At last!

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Some British people may know the old rhyme: The cuckoo comes in April In May he sings all day At the end of June he changes his tune And in July he flies away. Cuckoos are also reputed to arrive in Britain at around the same time as the cuckoo flowers (pictured) bloom. The rest of the year they live in Africa, but they spend the spring/early summer in Britain where they breed, exploiting other, smaller birds to incubate their eggs and rear their young. Cuckoos seem to be declining in numbers, possibly due to a variety of causes such as loss of habitat for their host species (such as willow warblers), drastic declines in insect numbers, or climate change, and of course they could be affected here in Britain or in Africa or on their migration, we just don’t know enough. Hearing the cuckoo used to be a sure sign that summer was on its way. And normally they were quite widespread. There is even a saying that ‘One cuckoo doesn’t make a summer’; you would expect to hear several. But nowadays it takes luck to hear a cuckoo at all. Cuckoo flowers bloomed last month but I hadn’t heard a cuckoo at all until finally, on a walk beside the river yesterday, we did hear one quite distinctly. Phew! Summer is definitely on its way and there is hope for cuckoos yet! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2022.