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Cuckoo Time

Cuckoo Time


Postby tweedledog » Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:04 am

Yesterday heard the first cuckoo of this year in my corner of Argyll. That's April 14th. Last year it was the 16th. The two years before that 24th and 26th. Obviously we have an adventurous early arriver here who is eager to be the first to find a mate :)
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby Caberfeidh » Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:54 am

Glad to hear the harbinger of summer is here, but I was once stuck at a bothy in Galloway with a cuckoo in the vicinity which drove me nuts with its incessant bloody call. Can you eat cuckoos?
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby CharlesT » Sun Apr 16, 2017 8:45 am

Caberfeidh wrote:Glad to hear the harbinger of summer is here, but I was once stuck at a bothy in Galloway with a cuckoo in the vicinity which drove me nuts with its incessant bloody call. Can you eat cuckoos?


No cuckoo heard yet here but I did see a swallow yesterday, hope the misguided soul can find some insects.

On the subject of night time cuckoos I can recall camping north of Ullapool in early May and enduring a dusk to dawn competitive cuckooing from several males. Don't know about their culinary merits but I would happily have seen the lot stuffed.
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby Sgurr » Sun Apr 16, 2017 12:10 pm

Swallow here on the East Coast this morning. Haven't seen any insects except bees, and we NEED them.
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby basscadet » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:48 am

Aye, its been a funny year for migrations - the cold weather in the Mediterranean at the end of last year confusing things greatly it seems - I saw a ring ouzel in January in Glen Pean for goodness sake! :lol:
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby CharlesT » Thu Apr 20, 2017 4:15 pm

The cuckoo has arrived in West Oxfordshire. There's one cuckooing for all his worth in the fields across the road. Now to try and get a photo of him! :?
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby tweedledog » Thu Apr 20, 2017 4:40 pm

CharlesT wrote:The cuckoo has arrived in West Oxfordshire. There's one cuckooing for all his worth in the fields across the road. Now to try and get a photo of him! :?


Good luck with that! Years ago I chased one across a chunk of East Yorkshire with the same objective. Ended up with a picture of a blurry blob high in a tree. Still, long lenses are better these days. :?
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby katyhills » Mon May 22, 2017 7:40 pm

Caberfeidh wrote:Glad to hear the harbinger of summer is here, but I was once stuck at a bothy in Galloway with a cuckoo in the vicinity which drove me nuts with its incessant bloody call. Can you eat cuckoos?


The beaks are a bit chewy......
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby teaandpies » Wed May 24, 2017 12:02 am

I heard my first of the year on 03/05/17
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Re: Cuckoo Time

Postby Caberfeidh » Wed May 24, 2017 10:14 am

They were calling away in the Trossachs last week - it was like a Bavarian clock shop.
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