Hoopoe

 

Hoopoe, Collingham

I thought the one-way system round Leeds was hard work but it turns out that trying to find your bus in the city centre is harder work. Despite arriving with twenty minutes to spare for the intended bus I not only missed it, I only just managed to catch the one that runs half an hour later. The stop that Google Maps sent me to in its directions wasn't in use. The one it sent me to when I searched for the bus route had a notice saying that the bus was now running from the stop I first went to. West Yorkshire Travel's web site said the stop was at the station (it wasn't). It turns out the best way to catch the X99 is to see it on the road, run after it and catch it up when the driver's having a minute to stretch his legs. (The correct stop is P7 on Boar Road, a block away from the station.)

Anyway, the hoopoe at Collingham Cricket Club was both a lifer and a delight. I got off the bus and walked over to the pelican crossing and wondered why there was a crowd of people pointing cameras at the traffic light. The hoopoe was in the tree by the pelican crossing. I walked round into the cricket club to get a better view without a lot of foliage in the way. The bird carried on preening for quarter of an hour then flew down onto the cricket outfield to feed. 

I was a bit worried about how close some people got to the hoopoe but I soon became more relaxed about it as the bird was so intent on making inroads on the chafer grubs and wireworms that not only didn't it care that people were close, it moved in closer to them. 

Hoopoe and hoopoe watcher

While I was waiting for the bus back to Leeds I had a quick wander in the wood by the river.

Comma butterfly