First Cuckoo Cambridge 2016
Gina Booth wrote to tell us that this morning at about 7:15 she heard the distinctive, repetitive call of a cuckoo.
She said, “We have pigeons and collared doves around my building calling all the time so I’m very used to these sounds and it wasn’t one of those. I’m also a bird enthusiast so I’ve become very familiar with different bird calls and I’ve only ever previously heard a cuckoo between April and August.
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and thought it had to be an alarm clock or a ringtone on someone’s phone at first, as it’s a bit early in the year for a cuckoo, but as I went to my window I could hear it getting louder then fading out as it would if it was flying overhead. I heard this ‘cuh-ckoo’ sound about 5 or 6 times the first time, then about 3 times a couple of minutes later. It was much fainter the second time.
“Have there been any other reports of cuckoos in the past week or so? If so, this is about a month earlier than I would expect to hear one, but many flowers seem to be a lot earlier this year so maybe the cuckoos are reacting to the same thing, such as the ever warming climate. I was also surprised to hear one from my flat as I’m close to town, although I’m closer to the river.”