Look who's Back!

Out birding Wanstead Flats this morning and I heard a funny noise I could not place. No, not a Robin. A repeated "Whoop whoop whoop" led me to Wanstead's favourite escape, the White-cheeked Turaco, sat in a tree being hassled by Magpies and Jays. Despite its suspect origins (it's on my list!) it's a thrilling bird to see. When it flies, revealing the red wings, it's simply breathtaking.


As I was very near home, I dashed back to get the kids, but returning with them there was no sign. How can such a huge and brightly-coloured bird just disappear? On the short walk home, explaining about dipping to my disappointed offspring, we had just got to our street when I noticed it in a bush above our heads. It was about five feet away. We stopped talking about dipping.




We had simply wonderful views as this thing peered down at us, before it flew off into nearby gardens - gardens on our side of the street! We ran the short distance to the house and dashed out into the garden. I stood on a little garden table, cupped my hands together, and made a "Whoop whoop" kind of sound. Twenty seconds later and it was in our garden with the whole family watching. I continued to "Whoop" at it until our neighbour came out....