Lucky thing! Never seen a Hoopoe. They appear in passing but you have to be lucky. Cuckoos too. We had a few in Somerset but I haven't heard one here yet up in the far North!
Hello Brian, Like you I had never seen a Hoopoe till a few years ago, although I used to imagine them and draw them when I was a teenager. In the Spring of 2011 I hiked the Camino de Santiago, 1,000 Km through northern Spain and I kept hearing their cries "Hoop, hoop, hoop", but I could never spot one, it was incredibly frustrating! Then a few years ago I heard them here too and actually spotted them flying around and feeding on the ground in the garden of a friend a little lower down the hill. They seem to be quite shy birds, I think they are embarrassed by that ridiculously extravagant plumage up here in Europe, they should stay put in Africa!
Lucky thing! Never seen a Hoopoe. They appear in passing but you have to be lucky. Cuckoos too. We had a few in Somerset but I haven't heard one here yet up in the far North!
ReplyDeleteHello Brian,
ReplyDeleteLike you I had never seen a Hoopoe till a few years ago, although I used to imagine them and draw them when I was a teenager. In the Spring of 2011 I hiked the Camino de Santiago, 1,000 Km through northern Spain and I kept hearing their cries "Hoop, hoop, hoop", but I could never spot one, it was incredibly frustrating! Then a few years ago I heard them here too and actually spotted them flying around and feeding on the ground in the garden of a friend a little lower down the hill. They seem to be quite shy birds, I think they are embarrassed by that ridiculously extravagant plumage up here in Europe, they should stay put in Africa!