Bird watchers have been flocking to Stamford Bridge for the rare chance to see an exotic breed.
A hoopoe was visiting gardens in the town near York, apparently untroubled by the fuss his visit had caused.
Among those to document the bird’s arrival is the Lower Derwent Valley & Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve.
“This striking and exotic looking visitor is more usually at home in central and southern Europe, with birds often occurring here as spring ‘over-shoots’ in May and June, and smaller numbers in autumn,” a post said on the reserve’s Facebook page.
“This is the seventh known record for the wider Lower Derwent area, with the last records at Woodhouse Grange, Sutton on Derwent, on the 29-30 June 2022, following a single seen briefly near the Grimston Bar roundabout on the 26 September 2020.
“The last accessible bird which allowed local birdwatchers and interested locals to catch up with it was one at Dunnington between the 20-22 July 2008, with this one proving just as popular.”
Described as an “exotic looking bird”, the RSPB says the hoopoe “has a pinkish-brown body, striking black and white wings, a black downcurved bill, and a pinkish-brown crest which it raises when excited”.
If it calls in on the UK at all, it is usually only seen near the south coast. Few venture this far north.