The ghost of the grassland

[Prajwal J Ullal]

ID: Hoopoe

One of the most elusive bird, atleast in my case, have always observed them in flight and disappearing in the thicket of the trees, rarely spotting them in close range and documenting them. Luckily though, spotted one such beauty fly past me, almost making me feel like a missed opportunity, but after traversing in the direction of the flight, eventually spotted a couple of them pecking along the grassy area, almost poking out insects from the ground and feasting on it. The colour of the beauty and the dried foliage of the surroundings almost made it blend into it making it too difficult to spot and frame them. And despite keeping ample distance form it, these alert birds would still realize my presence and fly off far away, again making it difficult to spot them.

EXIF:
Canon 80D
Canon 55-250 IS
F/5.64
Shutterspeed1/1000(aperture priority)
ISO (auto)
Handheld

location: Outskirts of Hubli

[Mrudul Godbole]

Good you could finally photograph it :). Agree the vegetation is too dense to sight it clearly. I had first sighted Hoopoe feeding in a lawn (open area) in Bharatpur (near a tea stall, where we were having morning tea), I think it was accustomed to people, so I could photograph it quite closely.
In these areas it might be very difficult to get a closer shot. Keep trying, your luck will change :). Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

In some places the hoopoes get used to people. The tea shop in bharatpur is one such place and one can get some really nice shots lying flat on your belly. I believe there is a spot to shoot each species. For eg. during my early years when I was shooting with a 300mm and then 400mm, it was difficult to get a purple moorehen in bharatpur in fullframe. However, it was quiet easy in Chilika in mangalajodi area.

[Murugan Anantharaman]

The habitat is nicely displayed here. Hoopoes are rare in some places and common in other places. Last year when i was in Uttarakhand I used to see a pair of hoopoes regularly feed near the homestay where I was put up. Thanks for sharing.

[Vineet Shrivastava]

It's nice that you could capture it quite clearly through the thick vegetation. This image depicts the habitat nicely. Thanks for sharing.