Come on you Hoopoes

The lecture at the Museum today was entitled the Sea, the Sea. With many illustrations Dr. Chris Davies showed us how artists have been inspired by the sea. It was a brilliant presentation. 
In the afternoon, having received the news that there was a hoopoe at a coastal  spot near Brixham we rushed to the location at Berry Head , overlooking ‘the sea, the sea’, and watched the bird for an hour or so. It was eating non stop, on a diet of leatherjackets and ants. We were stood at a distance so I didn’t get a good photo, but it did cooperate for the binoculars and scopes.

The Hoopoe is a scarce but regular passage migrant in the spring and autumn, with about 100 birds visiting each year, usually along the south and east coasts. 
The plumage is mainly pinkish-brown with black- and white-striped wings. I think the birder in the  Newcastle shirt was blending in, and supporting this beautiful rarity.
Come on you hoopoes