Tuesday May 17 - Cuckoo at last

 As Spring advances so I find myself working my way through a mental checklist of "expected" migrants. Any I miss shouldn't be too big a worry because there's always the autumn second chance. But there's one local bird which doesn't really play ball. The Cuckoo arrives at the end of April, sings lustily for four or five weeks, and then disappears. If you haven't heard one by early June, you may be too late.

I've been starting to get a bit twitchy about them. Not enough to actually twitch one, but thinking it could come to that. But today I decided to stick to the grand plan, that being to explore my Circle in a more or less random way. I had ear-marked Tanner's Green, a mile north of the M42, to be the focus of today's jaunt.

One problem. Where to park? I noticed there was a car-park at the northern tip of New Fallings Coppice, a Warwickshire Trust reserve adjacent to Earlswood Lakes. Perfect. Except that the woodland itself looked fantastic, full of huge Beeches and Oaks and with a reputation for producing quality woodland birds. Would I ever be tempted to leave? 

I certainly made slow progress. Blackbirds were singing everywhere, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs too. Before long an #LocalBigYear tick made its presence known. A Cuckoo was calling from somewhere high in the crown of one of the trees. I thought about chasing it about to get a glimpse, but decided it was a fools errand. The song was enough.

It's a troublesome thought that one day there may be none left. Until last year they were reliable at Morton Bagot, and certainly further south. But they are disappearing with each year. Not enough caterpillars? That's probably the issue. They are still common in Scotland where large areas remain insecticide-free. There is still time to turn things around, but I doubt they will ever be a familiar Spring presence in the wider countryside again. Thank goodness for nature reserves.

Another scarce bird I heard in the coppice was a Marsh Tit. They become very secretive in the breeding season, and there are probably more about than you think. It's still my first since the winter.

Once I had dragged myself away from the coppice, I skirted Clowes Wood on the other side of the railway, and made my way to Tanner's Green, completing the circuit via Fulford Heath. It was all very nice, plenty of impressive million pound (and the rest) properties to ogle at enviously. My progress was no doubt tracked on a series of CCTV cameras, before I was back at the coppice.

Bird-wise there was little of any significance, a Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly which had presumably left a brook or pond to perch briefly in a tree at Tanner's Green was my best find. 

Back in the coppice at midday the butterflies were out in force. Lots of "whites", several Speckled Woods, and one or two Holly Blues were great to see.

Holly Blue resting on the correct plant

I must have been pretty silent and stealthy, because at one point a Fox came trotting through the bluebells towards me. Unfortunately, as it came into view it realised it needed to be somewhere else in a hurry.

The Fox a millisecond before a sharp exit

Another photo opportunity to slip through my fingers.

Just Spotted Flycatcher to go, and then it will be all insects until the autumn....maybe.