The Common Cuckoo – The sound of spring

Today while walking in stunning Camblin woods next to Kilclooney with a friend, I had the first sounds of the common cuckoo. Each year in the month of April when out hiking locally in the stunning Waterford countryside I have this moment of mindfulness to hear the sound of the cuckoo.

I remember hiking in the Comeragh mountains in April 2020 with my same friend at the foothills of Knockaunapeebra next to crough woods and having the moment of witnessing the cuckoo fly right over us and followed by his female mate, turn mid air and look at both of us while flying to the nearby crough woods. Moment like that just make nature and the experiences we can have if we take a moment to stop, breathe and take in our surroundings.
Another moment was sitting on an ancient rock on Cruachaun Paorach, relaxing after climbing to the trig, and suddenly we could hear the cuckoo calling from the nearby woods.
As a child growing up in the foothills of Deelish Mountain, it was often I would hear the cuckoo in the nearby woods calling for a potential female mate, to me it was the first signs of real spring into summer.

The cuckoo comes in April.

She sings her song in May.

In the middle of June

she changes her tune

and in July she flies away!

Some Interesting facts about the cuckoo

• • Migratory bird who spends the winter in Africa and returns to Ireland in spring
  • Though there are 54 species of Old World cuckoos, just two live in Europe; most live in Africa, Asia and Australasia.
  • The common cuckoo is the only member of the family that calls cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo
  • Each season a female will lay between 12 and 22 eggs, all in different nests.
  • A female cuckoo will generally lay her eggs in a nest belonging to the same species of bird that reared her.
  • The female will cleverly disguise her eggs by colouring the eggs to match the host nest she lays them in.
  • Though cuckoo eggs usually resemble those of their host, around 20% are rejected so never hatch.
  • Adult cuckoos move back to Africa as soon as the breeding season is over
  • The cuckoo spends nine months of the year in tropical Africa, where it has never been heard to sing
  • Musicians have been influenced by the call of the cuckoo i.e. Cuckoo Waltz recorded in 1922

Hear more stories from when you go on a StepsBackThruTime guided walking tour experience in either Kilmacthomas or  Dungarvan harbour town. Don’t miss out!
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