Sunday, May 06, 2012

On Wild Things

Wild Thing.....

You make my heart.....

.......sing!

Bluebells spotted in Trentham Estate Woods as we walked there yesterday morning.  Last year when we walked amongst the bluebells we heard a cuckoo.  I was hoping to hear one this year but it wasn't to be.  Does this mean that cuckoos weren't there this year or does it just mean I wasn't there at the right time to hear them?  I was please to see on the news that two of the cuckoos being tracked as part of the BTO's 'Tracking Cuckoos to Africa project'  have returned to where they were tagged with a small satellite device last year before their migration.  All but one of the birds made the journey through France and Spain into Africa.  Chris, one of the cuckoos, arrived back in Thetford Forest, Norfolk, at the beginning of May and Lyster, was back in Norfolk somewhere near Reedham on the Norfolk Broads about the same time.  Unfortunately Clement, Martin and Kasper are missing presumed dead.  This project will help enormously in the research to find out why the population of cuckoos in Britain is in decline.


I love this image of a cuckoo taken from my well-thumbed copy of  - 'A Country Woman's Journal' - by Margaret Shaw.   She writes on April 17th 1928....

'Heard the cuckoo before 6a.m. got up and saw him sitting in a tree opposite my window.  His tail goes up and his head goes down each time he cuckoos, a very wooden looking bird'

How wonderful to see a cuckoo from your bedroom window!

18 comments:

  1. Your walk in the woods is just what I need this morning.
    The cuckoo is one of my favourite birds, followed by the corncrake.
    In Kinvara, Galway this weekend is the Cuckoo festival and from my family's postings on FB, there appears to be at least one that is keeping someone awake singing at 3.00 a.m. Some are never happy !!! hee hee

    The head going down as the tail goes up is a beautiful visual. I hope you get the pleasure of hearing one this week.

    Cuckoo, Cuckoo

    Helenxx

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  2. Hello! I've just found your lovely blog, and I thought I would like to say Hi and how much I have enjoyed reading it - I have found your posts very interesting! I have just become your latest follower & will look forward to reading more!! What a beautiful walk in the woods - I heard the cuckoo this year for the first time in a long day, I really had to stop and listen for a moment, such a rare thing these days. Have a lovely day, Marina x

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  3. Bluebells are so reminiscent of my days out to the countryside as a child. We could pick them back then! I have never seen a cuckoo and not sure that I have ever heard one either! x

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  4. I sometimes wonder if tagging animals is one of the reason for their decline.

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  5. Such wonderful "freebies" in your countryside!
    Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x

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  6. Bluebells are so lovely aren't they? I've heard the cuckoo four days in the last week and especially today, he was very enthusiastic indeed:) You've reminded me to get out my Margaret Shaw book - I got it after reading about it in one of your posts last year. 'Wild Thing' - I go back far enough to remember that song, great one it was too. Troggs or Kinks?

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  7. I love a bluebell wood - so special because they are very fleeting. I often hear a cuckoo from my bedroom, but Ive never seen one - however I have seen an owl or 2 . xxxxx

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  8. Lovely Bluebells. Hopefully next week we'll be back to the Lickeys to see the carpets of bluebells....please weather stay dry for a few days. I quite often hear the cuckoo in Sutton Park but have not been there for a while. x

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  9. I've seen my first proper bluebells this year today. We've been out walking. I haven't heard any cuckoos though. I think I've only ever heard them when we've walked on Kinver Edge in spring.

    The country womans journal sounds very interesting. I have the Edith Holden one which I picke up in a book sale years ago.

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  10. How lovely to hear a cuckoo, I can't remember the last time I heard one, definitely not down here in Essex. Lovely post Rosie. I'm in the throes of getting another essay out and can't wait to get back out there with my camera after Thursday. Patricia

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  11. Such lovely photos hon! It must have been a magical walk. Though shame about not hearing a cuckoo - I have no idea what one sounds like, lol. Have a great week - Becks xxx

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  12. Wild things - your title made me think of that song called "Wild Thing" with lyrics saying Wild thing, you make my heart sing.

    That part fits your pictures of the lovely flowers.

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  13. Hi Ruth and Rowan - yes I had the words of the 1960s song 'Wild thing' going round in my head as I wrote the post and the recording I remember is by The Troggs although I also think Jimi Hendrix performed it as well:)

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  14. Bluebell woods are magical places, are they not? We have lovely bluebells woods close to Berry Pomeroy Castle, ruins, and reputedly one of the most haunted places in the UK. But the woods are glorius and tranquil.
    Margaret P

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  15. Bluebells and cuckoos are such powerful portents for the arrival of summer, my next door neighbours garden is a riot of bluebells, they almost glow after the rain has been. They are doing a lot of 'glowing' this year!

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  16. I remember seeing the bluebells while in England once in May. It was so pretty. We just remarked this past weekend that the cold this winter did not have the bad effect on the birds as the cold and snow the winter before. I hope you do get to hear a cuckoo before the season is over...

    You give the best book tips! I am now off to search for that journal as I love books like that.

    Hugs from Holland ~
    Heidi

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  17. How did I miss this post - when it is all about my favourite things, woods, bluebells and reading journals.

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  18. Hello Rosie, can I make a suggestion?

    You might consider publishing your blogg into a book format/journal too.

    I've never used such a service and am not related to this one example:
    http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

    I'm learning about your part of England; thanks. T.

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