HI There Am I going cuckoo myself or is it possible that I have been hearing a cuckoo calling over the last couple of weeks in the Canisbay area? Seems to be coming from an area that has a mixture of good grazing ground, whins lining the ditch, edging on to the rough hill ground with heather on peat - definitely no trees!
Keith in Caithness - keen to learn more about birds!
Hi Keith,
yes, you probably have heard cuckoo. They are still quite numerous over moorland and although they will call from trees and bushes, they don't need them. Often they will call from a fence post and females will use any suitable perch to sit and observe their host species nesting activities. In moorland this is likely to be meadow pipit.
Dave
Thanks for that Dave. As it happens I actually saw the cuckoo, so I am well chuffed as it is the first I have ever seen. It was calling again so I followed the sound just to narrow down the area it was coming from, when blow me it flew right past me not ten feet away, calling for all it was worth - short of towing a sky-banner with "I am a Cuckoo" on it it couldn't be a more positive sighting! It was circling round a small stand of fir trees up above the village of Canisbay, towards the Warth Hill, with rough grazing ground around, a lot of gorse, some rashes, with the heather moor a little higher up.