WINTER’S WILDLIFE Cock-a-hoopoe over Med visitor
The Case of the Blue-crested Hoopoe is arguably the most confounding of all the Midsomer Murder mysteries.
Bitter rivalries among members of the Midsomer-in-the-marsh Ornithological Society leads to a rising body count that tests the deductive skills of affable detective John Barnaby to the limit.
Without entering spoiler territory – save to say the hapless hoopoe also gets unceremoniously shot then stuffed – it’s right to point out that jealousies in the real world of birdwatching have yet to lead to murder most foul... or fowl!
Indeed, sightings of hoopoes invariably have happy endings.
Not only did a hoopoe encounter at a local chalkpit as a teenager spark my lifetime interest in birds, but news has come through this autumn of these beautiful, dusky-pink wanderers from the Mediterranean breeding in Britain for the first time in 27 years.
The exotic-looking hoopoe with its chequerboard markings and ornate crest are scarce visitors to the UK, with fewer than 150 individuals arriving each spring.
Vicarages are traditionally a favoured place for them to turn up and probe lawns for bugs with their long, curved bills.
Most hoopoes vanish within days, but this summer a pair opted to remain and raise three young at a private site in Leicestershire.
After first being sighted in May, the birds then became elusive, although the haunting song of the male was heard ringing out the following month.
Then in July, the adult birds were filmed in a garden with their three youngsters, confirming hoopoes had nested in the UK for the first time since a pair bred in Montgomery, Wales, in 1996. The previous confirmed breeding had been in 1977 when four pairs nested.
Climate change may well see hoopoes extending their northern range to become regular breeders in the UK over coming decades.
That’s not necessarily an appetising thought, however. Cleanliness is not a hoopoe virtue as they are notorious for failing to remove their offsprings’ droppings, leaving nest holes rather smelly.