest of the afternoon since I'd lost much of my enthusiasm for Hoopoe spotting! But I am not good at giving up and can occasionally exhibit large amounts of patience, maybe due in part to the singularly mind numbing job that I do! I was walking along the house side of the road and past the front garden which is enclosed by a small wall, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a slight movement. I looked to my left and lo and behold there was the Hoopoe! You could have knocked me over with one of its crest feathers! I had a moment akin to the time when I found a male Capercaillie close to a path in the pine forest in Scotland, but at least this time managed to keep my excited curses to myself. I backed off to the other side of the road, where I couldn't see the bird and it couldn't see me and so that I didn't disturb it, and hailed Paul and Jules who were still staring over the gate further down the road. I gesticulated by pointing into the garden that I'd found the bird and also to our car so that they'd get Mrs Caley out. I was terrified of scaring the Hoopoe out of the garden since it was only 10 feet or so away from the road but behind that low wall so I remained out of its view until the others joined me. I could however still see the Hoopoe which was happily feeding away by looking through the metal gate.

"Through the gate view"

This was obviously another favoured feeding area for the Hoopoe but I guess that when there are lots of birders present it doesn't go to the front garden because of the increased disturbance. Now that there were just the four of us it didn't seem too perturbed and happily probed away in the turf with the extraordinary curved bill that it has. All of us very cautiously edged closer towards the wall and by standing on tiptoe I could get a few full frame photos of the bird. 

The Hoopoe remained reasonably calm and continued to search for food although I never actually saw it find anything. It was slightly startled by a car passing by and marched up the lawn towards the house where it afforded us even better views since we no longer had to crane our necks in order to see over the wall. What an odd looking bird it was too. The curved bill, the elaborate crest feathers which when flattened as now making the head resemble an anvil, the pink body, the black and white wings and tail with a large white rump all adding up to the strange creation mentioned earlier. It is because they are so unusual looking that makes them such a joy to behold. I guess they most resemble a Cuckoo or maybe a Woodpecker but really are quite unique amongst our avifauna.

After watching the bird for 5 minutes or so it suddenly became more wary and moved quickly towards the patio where it stood briefly before flying up on to a wall.

On the wall the Hoopoe raised its crest feathers briefly, a shot I've always wanted to get but was too slow yet again, before settling momentarily and then flying off into a nearby tree. I managed to miss the flight shots too!

"Almost but not quite", crest shot!

From the tree the Hoopoe dropped into the driveway hedge and then emerged to resume feeding on the short grass there. Its stay in that spot was brief though since the house owner returned on her bicycle and sent it flying again, this time into the hedgerow between the road and the orchard where we couldn't see it. Another birder arrived and we went through the "you should have been here a minute ago" routine much to his chagrin. 

That crest but from behind!

Too fast when taking flight!

But the newcomer needn't have worried since it wasn't long before the Hoopoe appeared on the roadside verge, again probably because there were so few birders present. Once there it began probing in the grass again in the hunt for food and this time was much more successful and I saw it catch several large grubs. I'm always amazed at how easily birds seem to find things to eat but of course it is what they do and they do it very well. The Hoopoe was a bit further away now and we wouldn't have been able to encroach closer without disturbing it so the photos that I took wouldn't rival those of earlier but I took a few anyway and was delighted to discover later that I'd managed to capture a "bug tossing" image!

Somehow the Hoopoe had chosen a time to forage along the roadside verge at a quiet period in which no traffic passed for at least 10 minutes. In fact it was only put to flight when another birder arrived and, after stopping at the top of the hill for a while, had driven down and then parked almost on top of where the Hoopoe had been feeding. On exiting his car he said "I could see you all looking at something but I couldn't see what at" and was a little bit upset when we told him that it had been the Hoopoe!

Luckily for him and for another chap who had arrived, I had tracked the bird as it flew and I could now see it perched on overhead wires behind the roadside trees. It stayed there for a while preening and resting until suddenly dropping down back into the hedge enabling me to get a couple of decent flight shots even though they were affected by foliage and the wires. The flight profile of a Hoopoe is most like a Lapwing with the square wings but the pattern of the wing feathers must be unique with the black and white barring and bands. Very striking indeed!

The Hoopoe re-emerged at the roadside again but this time was disturbed almost immediately by a passing car but only flew back to the driveway once more. We watched it illuminated by the afternoon sun for a few minutes later but called it a day when it disappeared into the concealed garden once more.

We had been regally entertained by this most impressive bird, this one being the fourth that we've seen in the UK and the first since the day we drove our new car away nearly three years ago. Hoopoes are unforgettable birds! And I discovered when looking through the photos that I had captured the raised crest feathers, Unfortunately though it was when the bird was a mile away so don't laugh!

There's the crest!