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Another day, another Cuckoo

I went to a completely different moorland today more than 10km from the place where I photographed a Cuckoo yesterday. And to my delight there were two male Cuckoos calling incessantly and chasing each other round. I managed to take quite a few photographs though mainly in flight as they hardly ever landed. I was particularly pleased to capture this flight shot against a land background.

 

There's an old English folk song about the Cuckoo that Paul Simon's song "April come she will" is loosely based upon. There are several variations but the usual one is:

 

In April come he will.

In May he sings all day.

In June he changes tune.

In July he prepares to fly.

In August go he must.

If he stays until September,

Tis more than the oldest man can remember.

 

The bit about changing tune in June is that they often begin to stutter Cuck-cuck-oo. And it is true that they usually depart in August, rarely being seen in September.

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Uploaded on April 27, 2020
Taken on April 27, 2020