I'm not sure how I managed to play it so cool, but rather than head straight to Bempton Cliffs for a second (and much better) look at the Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, I made a return visit to Stamford Bridge first to make a second attempt at adding a supposedly really showy Hoopoe to our year list. Stamford Bridge, for somebody who has spent a large portion of his life at another Stamford Bridge, has to be the best named place in Britain. Admittedly after spending a lot of the journey north stuck in traffic jams, and knowing that the mega rare and primary target bird had been reported again at Bempton, I doubted my relaxed approach more than once, but stuck with it regardless.
I'm glad I did too because on the first sweep around the housing estate where the Hoopoe was favouring the neatly manicured lawns, we spotted the bird immediately. Stark contrast to the Saturday evening before when at least five circumnavigations of the local roads hadn't revealed the bird, probably because, with just a half-hour or so of daylight left, the bird had gone to roost. Hoopoes are hard to miss when they're feeding out in the open on a green patch of grass, and neither are birders when they're stood on the side of the road watching one! I parked a short way away, walked back and settled in for a brief photo session. I wouldn't be staying long because of the more pressing appointment with the much rarer bird at Bempton.
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| Hoopoe |
For years I wanted to photograph a Hoopoe with its crest raised, and for years just about every one I'd ever seen either reluctantly offered up its most eminent feature or I missed it when it did. I buried that hoodoo just a couple of years back but it's still a shot that most bird photographers hope for. This particular Hoopoe couldn't help itself but show off and raise those Red Indian Headdress-like feathers quite regularly, giving plenty of opportunities for me and the couple of other interested parties watching and photographing it.
The "bug tossing" photos were harder to come by. This Hoopoe wasn't very flamboyant in its eating habits and having secured a grub to eat snaffled it down without too much ceremony. When it did exhibit the skills required, I generally missed the chance to capture the moment. I only shoot at 2.5 frames per second because if I up the frame rate then I find that I suddenly have thousands of photos and many identical frames, and I don't have the time to edit that many photos. On this occasion, the slower speed may have denied me actually stopping the action when the bug was in midair suspended between the mandibles of the Hoopoes bill. I have plenty of images already of that type in the portfolio so I wasn't too bothered.
Comical moment of the day came when an elderly gentlemen pulled up in his car. On disembarking the car he managed to sound the car horn. The Hoopoe glanced up, erected its crest and settled down again, seemingly unruffled. The chap then slammed his car door shut which exhibited the same response from the bird. This Hoopoe wasn't going anywhere until it had finished feeding. Next a big booming voice yelled, 'Where's the Hoopoe then?', which was still on the lawn opposite him no more than twenty metres away. More noise followed with proclamations like, 'I've seen them before of course, and best of all, 'I'm not a photographer, I'm a birder myself'. Obviously just not a very quiet one. The Hoopoe fortunately remained unfazed and carried on searching more grubs out in the lawn. The final and best moment of the little comedy sketch was when the "birder, non-togger" joined me and another chap and promptly started taking photos! With the noisiest camera I've ever heard. I couldn't stop laughing! Bless him, he was a nice guy, just a little hard of hearing, and despite the racket no harm was done.
I guess there are many much more ambient sites where a Hoopoe could have been, but they do prefer well manicured lawns and other grassy areas to feed on. Bill Oddie's old joke was that they always liked the lawns in Vicars gardens. The background of rockeries and parked cars didn't help to enhance some photos, but seeing the Hoopoe stride confidently across a block-paved driveway provided some different views. A bird can't hide its feet on a hard surface.
A rockery provided a place for the Hoopoe to rest a while. Maybe it was watching the watchers, and probably thinking, 'They're a funny looking lot'.
With the pressing engagement with the mega-rare Leaf Warbler an hour away, I dragged myself away from possibly the most photogenic Hoopoe I've ever seen, but only after taking a few more of the bird which had ventured even closer to where I was knelt on the pavement.
The Pale-legged Leaf Warbler that we'd seen briefly on the Saturday before, was much easier to track and see this time, and after a bit of trial and error, I managed some very gratifying photos of it.
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| Pale-legged Leaf Warbler |
With good views and photos secured, we sat in the cafe at Bempton with a well earned coffee and cake, and noticed that an Olive-backed Pipit head been seen at Thornwick Bay Holiday Park just a few miles away. We had only seen one of the skulking leaf-litter loving Pipits before, the bird in Exmouth in 2022 that completed our first ever "Big Year" of three hundred species in a calendar year, so were keen to see another. The bird had actually been reported over four hours before, but we'd been very occupied with the Leaf Warbler so hadn't even looked at other reports. It was reported as "showing extremely well". By the time we arrived, it was clear that the Pipit had been harassed by the birders and photographers that had arrived before us and rather than showing well, had retreated to a muddy footpath next to a small copse.
As we approached the small group of folk watching the Pipit, I saw it readily enough, it was feeding amongst fallen leaves on the narrow footpath, and quickly fired off a few shots, all of which were useless since I hadn't judged the lack of light correctly. My other priority when seeing a bird is to get Mrs Caley on to it. I manoeuvred her into a position at the front, but unfortunately while directing her to where the bird was, the Pipit decided at that moment to walk under the fence into the copse, and disappear!
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| Olive-backed Pipit |
After a while, it was agreed that people had to walk up the footpath and try to find the bird under the trees in the copse. It was extremely dark under the trees and there was a tangle of long grass, nettles, and other weeds to search through. For almost half an hour there was no further sign of the Pipit. Then thankfully, a chap with a thermal imager picked the bird up, which was hidden in a clump of long grass. All eyes were directed to that spot and a few minutes later the Olive-backed Pipit emerged into view. I had the same issues as before when trying to get some more record shots, with the very murky conditions not helping this very limited photographer to secure anything better. Mrs Caley saw the Pipit though so we were all happy. Thermal imagers are being used a lot to "find" birds nowadays. I'm not sure I totally agree with their use, I feel it takes some of the skill out of finding birds, but there's no doubt that they help to locate birds that would otherwise go unseen.
Mrs Caley then trumped me by seeing a Woodcock that walked out of the copse onto the path and then flew north. I missed it because I'd gone around to another side of the trees in an attempt to get a better view of the Olive-backed Pipit. Which I didn't get either!
We now had a further three days birding in the Flamborough area. Bring it on!
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