Heard an unusual bird call over the weekend...

dermur

Walking through Mullaghmeen forest at the weekend and heard this bird call that I have never heard before. Unfortunately, I don't have a recording and I'm not a bird watcher so I'm probably not using the right terminology but...

It had the same pitch and interval as a cuckoo call but in reverse and maybe slightly more cacophonous. So, like a cuckoo call but going from low to high rather than high to low.

Couldn’t see anything with all the tree cover but it was definately flying at the time, not perched. Not as a high a pitch or as shrill as a curlew either.

Thanks in advance!

Day Lewin

@Twas the Beast of Mullaghmeen....all those who hear it are taken to the Otherworld!!!!

Mickeroo

Sounds like it could be a wood pigeon to me.

dermur

katemarch wrote: »

@Twas the Beast of Mullaghmeen....all those who hear it are taken to the Otherworld!!!!

I thought Westmeath *was* the Otherworld!

dermur

Mickeroo wrote: »

Sounds like it could be a wood pigeon to me.

That's possible alright - it's funny that the two tones were the very same as a cuckoo but in reverse order (minor third - so Google informs me). It didn't have the soft cooing that I'd normally associate with wood pigeons but there's certainly plenty knocking arouund Mullaghmeen anyway.

Desmo

Woodpigeon (5 coos) or Collared Dove (3 coos)?

Lumps Bumps n Blues

Or a hoopoe, maybe?

Sorry, I can't post links, but if you go to youtube try typing this after the .com/

watch?v=7V_dE-Ja-r4

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Lumps Bumps n Blues wrote: »

Or a hoopoe, maybe?

Sorry, I can't post links, but if you go to youtube try typing this after the .com/

watch?v=7V_dE-Ja-r4

A Hoopoe is extremely unlikely on many fronts. The location is wrong and the time of year is wrong.

tisgrand

I could be way off the mark here, but apart from the normal raucous croaking of ravens you can sometimes hear them make a different call, usually when perched...the first part being a deep 'clunk' or 'plunk' noise immediately followed by a sound like someone blowing over an empty bottle...hard to describe but a sort of 'clunk-booohhh' sound???

dermur

Desmo wrote: »

Woodpigeon (5 coos) or Collared Dove (3 coos)?

This call was 2 coos but called out regularly every 5 seconds or so - that's how I knew it wasn't perched but flying overhead.

dermur

Halle Noisy Penmanship wrote: »

A Hoopoe is extremely unlikely on many fronts. The location is wrong and the time of year is wrong.

Only ever saw a Hoopoe in China once (didn't know what it was at the time though). Never saw one here I have to say.

A twitcher friend thought this might be a young cuckoo learning to call but I'm thinking there wouldn't be any around this time of year?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

dermur wrote: »

This call was 2 coos but called out regularly every 5 seconds or so - that's how I knew it wasn't perched but flying overhead.

dermur wrote: »

Only ever saw a Hoopoe in China once (didn't know what it was at the time though). Never saw one here I have to say.

A twitcher friend thought this might be a young cuckoo learning to call but I'm thinking there wouldn't be any around this time of year?

No way a young Cuckoo at that time. It was a woodpigeon or collared dove as they don't always do the standard 3 or 2 calls.

Hoopoe is out of the question,