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 out of the blue having my hen sightings lowered to my cycle rides to and from work. Making ready varied purposes for my deliberate masters levels within the upcoming 12 months 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 hen sightings I had presently 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 dwelling. This hen isn’t a species that normally happens within the space, and is a good hen to see even within the South of Germany. I’m not certain whether or not this hen was on passage from someplace additional north or a reverse migrant – a phenomenon by which birds migrate in the wrong way than regular, most likely attributable to 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 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 at all times 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 appeared to be a very good break from motivation letter writing both method although, I made a decision to only take a look at the place two days later.
Happily, the hen 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 wonderful views. It was additionally enjoyable to look at 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 once 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 hen striding previous me simply three meters away, oblivious to my presence. I obtained some good pictures this manner (together with this submit’s featured picture.
Regardless of their exceptional sample, the hen was surprisingly effectively camouflaged even within the brief grass. I realised this after I first noticed the hen, noticing it solely as a result of it was unexpectedly hopping round.
This was a beautiful 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 might begin migrating South in earnest.
Autor Luca
