The Cuckoo & The Garden.

Dug out a notebook on bird behaviour I started 20 years ago in 2000. The first entry in the book was of a Common Cuckoo seen at Barbondale, it was published in the British Birds issue in January 2002.

The Call of the Common Cuckoo.

I watched a male Common Cuckoo through a telescope at Barbondale in Cumbria. The bird was calling continuously for several minutes before flying off. During my observations, I realised that the call was produced through the nasal, and that the bill appeared to remain closed throughout. Further observations of the Common Cuckoo 2 years later at the same location, confirmed to me, that the birds bill did indeed appear to remain closed, and this behaviour was new to me.

British Birds Editorial Comment.

The first syllable of the familiar advertising call of the male Common Cuckoo is delivered with the bill opened, whereas the second syllable is uttered with the bill closed. As demonstrated by the observations reported here, there appears to be some variation in the manner in which the call is delivered. BWP Vol.4

There was an interesting follow-on by Dr T.J.Roberts to the notes on 'Call of the Common Cuckoo' in the issue of British Birds November 2002.

The note by Pete Woodruff in British Birds January 2002, prompts me to add the following observations, based on 34 years living in Pakistan. In the Himalayan foothills, I was able to observe at close quarters the Common Cuckoo, the Oriental Cuckoo, and the much less common Lesser Cuckoo, at times calling from the same area. I noted that all three species of Cuckoo kept their bills closed when calling, while the gular pouch, or throat, ballooned out visibly with each call. I recorded these observations in detail in The Birds of Pakistan.

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Gardenwatch.

Red Admiral. Pete Woodruff.

A Red Admiral was the first this year to our garden, and as an occasional visitor, it was good to see a Coal Tit in the garden this morning.

Iris. Pete Woodruff.

The Iris is looking good too.

Whinchat Newby Moor N.York's Pete Woodruff. Clik the pik

One small example from the archives of what I'm missing....I'm becoming increasingly unhappy.

Bird Behaviour.

Looking through some back dates of British Birds magazine one of the first articles I found was about a Cuckoo I observed at Barbondale in June 1997 and noted its call was made with the bill closed. The article brought about a reply from another reader in a later issue of the magazine, who - having spent 34 years living in Pakistan - noted in the Himalayan Foothills....'the Common Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, and Lesser Cuckoo all called with their bills closed, whilst the throat ballooned out visibly during each call'.

Following this interesting observation of the Cuckoo at Barbondale, I decided to keep a book on bird behaviour. Sixteen years later I find the book contains 109 interesting notes titled 'Bird behaviour and other oddities', the last of which was entered on 21 March this year and noted Mallard and Shelduck at Glasson Dock, both species seen diving. 

Yellowhammer. John Darbyshire.

Another interesting note early in the book, was of a Yellowhammer at Out Rawcliffe which I was watching for 20 minutes during the 'Golden Days' of delivering car parts, I decided to time this bird singing and found it did so 8 times per minute which resulted in my discovery that this individual - which sang constantly for the whole period I was with it - had done so an amazing 160 times....some singer. 

The book reads, in December 1998 at Middleton Sands I watched up to 1,000 Dunlin in flight, observing these birds for in excess of 30 minutes they never once came to land whilst flying around the area as a flock in every direction....an expensive use of energy, and why. 

And finally....A Spotted Redshank on the Eric Morecambe Complex at Leighton Moss was feeding alongside a Teal which was obviously stirring up a food source for the wader, this Spotted Redshank was also noted to upend as does the Mallard for example, I had no idea this species engaged in either of these activities. And a Ruddy Duck at Leighton Moss in mid October had 4 very young chicks, all victims in later years no doubt, of a controversial and mass cull costing an estimated eventual £5.5 million to save the globally threatened White-headed Duck .

Birds....they fascinate me in a million ways, and I've discovered and noted 109 different habits/behaviour/characteristics over the years most of which I didn't previously know about.