Saturday 12th May: Cuckoo

I only managed a brief evening walk en famille to the Meadow today but it was nice to get some decent sunshine at last, I'd forgotten what nice weather was like! I still couldn't see any waders though I only had my bins with me. This also meant that I wasn't able properly to check out the black-headed gull flock to see if the little gulls were still about. Still lots of swifts about hawking over the floods and there were a nice couple of YELLOW WAGTAILS along the East Shore.

Steve Goddard has managed to come up with another Patch Year Tick. He writes:
"I don't know whether CUCKOO is on the year list for Port Meadow yet? If not, I heard one calling this afternoon from what I think must have been the north end of Burgess Field (I was on the canal towpath at the time), and saw what I think must have been the same individual in a tree on the other side of the canal."

I usually at least hear one calling bird each spring though this species is getting scarcer all the time and last year I didn't hear one at all so it's nice to get one on the Year List this time around.  

It's good to see that there's been some successful breeding this year despite the weather. I photographed this young mistle thrush down by the Castle Mill Stream a week or so ago.

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