Two Hoopoes in West Sussex today, both in private gardens with no access being granted reminded me of something..Back in 1987 when I was a tender...well let's just say younger than I am now with considerably longer and more colourful hair and rock 'n' roll a plenty going on, we had a Hoopoe on the lawn at our place in Oving. It stayed all morning until an unfortunate incident with a local cat led to its sad demise; I still remember watching it from the front room window no more than ten feet away. And so although it would be great to see a Hoopoe again this year (saw last year's one at Climping) I can at least rest easy that I don't need a Hoopoe either for a Sussex tick or bizarrely even for a garden tick!


Hoopoe at Climping 2014: