After having had a summer season with a wealthy set of various birding experiences – from Rock Ptarmigan within the Alps to scoping out Little Bustards in a steppe in southern France – it was fairly a distinction to get again to Bonn in Germany for work and immediately having my chook sightings lowered to my cycle rides to and from work. Making ready varied purposes for my deliberate masters levels within the upcoming yr meant that my weekends and evenings after work had been additionally spent in entrance of a display (sure, I’m that nerdy). The upside of this was that the few chook sightings I had at the moment had been all of the extra satisfying.
One afternoon, my father flushed a Eurasian Hoopoe that was foraging alongside the trail within the vineyards on the opposite facet of the Rhine River from our house. This chook is just not a species that often happens within the space, and is a good chook to see even within the South of Germany. I’m not positive whether or not this chook was on passage from someplace additional north or a reverse migrant – a phenomenon during which birds migrate in the other way than regular, most likely resulting from an error of their inner compass orientation.
I used to be very excited to listen to this not solely due to the rarity of the sighting, but additionally as a result of I actually love hoopoes. We used to have this species (again then the African Hoopoe, which has since been lumped with the Eurasian Hoopoe) in our backyard in South Africa within the winter. Their comical crest apart, I all the time loved their frantic probing of the bottom with their needle-like invoice. We skilled a downpour of rain on the day after my father’s sighting nevertheless, so I anticipated the hoopoe to have departed by the point I used to be out there. As some exercise gave the impression to be an excellent break from motivation letter writing both method although, I made a decision to simply take a look at the place two days later.
Thankfully, the chook was nonetheless there. I first watched it from a distance earlier than it was flushed by two hikers, however it subsequently landed on an uncovered fence, giving me glorious views. It was additionally enjoyable to observe within the air, not solely due to the contrasting wing sample but additionally its bouncy flight.
One humorous factor I had observed about hoopoes in South Africa is that they’re comparatively shy after they observe their environment between fast bursts of probing the bottom, however they don’t actually discover something occurring round them whereas they’re busy pecking. I used this to my benefit to crawl as much as a small bush because it was probing the bottom, and ultimately was awarded with the chook striding previous me simply three meters away, oblivious to my presence. I received some good pictures this manner (together with this publish’s featured picture.
Regardless of their outstanding sample, the chook was surprisingly properly camouflaged even within the brief grass. I realised this after I first noticed the chook, noticing it solely as a result of it was swiftly hopping round.
This was a stunning sighting and the truth that it was so surprising made this a really refreshing change to the standard birds I come throughout in our space. The vineyards on this space usually produce one thing good, starting from the native Rock Buntings to the Wallcreeper final winter. Whereas I used to be there this time, a number of Tree Pipits had been calling above and alighted within the bushes above the vineyards, most likely a brief cease earlier than they’d begin migrating South in earnest.