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Science/nature/environment

I could have sworn...

(8 Posts)
JackyB Sun 14-Feb-21 16:22:22

... I heard a cuckoo this morning!

And later in the morning, pigeons.

I has been beautifully sunny and the temperatures have crept back over freezing point in the middle of the day. Still loads of snow, though.

(Central Europe, but very similar latitude to the South of the UK)

Callistemon Sun 14-Feb-21 16:28:25

The pigeons were flirting in the garden this morning - it must be St Valentine's Day ❤ She wasn't keen though.

We haven't heard a cuckoo round here for years sad although I do hear an owl hooting at night.

Redhead56 Sun 14-Feb-21 17:01:40

I watch the birds from our kitchen window last weekend there was a sparrow hawk on the fence. I could not believe my eyes and was disappointed my camera was upstairs.
It’s not unusual to see them as we live within yards of the local woods and country park. But it was so close and it was eating the fat balls I put out for the garden birds.

Oopsadaisy1 Sun 14-Feb-21 17:05:36

I heard a Cuckoo during our lockdown last year, the first time for many years, owls are quite common, so are the Red Tail Kites.
Pigeons were doing their courting on the Telephone cables this morning, nothing odd there as they are at it all year round.

MiniMoon Sun 14-Feb-21 19:50:14

It is doubtful that you heard a cuckoo. They usually arrive here in April. They don't stay very long, most leaving for Africa from the end of June and into July. They have mostly all migrated by August.
It was more likely to have been a wood pigeon.

Hetty58 Sun 14-Feb-21 19:53:35

It's actually turning warmer out there, with temperatures rising overnight, for a change. Goodbye and good riddance to the snow and ice!

Callistemon Sun 14-Feb-21 21:36:14

Yes, they're here all year round too but are suddenly getting rather frisky! ❤
Miss Pigeon didn't seem impressed.

MiniMoon Mon 15-Feb-21 00:02:08

The collared doves are starting to build a nest in our hedge. Mrs dove was rooting about underneath it for suitable material, picking up sticks and dead leaves and then rejecting them, until she found just the right one.
They haven't chosen that site before, so it will be fun watching them.