TomKal foto

Everyone, who is into native nature photography, would like to have the hoopoe in their portfolio. It is difficult to be mistaken for any other bird, and its color and behavior makes it one of the most interesting and beautiful species in our country. The hoopoe is a medium-sized bird. Its wingspan is less than 50 cm, its body length is less than 30 cm, and it weighs about 70 grams. The hoopoe flies in a distinctively irregular manner, over meadows and pastures, where you can see it picking its favorite food – insect larvae. When it is interested or anxious it unfolds its crest in a characteristic way, presenting itself in all its glory. Hoopoes can be found in Poland in the April-September period, when they raise their young, after that they fly to Africa. Unfortunately the population of the hoopoe bird is shrinking, and yet I managed to photograph it from my car on a dirt road, when I was coming back from an unsuccessful shooting session of the water rail bird. As I was driving very slowly, with my camera held in between the car door and car frame, I kept taking pictures increasing the zoom level gradually. The bird accepted me completely, and was busy overpowering a caterpillar, totally posing for me. As the day was hot, the dynamically leaping hoopoe allowed me to take snapshots which will stay in my memory for a long time.
Last minute news 04/2013
As a break from photographing bustards the organiser of our workshop (greetings Manuel) proposed a Hoopoe outdoor. You can not mistake the hoopoe for any other bird, and his posture with a pointy grebe, or a flight of this colorful bird really stays with almost everyone. Photographing the hoopoe does not require waking up in the night or such a commitment as it is required with White-tailed Eagle or Great Bustards. Hoopoes accepted the provisory watching booth while habitating the nest, which is a hollow at the bottom of the tree's trunk. Beautiful area. Gorgeous, colorful blooming flowers in an old olive grove. Hoopoe is quite a curious object for such photo workshops. It always flews in to the same place. Looks around if it's safe, and after, he immediately disappears in the hollow. If you spot it bringing a food for the young but flying away without feeding them you need to absolutely increase the distance of the photographing space. If it lasted for couple of hours it could result in the young's demise. But our hoopoe did not see any problems in the area and with us taking the pictures. Keeping my eye on the watch, he would return every 10 minutes with the food for the young, sit on a trunk and check the area, dive-sit on a trunk at the entrance to the hollow and disappear in it. It also happened that he would stay there for a little bit longer and commit to cleaning the nest. You could see how he threw the litter outside. Most of the birds try to throw their excrement much farther, not to give out their nesting place to the predators. Hoopoe, clearly, has got some others habits regarding this matter. After feeding he would jump out of the hollow for a couple of seconds photo session and flew away to the right. It was a time to check the notes and getting ready for a next session. The place was perfect, but I didn't have the right lense to take advantage of the possibilities. One was too long, other one too short. Nonetheless, those pictures changed the hoopoe's gallery. And hoopoes in Spain are really numerous. My colleague on the look out for the bustards was sharing his booth with hoopoe's nest which he could take pictures of with short lenses. I, myself took pictures of a hoopoe sitting on the rock near the booth once, the other time it was sitting on a fence at dawn. The same fence where I previously photographed the Common Kestrel. When it comes to hoopoes I am sure that this gallery will grow as it is a grateful theme and the missing part of this gallery are those curious heads of the young hoopoes looking through the hollow's entrance or a hoopoe flying to his nest, feeding the young.
Last minute news 05/2015
And here we have next  gallery reconstructed. This contact with the hoopoes belonged to one of the most interesting when it comes to this species. I was taking pictures by the  country road, now and then passing tractors and cars frightened birds, and people passing by were quite surprised by what they saw at the edge of the road - a small backpack hide. Hoopoes sometimes were chased by yellowhammers but I failed to take photos of their encounters, but one that I added to the gallery. I have captured so many interesting scenes, dynamic ones, the most valuable to me, that the gallery must have been rebuilt. What a surprise, on this day I wanted to photograph spotted crakes, which unfortunately could not be reached because of high water. Again hoopoes to make me feel any better. What was important I was not back with blank card...
Last minute news-06/2016 – Mongolia
After I finished photographing the azure tit, I took advantage of the fact that there were some Amur falcons and Eurasian hoopoes nearby. As the falcons were quite skittish, and allowed me to take only pictures with the sky in the background, I decided to devote some time to photographing hoopoes. They were very absorbed with themselves, as I saw them in an intimate situation. It’s a pity that all was hidden behind branches, as surely some interesting photos would have been taken. And so, I took a few hoopoe pictures from a close distance, which I’ve uploaded in the gallery.
Last minute news - 05/2017
It is useless making any plans in nature photography. This time there were to be European greenfinches, Eurasian linnets, but after two fruitless waiting hours a hoopoe came. My backpack-hide did not bother it at all. It was foraging so close that sometimes it was impossible to focus correctly. Well, hoopoes, corncrakes, white-throated dippers, owls - they attract my attention constantly.  And I am ready to refine the galleries of these birds on my site endlessly. Some interesting new photos have replaced the previous ones. The gallery has been rebuilt and the hoopoe goes to the news.
Last minute news 11/2017-Spain
As I wrote earlier, there are certain species to which one likes to come back. The hoopoe is undoubtedly one of them. Although it was not planned to photograph it in a hide in Spain, when it appeared, watching it gave me a great pleasure. First, there were quarrels with a great grey shrike, then searching for insects in the sand, and finally, taking a sand bath several centimeters from us.  Fortunately, the bath could be also observed in a more distant place, so that the lens started to adjust and I was able to take a few interesting photos. They probably would have been better if there hadn’t been for the lack of sunlight. It was practically after the sunset, which made the conditions for taking sharp images rather unfavorable. In well located hides one can always count on some interesting bird visitors. It wasn’t different this time. The hoopoe gallery has been remodeled again.
Last minute news 12/2019-Ethiopia
I've had a few occasions to photograph Hoopoe. The ones in Ethiopia were different and i need to mention that in informations about this species on my website. Photographing Hoopoe no matter where was always connected to the need of using a Vigil. In Ethiopia in December there were plenty of Hoopoes. It was shocking. They were preying next to the villages or hotel parks. They kept the distance of few meters from us. We could follow them easily and take photos. All of new photos were taken during photographing other species. There were so many of them that i had to change the gallery. I wasn’t paying much attention to the Hoopoe, because of the good quality of photos in my galleries and so many new species in Ethiopia that i could photograph. There were  Little bee-eaters, Superb starlings, Von der Decken's Hornbill. I had to choose sometheing.
Last minute news-05/2022- Hungary
In our plans to go to Hungary we had not hoopoes, but Rollers. Unfortunately the birds did not come. The workshop organizers hope that simply the birds delayed their usual arrival. Spring in the beginning of May in this region was very dry and there was a shortage of insects. Whether this was the reason for the absence of the dwarfs, time will tell. So there were hoopoes as a substitute and I added some photos to the gallery.