Mystery bird in southern France
A question for the ornithologists. We are staying by a beautiful river, north of Avignon. Wildlife abounds, including beavers in the river. We heard talk of a rare bird and for the first time after about ten visits we spotted a pair yesterday. Description:
About the size of a blackbird but very slender, a bit like a woodpecker. Beautiful red crest and long plume and also a long beak. Black and white striped body under brown/rust feathers. It was foraging in the grass bank.
Answers on a postcard please!
Comments
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Thats it! Many thanks. It looked like it had escaped from a zoo; very exotic.
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Definitely a hoopooe. We have lots around the area we live, and they often hop in front of you along a pathway, keeping just enough distance for you not to get a good photograph!
A few weeks ago, down near Fleury in the Aude, we saw Rollers, Bee-eaters, and a Grey Shrike all sitting in the same shrub, and then watched the Rollers flying to and from their nest box on a telegraph pole. Bee eaters and Rollers are also very exotic looking birds.
Nearby, in previous years, we've seen a Greater Spotted Cuckoo in the same area, rare Lesser Kestrels and of course there are always exotic looking flamingoes in the lagoons.
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Seems they are not so rare after all! We have beavers in the river and they do their nightly foraging run, but I know that they are seen in several rivers in France. Last year a Brit. staying here insisted that they must be otters - until he actually spotted
one and had to eat humble pie.0 -
Our hoopoe friend was back again today. Same place. Felt that now I know his name I could introduce myself.
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