Janet Baraclough wrote:

snip
I've noticed that cuckoos call cuckoo while perched, but not while
flying.You can hardly ever spot one in a tree and I've never seen
one
on the ground. When they are flying between trees they make a very
different,husky croaking call which sounds roughly like " watchitty
watchitty". If you look then you might see one; quite large and tend
to fly low, short distances only, in a rather stealthy manner.

Dare I risk it?
I'd be chicken not to rise to the bait.
I'll be accused of pontificating again.
(Deep breath)
Cuckoos do have a range of alternative calls. But, early in the
season, the familiar 'cuckoo' is the norm and is uttered ...... both
in flight and at rest.
Depending on which author one refers to, the alternative calls range
from
'a deep wow-wow-wow' through,
'a hoarse coughing whuff-whuff-whuff',
'an explosive bubbling chuckle'
'a long bubbling note',
to 'a mewing note' when eyeing up intended foster parents.
So Janet's 'watchitty-watchitty' is certainly within that spectrum.
But, cuckooing in flight ........ is acknowledged.

Wait for it, wait for it. ;-)

--
ned

The message
from "ned" contains these words:

But, cuckooing in flight ........ is acknowledged.

I bow to Malcolm's expertise, and cheerfully and politely acknowledge
that I was wrong about cuckoo sound effects during cuckoo flight.

Wait for it, wait for it. ;-)

Can you fly, Ned?

Janet.

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "ned" contains these words:

But, cuckooing in flight ........ is acknowledged.

I bow to Malcolm's expertise, and cheerfully and politely
acknowledge that I was wrong about cuckoo sound effects during
cuckoo
flight.

Wait for it, wait for it. ;-)

Can you fly, Ned?

LOL
I might try to impersonate the sound but, no, I don't think a vertical
drop from a ladder constitutes flying. ;-)

--
ned

Ophelia wrote in message
...

"Jo Ling" wrote in message
...


Oh dear, you really don't know much about birds, do you? Wrens are
smaller
than sparrows (DON'T ask what a sparrow looks like - even though the
RSPB
is
worried that they are in decline!) Wrens are also female SAILORS
(Women's
Royal Navy Service) not soldiers.

Jo we had a pair of tree sparrows, a pair of goldfinches and a pair of
collared doves investigating the tree near our window. A pair of
blackbirds
won the bid. The goldfinch cock was fighting himself in his reflection in
our window. It was quite sad. He came back 3 times during the day to
see
if the 'intruder' had gone and put up a spirited fight with himself..
They
didn't return The doves were quite interested but he was eyeing his
reflection up. The blackbirds don't seem too worried although their nest
is higher than our window and further back near the wall. They pay their
rent everyday with the beautiful singing. I draw a veil over the splodges
on the window. It is a wee price worth paying.



"wee" being the operative word! Ho ho ho! Here in this corner of Sussex we
get blue tits, starlings, woodpigeons, magpies and blackbirds in our garden.
Also the occasional green woodpecker and jay. I do put nuts out for the
birds, but the squirrels are always first in the queue! We can hear cuckoos
but never seem to see them. At dusk we get the occasional bat flittering
around our oak tree, and at night we hear the odd owl ... and unfortunately
rather a lot of Boeings and Airbuses, but at least they never come into the
garden...

Jo

The message
from "Jo Ling" contains these words:

Here in this corner of Sussex we
get blue tits, starlings, woodpigeons, magpies and blackbirds in our garden.
Also the occasional green woodpecker and jay. I do put nuts out for the
birds, but the squirrels are always first in the queue! We can hear cuckoos
but never seem to see them.

I've noticed that cuckoos call cuckoo while perched, but not while
flying.You can hardly ever spot one in a tree and I've never seen one on
the ground. When they are flying between trees they make a very
different,husky croaking call which sounds roughly like " watchitty
watchitty". If you look then you might see one; quite large and tend to
fly low, short distances only, in a rather stealthy manner.

At dusk we get the occasional bat flittering
around our oak tree, and at night we hear the odd owl ... and unfortunately
rather a lot of Boeings and Airbuses, but at least they never come into the
garden...

Just as well; I doubt if your bird table is long enough for one to land on.

Janet.

In article , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from "Jo Ling" contains these words:

Here in this corner of Sussex we
get blue tits, starlings, woodpigeons, magpies and blackbirds in our garden.
Also the occasional green woodpecker and jay. I do put nuts out for the
birds, but the squirrels are always first in the queue! We can hear cuckoos
but never seem to see them.

I've noticed that cuckoos call cuckoo while perched, but not while
flying.

They certainly do call cuckoo while flying.

You can hardly ever spot one in a tree and I've never seen one on
the ground.

They take a lot of their food from the ground, watching from a perch,
tree, fence post or rock outcrop, and then flying down to grab,
especially, caterpillars and beetles. When on the look out for a nest to
parasitise they will adopt a concealed perch, e.g. lying along a branch
from which they can watch the host species nest building.

When they are flying between trees they make a very
different,husky croaking call which sounds roughly like " watchitty
watchitty". If you look then you might see one; quite large and tend to
fly low, short distances only, in a rather stealthy manner.

That might be so in well wooded countryside, but in our more open
terrain they can be quite conspicuous.

--
Malcolm

Janet Baraclough wrote:

snip
I've noticed that cuckoos call cuckoo while perched, but not while
flying.You can hardly ever spot one in a tree and I've never seen
one
on the ground. When they are flying between trees they make a very
different,husky croaking call which sounds roughly like " watchitty
watchitty". If you look then you might see one; quite large and tend
to fly low, short distances only, in a rather stealthy manner.

Dare I risk it?
I'd be chicken not to rise to the bait.
I'll be accused of pontificating again.
(Deep breath)
Cuckoos do have a range of alternative calls. But, early in the
season, the familiar 'cuckoo' is the norm and is uttered ...... both
in flight and at rest.
Depending on which author one refers to, the alternative calls range
from
'a deep wow-wow-wow' through,
'a hoarse coughing whuff-whuff-whuff',
'an explosive bubbling chuckle'
'a long bubbling note',
to 'a mewing note' when eyeing up intended foster parents.
So Janet's 'watchitty-watchitty' is certainly within that spectrum.
But, cuckooing in flight ........ is acknowledged.

Wait for it, wait for it. ;-)

--
ned

The message
from "ned" contains these words:

But, cuckooing in flight ........ is acknowledged.

I bow to Malcolm's expertise, and cheerfully and politely acknowledge
that I was wrong about cuckoo sound effects during cuckoo flight.

Wait for it, wait for it. ;-)

Can you fly, Ned?

Janet.

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from "ned" contains these words:

But, cuckooing in flight ........ is acknowledged.

I bow to Malcolm's expertise, and cheerfully and politely
acknowledge that I was wrong about cuckoo sound effects during
cuckoo
flight.

Wait for it, wait for it. ;-)

Can you fly, Ned?

LOL
I might try to impersonate the sound but, no, I don't think a vertical
drop from a ladder constitutes flying. ;-)

--
ned