A rare Hoopoe bird has been spotted pottering in front of the J.P. Wild banner at Collingham Cricket Club in first sighting for 40 years.
Hoopoes are found across Asia, Africa and Southern Europe but are a rare sighting in the UK. Around 100 overfly their migration to Spain and Portugal each year, ending up on British coasts. This is the first sighting of the bird in Leeds for more than 40 years. The hoopoe, named after its soft ‘hoop hoop’ call, was probably blown off course from south Europe and should be heading to an African hotspot by now for winter.
Dozens of birdwatchers descended on to a Yorkshire village cricket club after hearing that a rare hoopoe bird had moved there. With the cricket season over, it has become a star attraction in the bird-watching community.
