Birdwatchers have been flocking to an area of Aberdeen normally known for wingers of a different nature following the discovery of an eye-catching rare animal.
Local woman Leona Lowe caught a glimpse of the unusual Hoopoe bird while walking her dog near Pittodrie.
Finding herself without a camera, she rushed back home for one to try and capture the colourful animal – but when she returned it had moved on.
Luckily for the 32 year-old, lightning struck twice as the bird, which is noted and named after its soft, quick call, had returned to the same spot as before this weekend.
She said: “It really caught my eye so I asked my uncle, who is an avid birdwatcher, what had I seen – but he then told me it couldn’t have been a Hoopoe due to how rare and elusive they are.”
She was later able to prove her relative wrong and confirm that the animal making its nest near Pittodrie was indeed a Hoopoe.
They are a rare sight in the UK with the RSPB saying that only 100 might make their way to British shores each year. They normally only appear on the south coast in spring when they are migrating north from Africa to Europe.
With its pinkish-brown body, distinctive black and white wings, long, black, downcurved bill and a long pinky-brown crest, which it raises when it gets excited, the birds often attract admirers.
After a post about the sighting online, about 10 birdwatchers turned up to try and glimpse the creature for themselves today.
