First Cuckoo of spring

[jenkinsbrynmair]

..................... and I mean the avian visitor to our shores not the human frequentors of this forum

Heard the first one in the usual area in the woodlands behind Brynmair this morning when I let the chickens out. The true harbinger of spring (just as the weather turns cold and snow is forecast on the hills! )

 

[oliver90owner]

not the human frequentors of this forum-

You pre-empted my reply in your opening post!

RAB

 

[For want of a better word]

Do they have cuckoos in Finland?

Yeghes da

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

not sure - but i believe they have trolls

 

[oliver90owner]

Definitely have a cuckoo in the south east. Read of it lots of times. Lives, on a cloud, I believe.

 

[For want of a better word]

not sure - but i believe they have trolls

Oh yes.... live under bridges!


And if you do not say gooday... leap out and steal your hubcaps!!

Yeghes da

 

[dclewis]

The nightingales are singing here too.

 

[Thymallus]

So the cuckoos are in Wales. Due here about 20th of May....every year they arrive at the same time....you can set your clock (presumably a cuckoo one) by them.

 

[Dishmop]

Oh yes.... live under bridges!

not sure - but i believe they have trolls

er.. Troll Bridges?

 

[oliver90owner]

Due here about 20th of May....


''The cuckoo comes in April
Sings his song in May
Changes his tune in June
And flies away in July.''

Apparently that is what it was historically - well something like that. A lot of the poems had the female calling, which is wrong, I believe..

Maybe climate change has altered the timing a bit, but it seems they do arrive a while before making most of us aware of its presence in the countryside.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Used to hear Cuckoo when I lived in Cumbria around St Georges day.
Haven't heard one since moving here. I suppose prey species are few and far between amidst all this sheep/cattle grazing

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

apparently their favourite 'host' bird is the marsh warbler. plenty of little spots around here. When I fish the Usk reservoir the cuckoo calls are almoat constant - really good marsh warbler habitat at the quiet top end - maybe that's why.

 

[Erichalfbee]

According to the RSPB the main hosts in the UK are the Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Reed (marsh?) Warbler.
The Meadow Pipit is in serious decline and the Dunnock has shifted its breeding forward so that the Cuckoo is too late. (Our Dunnock nest in the garden has nestlings already)

 

[Finno]

Cuckoo arrived in North West of Ireland 22nd April

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

According to the RSPB the main hosts in the UK are the Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Reed (marsh?) Warbler.
The Meadow Pipit is in serious decline and the Dunnock has shifted its breeding forward so that the Cuckoo is too late. (Our Dunnock nest in the garden has nestlings already)

remember seeing a programme on a few years ago suggesting a link in the decline of the reed warbler and the big drop in the cuckoo population (can never remember whether it's reed or marsh - think actually reed is correct)

 

[Floyd]

For the last 5 years my neighbour and I have had a wager on the first cuckoo.

Dateshave been April 27th, May 1st, 4th and May the 9th (However I was away for this one and surprise surprise I lost the bet!) This year we both lost
as arrived on April 16th.