Cuckoo: This juvenile bird has taken up residence on a small seemingly disused allotment of Withins Lane just past the tow path close to Bridge 18.
The bird was showing as soon as I arrived spying its prey from on top of a wooden post, it regularly swopped down catching caterpillars. It also felt o the nearby field where it was hunting on the ground, hopping about and walking through the tall vegetation looking for food.
Young cuckoos are about the size of a pigeon and are even more strikingly patterned than their parents. Their entire plumage is criss-crossed of strong, dark stripes. The young’s back and wing feathers are also dotted with brown spots and there is a prominent white patch on the young bird’s neck. Its yellow-rimmed eyes and feet are also eye-catching splashes of colour.
Cuckoos feed exclusively on animal food. They hunt insects, spiders, worms and other small animals. Sometimes they even eat small frogs and other amphibians. Plant food, on the other hand, is not on the cuckoo’s menu.
There was plenty of food in this small area and its disappointing to hear that there has been folk putting meals worms out for it to get better images. There's no need, the bird was landing a few feet away from my lens and was finding plenty of large caterpillars and bugs to feed on.
The cuckoo is a migratory bird that spends its winters in the tropical savannahs of Africa. It is a long-distance migrant, with the adults leaving in July or August and their young a month or so later. They return to the UK the following spring in late March or April.
I've spotted plenty of young cuckoo in my time while out surveying and birding but I have never had a bird show as well as this, crazy!
