I have already had a really good day’s birdwatching. In fact I could hardly believe what I was seeing at one point. I was sat inside a cover hide waiting for the Cuckoos to appear, I was quite confident that they would appear and when the female did I wasn’t in the least bit surprised. In fact I knew it was in the tree right above me, I could hear strange but quiet noises which was the start of the female’s bubble, a kind of sub-song I suppose, then she flew in to the tree and landed right on the perch exactly where she had been yesterday. I well remember in previous years when a Cuckoo had repeatedly returned not only to the same tree but also a favourite part of the tree. What I have learnt from that is that Cuckoos are creatures of habit so when I go back tomorrow I am quite confident that I will see them again. But what was amazing was the birds that I had already seen in the same tree! Between 1110 and 1125 there was a Redstart which was followed by an amazing female Pied Flycatcher (she came back twice), the next visitor was a spanking Bullfinch and then a Mistle Thrush….. and then the Cuckoos and all within 15 minutes.

My photos of the Cuckoos today were approaching the standard that I had hoped for. They are very photogenic when in flight and this is 3 years out of the past 4 that I have been able to get some good inflight shots and one of my Cuckoo in-flight shots taken in 2011 is in the top 10 most popular photos out of 259730 on the famous Birdguides Web Site.