From African Skies

It has been said that no sound in nature is awaited more eagerly with it's promise of summer than that of the cuckoo. No sound was awaited by me today, on a hot heath under the burning sun, more than the sound of a cuckoo. I waited and waited ..... 

This, is not just any cuckoo. Meet Colin, probably the most famous cuckoo in England!! A cuckoo who has returned to the same site for over 5 years.

On the wing a cuckoo can easily be mistaken for a sparrowhawk but it's slightly heavier with pointed wings  and long spotted tail. No mistaking him when he finally showed this afternoon.

Flying in to their summer residence in April having dodged the carnage of their killing over many countries the the females rear their young by fostering them on other birds. Meadow pipits, warblers, dunnocks are their chief victims though cuckoos have been found in the nests of more than 50 species. 

The female cuckoo can scatter about a dozen eggs in chosen nests and these eggs hatch in 12-13 days and then go about pushing all the other eggs out of the nest. I have read that the chosen hosts to combat the problem are trying to lay eggs with slightly different shell patterns which leave them more identifiable. 19 days later it's ready to leave the nest. the parents fly back to Africa in July; the youngsters fly back on their own a month later never having seen their parents!

Their numbers have dropped by half with a huge mortality rate occurring over Europe. Droughts, wildfires, habitat change,  food sources and man have all played a part. 

What a special treat for me to see today. I was honestly thrilled.