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 abruptly having my fowl sightings lowered to my cycle rides to and from work. Getting ready numerous 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 screen (sure, I’m that nerdy). The upside of this was that the few fowl sightings I had right now had been all of the extra pleasant.
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 dwelling. This fowl will not be a species that normally happens within the space, and is a superb fowl to see even within the South of Germany. I’m not positive whether or not this fowl was on passage from someplace additional north or a reverse migrant – a phenomenon through which birds migrate in the wrong way than regular, most likely resulting from an error of their inside compass orientation.
I used to be very excited to listen to this not solely due to the rarity of the sighting, but in addition 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 obtainable. As some exercise gave the impression to be break from motivation letter writing both means although, I made a decision to only try the place two days later.
Luckily, the fowl 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 in addition its bouncy flight.
One humorous factor I had seen about hoopoes in South Africa is that they’re comparatively shy after they observe their environment between speedy bursts of probing the bottom, however they don’t actually discover something happening 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 finally was awarded with the fowl striding previous me simply three meters away, oblivious to my presence. I obtained some good images this manner (together with this submit’s featured picture.
Regardless of their outstanding sample, the fowl was surprisingly properly camouflaged even within the brief grass. I realised this once I first noticed the fowl, noticing it solely as a result of it was unexpectedly hopping round.
This was a beautiful sighting and the truth that it was so sudden made this a really refreshing change to the same old birds I come throughout in our space. The vineyards on this space typically 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 timber above the vineyards, most likely a brief cease earlier than they’d begin migrating South in earnest.
