Friday, December 4, 2009

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

1 comment:

Antón Pérez said...

Hey, this one.... is right :-) Well done!

Photo log of birds to date

71 birds to date 13/5/10

Latest bird

Blue-cheeked bee-eater, merops superciliosus.

Avadavat (amandava amandava),
Barbary falcon (falco pelegrinoides) ,
Black Headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)27/2/10
Black-winged kite(elanus caeruleus),

Blue-cheeked bee-eater, merops superciliosus. 22/4/10


Bluethroat. Luscinia svecica
Caspian plover Charadrius asiaticus..4.4.10
Cattle egret (bubulcus ibis),
Collared Dove,Streptopelia decaocto 10/1/2010
Clamorous reed warbler , Acrocephalus stentoureus 23/3/10
Collared pratincole, Glareola pratincola 4/4/10
Crag Martin (ptyonoprogne rupestris),
Grey flycatcher Muscicapa striata
crested lark ( galerida cristata),
Common Snipe ,Gallinago gallinago ,23/9/10
Common Tern, (Sterna hirundo) 28/11/09
Common
sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 28/11/09
Common bulbul, Pycnonotus barbatus.
Great Cormorant, phalacrocorax carbo.
Cyprus warbler, sylvia melanothotax 8/12/09
fan-tailed cisticola. cisticola juncidis
Ailsbury ducks
Kestrel falco naumanni

Graceful Prinia, Prinia gracilis 19/1/10
Great white egret (Egreta alba) 28/11/09 named" 12/09
Grey Heron (ardea cinerea),
Greylag goose (Anser anser),
Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus4/12/09
Gull-billed tern Sterna nilotica
Hoopoe (upupa epops),
Hooded crow(corvus corvone cornix),
House sparrow (passer domesticus),

Honey Buzzard pernis apivorus,22/4/10
Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery 15/8/2010

Laughing dove , streptopelia senegalensis
Lesser spotted Eagle,Aquila pomarina 19/1/10
Lesser whitethroat,sylvia curruca 18/3/10
Little bittern (Ixorychus minutes), i(1) female Aswan
Little stint, Calidris minuta
Little white egret (Egretta garzetta),
Little green bee-eater (merops orientalis),
marsh sandpiper,Triga stagnatilis,4.4.10
Moorhen (gallinule chlorous),
Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax),
Nile valley sun bird(Anthreptes metallicus
Olivaceous warbler (hippolais pillada),
Olive-tree warbler (hippolais olivetorum),
Pied kingfisher (ceryle rudis), all year
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) 28/11/09
Purple gallinule (porphyrio porphyrio),
Red rumped swallow (hirundo daurica),
Sandpiper (Actitis hytoleucos) 28/11/09

Sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaeus.

Senegal Thick-knee ,Burhinus senegalensis.


ssouthern grey shrike,lanius meridionalis,9/ 2010
Scrub warbler Scotocerca inquita), June
Spur-winged plover (hoplopterus spinosus),
.Streaked Fantail Warbler (Cisticola juncidis)
Squacco Heron(Ardeola ralloides) , may all year
Striated heron (butorides striatus), May
Stork, Ciconia ciconia), August
Temminck's Stint, Calidris temminckii. 4/4/10
Thrush Nightingale,Luscinia luscinia 13/5/10
Turtle dove(stretopelia turtur),
White wagtail ( motacilla alba),
Wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola) 2/12/09
Willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus...
yellow-billed kite Milvus aegyptius
Yellow wagtail(motacilla flava), sept/
yellow wagtail ( black headed) 1/may 10
Water pipit, Anthus spinoletta.
Whitethroat, Sylvia communis
Wryneck, Jynx torquilla 8/4/10


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MY BLOG LINKS CAN BE FOUND ON THE SIDE BAR. BIRDS, PLANTS,BUTTERFLIES,DRAGONS AND DAMSELFLIES.+ MY LIFE OUT AND ABOUT LUXOR. MY MAIN CONCERN NOW IS THE POLLUTION OF THE NILE AND THE EFFECT IT IS HAVING ON ITS PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE. POLLUTION OF THE NILE IS ON WWW.MYEGYPT.CO.UK http://egyptwildlife.blogspot.com/ http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com http://nilelife.blogspot.com/ http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/ MY WEBSITE WWW.MYEGYPT.CO.UK