The Hoopoe (Hop) for me is one of the most interesting birds. Beautiful and weird at the same time. I was lucky enough to see them in France, Spain, Greece, Africa and Asia, but never in the Netherlands. Which makes sense, since they do not live around here. Sometimes however one decides to take a look and check if Holland is really as liberal as one is told. The last two days a Hoopoe has been reported in a place not too far from home. So this morning I decided to give it a try. I couldn’t find it at first, so first spent some time taking pictures of a Common Grashopper Warbler (Sprinkhaanzanger). These birds are very good at singing, but also at hiding themselves. Still I could make at least an identification shot ! After that I continued my search for the Hoopoe, which was found in the meantime by two other bird photographers. No sun, light rains, but still some nice shots, or so I think 😉 Anyway, this Hoopoe will surely have it’s doubts about the Netherlands, since it finally flew of when a low-flying army helicopter passed… So far for our reputation 🙁