Bog Myrtle & Peat

I don’t want this blog to become stuck on my attempts to take a decent photograph of a cuckoo, but I thought the above was worth including as part of my gradual progress towards success.

Calling cuckoos is actually surprisingly simple, and the fact that these birds can be so easily tricked is maybe linked to the fact that in Scotland, they were traditionally called “gowks”, a word which later was used to describe stupid people. This one (above) flew right over my head as I called, and even after he saw me, he continued to circle round and round me for twenty five minutes. I eventually gave up because my hands were hurting after calling constantly, but I saw no evidence that he was prepared to stop circling.

The RSPB has made cuckoos a red list species in the last year, owing to their massive declines across much of England. Those declines don’t seem to have bitten up on the Chayne, and I have heard at least one every time I have been up to the farm since I heard the first last week. During an early morning lek visit last Saturday, I heard five cuckoos on a two mile walk, all far enough apart for me to be sure that I was not hearing the same birds twice.

When you look at the habitat on offer on the farm, it’s hardly surprising that we are covered in cuckoos. Acres of rough grass are filled with hairy caterpillars which provide food, and meadow pipits which provide appropriate nest sites. With the RSPB blaming farming for everything that seems to go wrong in the world of birds, it’s a pleasing counter argument to see cuckoos and galloway cows living side by side on the agricultural slopes of the Chayne.