I've seen birds in Essex, Kent, Norfolk, Hampshire, Staffordshire, Herts and Cambridgeshire but I haven't seen one since 2022 so made an effort to drive to North Walsham to make sure I didn't go another year without seeing one.
Arriving at the reported site I was amazed to see the bird just pottering about on the small front lawn of the bungalow ignoring the birders/toggers a few feet away. I joined them, laid myself down on the path to the amusement of the locals and took a few (140) images of the bird as it walked around the lawn coming to within about seven feet of me at times. It was regularly pulling beetle lavae from below the surface. The crest would occasionally lift in the wind or when the bird was startled by a car pulling up or pulling away.
I've seen confiding Hoopoes before but this bird took it to another level and I'm so pleased I made the effort to visit it.
It was bird 246 for 2024
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