Hoopoe visits Bridgham garden and stays for three days

Mariam Issimdar & Sophie Price - BBC News, Norfolk
·2 min read

A bird-watcher and nature lover had the rare experience of a visit from a hoopoe.

Linda Moederzoon, from Bridgham, Norfolk, spotted the bird in her back garden and it stayed for three days.

"I opened up the blinds and I just could not believe what was in front of me - right by the back door, it was so close," she said.

Hoopoes have a distinctive headcrest and only a few might visit the south coast of England each year.

Mrs Moederzoon believes it "overshot" its migratory path before arriving in her back garden last month.

"I do have so many birds come to our garden because we feed them every day," she said.

She managed to open her back stable door, which had a beaded curtain, and photograph the bird which "was about 10 steps away".

'So hungry'

"I knew what it was straightaway," she said. "I thought it might only stay a minute or two, so I thought I'll be very, very careful.

"Well I could take as many photos as I wanted because it was going nowhere.

"It was just interested in the leatherjackets in the grass. It was just so hungry and ate leatherjackets all day long, for hours and hours.

"Then it would have a rest, have a dust bath, preen itself."

The hoopoe

  • The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) said there were only 120 sightings of the birds in the UK a year and it was a "real treat" for anyone to see one

  • The RSPB said the hoopoe was not native to the UK and did not breed in the UK

  • Sightings usually happen when it overshoots its more common European nesting sites when migrating north from Africa

  • A hoopoe is the size of a mistle thrush

  • With striped wings and brown and pink plumage, its appearance is as distinctive as the "Oop Oop" call after which it is named

"I think it would be a once in a lifetime experience, to actually see it in your garden in the UK. I was so lucky and privileged, I was so excited," Mrs Moederzoon said.

Once the bird had gone, she reported the hoopoe visit to the British Trust for Ornithology in Thetford, as she did not want "crowds outside" her home while it was there and wanted the bird to rest.

"They were quite amazed. The chap there had seen quite a few hoopoes in his time," she said.

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