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May 2023
1:13am, 17 May 2023
20,933 posts
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flanker
Heard my first cuckoo on Sat out the back of Staveley, and we have our first swifts from the house too. Loads of small Canadians all over the canal towpath.
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May 2023
7:21am, 17 May 2023
2,298 posts
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Heinzster
I have an image of two year olds in icehockey gear being the small Canadians. I hope I'm right š
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May 2023
10:52am, 17 May 2023
59,580 posts
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Derby Tup
I wondered too. I had visions of teenage tourists with backpacks, or maybe a version of an old Bowie song ringing down the valley
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May 2023
12:06pm, 17 May 2023
4,641 posts
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J2R
Not heard a cuckoo yet, but I think I saw one last Thursday evening, as I was running in a group beside the river locally. It was perched on the top of a bush in the reed bed, about 30 metres away. Instant ID and maybe faulty - unfortunately I wasn't able to stop and check. I mention it only because it's unusual to see a cuckoo without hearing it. I think I've seen 1 cuckoo for every 20 I've heard before.
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May 2023
12:44pm, 17 May 2023
2,647 posts
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RunningRonnie
I heard a cuckoo at the nature reserve on Saturday morning.
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May 2023
4:49pm, 17 May 2023
6,063 posts
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TheScribbler
Mr S saw an Osprey in Welsh wales this morning.
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May 2023
7:47pm, 17 May 2023
59,617 posts
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alpenrose
I heard a cuckoo on Sunday, near Mottisfont.
Today there were lots of swallows and sand martins flying around and when we looked over the cliffs we could see something circling in the sea quite close to the shore. It never seemed to come up enough for full ID but I reckon it was a small whale as I saw a bit of tail just break the water.
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May 2023
8:47pm, 18 May 2023
4,647 posts
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J2R
The last couple of days have been good warbler days. Both days I've heard 7 different warbler species within half a mile on my local patch - chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap, garden warbler, whitethroat, sedge warbler and Cetti's warbler. Great to hear the willow warblers again, as they've been missing here the last 3-4 years. And I'm gaining confidence in my song identification of garden warblers as distinct from blackcaps. They're very similar, but the garden warbler seems to be to more continuous, with more of a low fruity warble thrown in quite often.
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May 2023
8:50pm, 18 May 2023
59,598 posts
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Derby Tup
I think the secret with garden warbler is listen hard and regularly to blackcaps then check for a blackcap that isn't a blackcap 
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May 2023
10:26pm, 18 May 2023
4,648 posts
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J2R
DT, yes! Actually, Merlin has helped me here. A couple of times I've stopped while out, thinking, hang on, that's a garden warbler, not a blackcap, isn't it, and Merlin has confirmed. I've been able to play back the sample songs and pick up on the same differences I've noted.
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