The day dawned with the promise of severe weather here in the South West.  Strong winds and heavy rain showers were promised. Never the less, I still went out to the moor and back to the Cuckoo teritory. Again, before I had even closed the car door I could see him but the difference today was the incredibly strong wind, almost too strong to stand up in, at least force 10. I really struggled to erect everything  I needed, this included my camera on  a tripod and I had planned to fasten cam netting on hooks to the dead branches behind me and then drape the netting over me, camera, seat and all. It flapped in the wind and as I struggled, there was the Cuckoo perched on the dead logs in front of me. Well, I just knew at that point that, in spite of the appalling wind and the threat of rain, it was going to be a special session.  This opinion was re-inforced when the male Whinchat landed on the log in front of me as well, and this time I was ready and I started to photograph.  The Whincat and it's mate came and went and I took some crackers, reminding myself how they can be hard to find let alone photograph.  Then I caught sight of the Cuckoo just opposite me.  It was interesting to see the way he was dealing with the wind, keeping very low and not perchin up in the heights of the trees as on previous days and because of the strenght of the wind, when he flew in to it, his flight was really slowed down. Just great views.

Before he glided just above the ground to me he was perched on dead logs opposite and here he is just about to fly over to my side.  As he came towards me, a Meadow Pipit was in tow.  How annoying these must be to him, never leaving him alone.  It seems odd that they have such a relationship because, almost for certain, he would have been fostered by such a bird. The Meadow Pipits are decieved so easily by Cuckoos when they lay in their nests yet they always mob them whenever they come accross each other.

It was thrilling when he landed on the perch just  9 metres in front of me, I had deliberately placed the log at this distance because any closer and I would not be able to get the whole bird in the frame. I immediately started to photograph him knowing that I was getting some great pictures.  It was a wonderful feeling of satisfaction knowing that I had planned the whole thing and having studied the behaviour of the bird, I knew that he would land on the highest perch available, and here he was just where I knew he would be.

He shuffled around in the wind and it was a thrill that I will find hard to repeat.  Eventually he crouched and off he went but I managed to capture the moment just before he flew up.

Its been interesting t see the bird close up because I can see a vague hint of brown on the wing coverts and primary wing feathers. As far as I can tell from photographs, last years bird was much bluer grey than this one.