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Cuckoo

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  • 26-04-2021 10:31pm
    #1
    Macdarack
    Registered Users Posts: 813 ✭✭✭


    Dould cuckoo heard and seen today, got some good videos of them. 2 cuckoos in fact.


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    #2
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    never ever seen one in the flesh


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    #3
    hirondelle
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭hirondelle


    fryup wrote: »
    never ever seen one in the flesh

    When in flight, to me, they look like slightly slow kestrels, so double check any kestrels you see!


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    #4
    axe2grind
    Registered Users Posts: 577 ✭✭✭axe2grind


    Heard my first of year this morning, Co. Wicklow.


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    #5
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    axe2grind wrote: »
    Heard my first of year this morning, Co. Wicklow.

    Yesterday heard one out here in offshore west mayo

    And yes I have seen cuckoos. when I lived in Leitrim with lots of trees, I watched the sparrows and small birds attacking a cuckoo every time it came near. Wonderful.


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    #6
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I heard one while cycling back roads South of Clonmel this morning.


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    #7
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,068 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    Worth taking a few seconds to log your first Cuckoo sighting (or, eh, hearing..) of the year at this link: http://www.springalive.net/en-ie/migrations/addnew


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    #8
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,640 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    hirondelle wrote: »
    When in flight, to me, they look like slightly slow kestrels, so double check any kestrels you see!

    Look more like a hawk to me in terms of shape and colouring. Got good views in a Kildare bog a few years ago of a rare "Rufus" colour phase individual.


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    #9
    axe2grind
    Registered Users Posts: 577 ✭✭✭axe2grind


    OpenYourEyes wrote: »
    Worth taking a few seconds to log your first Cuckoo sighting (or, eh, hearing..) of the year at this link: http://www.springalive.net/en-ie/migrations/addnew

    Does this feed into BiodiversityIreland database?


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    #10
    hirondelle
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭hirondelle


    Birdnuts wrote: »
    Look more like a hawk to me in terms of shape and colouring. Got good views in a Kildare bog a few years ago of a rare "Rufus" colour phase individual.

    Yes, that is accurate. I suppose I think of what looks like an "extended" tail in flight and that is what I notice first. Had to look up the rufous reference- wow, every day is a school day!


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    #11
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,068 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    axe2grind wrote: »
    Does this feed into BiodiversityIreland database?

    Off the top of my head I'm not sure, but a lot of BirdWatch Ireland data is, so if it's not already shared with Biodiversity Ireland on a regular basis, I'm sure it could be if they request it!


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    #12
    gzoladz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,196 ✭✭✭gzoladz


    Got 3 in Kildare on Sunday. I went specifically to look for them as I did not get to see/hear them last year due to the restrictions. They never sounded as much as freedom before!

    Logged already.


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    #13
    SnowyMuckish
    Registered Users Posts: 859 ✭✭✭SnowyMuckish


    Heard the first cuckoo here in the NW this evening. Summer’s on its way!


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    #14
    DBB
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,727 Mod ✭✭✭✭DBB


    Heard my first cuckoo of 2021 a short while ago along the Royal Canal outside Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath. That's made my day :)


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    #15
    Graces7
    Registered Users Posts: 32,634 ✭✭✭✭Graces7


    The cuckoo is calling just outside the window.

    This is unusual. But lovely!

    Usually it calls from further west where there are trees.


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    #16
    flyingsnail
    Registered Users Posts: 2,752 ✭✭✭flyingsnail


    I saw two, and possible a third at Gallows Hill, Clare today.


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    #17
    lolie
    Registered Users Posts: 2,334 ✭✭✭lolie


    I heard 2 male cuckoos either side of bogland over near Coole Westmeath yesterday evening.


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    #18
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,069 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    is it only the male that calls?


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    #19
    lolie
    Registered Users Posts: 2,334 ✭✭✭lolie


    fryup wrote: »
    is it only the male that calls?

    Only the male makes the Cuckoo sound, go to 1.40 in the video for the female call.
    I've probably heard it before but never noticed it.


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    #20
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    heard one close to Hollywood in Wicklow this morning, and one further on near Laragh, been many years since I heard one, was great to hear them, although I could not spot them at all.


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    #21
    hirondelle
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭hirondelle


    I was lucky enough to see one at the weekend- on some abandoned cutover bog. It was perching on young Scots Pine, scanning about and then dropping down quickly then flying back up to the same tree, with rather large caterpillars each time. Really precise hunting, and it systematically went from tree to tree over about 20 minutes. Fascinating to see it at work and the technique reminded me of Spotted Flycatchers . It was a male.


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    #22
    OpenYourEyes
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 3,068 Mod ✭✭✭✭OpenYourEyes


    I had given up on seeing or hearing one this year as I haven't had a chance to visit any 'typical' habitat for them in recent weeks. And then yesterday I saw not one, but two! On Bull Island in Dublin of all places! Certainly not ideal habitat, but plenty of Meadow Pipits, which are their main host species in Ireland.


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    #23
    SouthWesterly
    Registered Users Posts: 6,493 ✭✭✭SouthWesterly


    Heard one again during the week.


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