Doves and cuckoos

Yesterday morning I heard my first cuckoo - today I heard it several times! Good to know they are back, and though they are a parasitic bird (poor little reed warblers!), they are a bird in trouble in the UK, so good to hear them at all.

The other nice visitor to our garden is the turtle dove - though I heard them regularly last year, I never saw them. This year, a pair are actually visiting our bird feeders! The siskins, tits and woodpecker all make a real mess when they grab the sunflowers out of our feeders, so the ground feeding birds (chaffinch, dunnock, pheasant and pigeons) love clearing up for me.

These are a rarity now, and such a treat to see them. 

Useful links:

RSPB - cuckoo

RSPB - turtle dove