Hoopoe. Upupa epops

When I left the flat this morning I decided to go to the Bridge again . and if it was as void of birds as yesterday I would take photos of the hoopoe and not disappointed I had four photos of them digging for grubs.The Hoopeo, is one of the more common of the birds here near my home in Luxor Egypt,
the locals call it the hod hod. it is a grub eater and it knows exactly where to find its food sometimes digging a 6" hole in the ground with its beak to find them this one in the feature story was so busy digging it did not notice me until I was quite close and started clicking it just raised its head and carried on with the excavation in beak ( can not say hand for an obvious reason)
once it found the grub it took over its mates dig. picked it out and gave it to its mate and off they went to the next place . as you can surmise they are always in pairs. just like the Turtle doves who come once they leave the dig to eat any seeds that have been disturbed in the ground. the bird also eats the hard dates from the palm tree these too on inspection of a dropped date has a grub in them. they are the easiest birds to photograph once they are aware of you they let you get quite close and as all birds not too close, first I used to find A tree or something to hide behind they don't like that and as soon as you are spotted they are gone and not just a few feet. best way is as soon as you see one just take a photo another couple of steps another and so on until you get too close and they will move a few yards away the distance of your first photo. the young I mean fledglings I have not seen, only fully feathered maybe its because the parents have so much food they stay in the nest until they can fend for themselves
these two are this years hatch they tend to have lighter colour around the eyes.
the hoopoe is always here ( not Migratory) I will put two of the years best photo after the first four.


It was real busy with dust and bits of dead leaves etc flying about off its beak.

This photo shows the first dig just above its crown feathers. I have never been able to catch a photo with the crown feathers fully open they use them as a warning to its mate.

This story is only what I have observed in this bird.


The hoopoe is the easiest of the birds to photograph

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2009/11/ducks.html