Today I heard the Cuckoo.

As we walked today I heard the cuckoo for the first time this year.

For those who may not know the Cuckoo is a summer migrant to England. It makes no nest of its own prefering to lay its egg in another birds nest leaving the host bird to rear its chick. The Cuckoo chick being larger is fed and the host chicks die.
The cuckoo has a call that is two notes and sounds like its name.....Cuc....Koo.

We usually hear the first one mid April and I have been listening for it.

The Cuckoo
In April I open my bill
In May I sing night and day
In June I change my tune
In July away I fly
In August away I must
Far away over the sea
To Spain I fly again
Day and night
I take my flight
Cuckoo Goodbye to you



April's Charms

When April scatters charms of primrose gold
Among the copper leaves in thickets old,
And singing skylarks from the meadows rise,
To twinkle like black stars in sunny skies;
When I can hear the small woodpecker ring
Time on a tree for all the birds that sing;
And hear the pleasant cuckoo, loud and long --
The simple bird that thinks two notes a song;
When I can hear the woodland brook, that could
Not drown a babe, with all his threatening mood;
Upon these banks the violets make their home,
And let a few small strawberry blossoms come:
When I go forth on such a pleasant day,
One breath outdoors takes all my cares away;
It goes like heavy smoke, when flames take hold
Of wood that's green and fill a grate with gold.

William Henry Davies