Now it is April again, it will no doubt only be a few days before the Indian Cuckoos are heard again.

Anyone want to offer a bottle of wine for the first person to hear one? Naaah, people would only cheat.

Anyway, it would be interesting to hear of the first record of spring. Remember, they are the ones with the four-note call - there is a sound clip further back in this thread

.

I'm sure I heard one in Hung Shing Ye either yesterday morning or the previous one. Though I may just have been sleep deprived and delusional (those middle of the night baby feeding sessions).

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And a rinky dinky doo to you too!

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My inability to tolerate your ambiguity is compounding my neurosis

Just back from Germany (like last year) so missed the start of April, so don't know when the cuckoos first put in an appearance, but they are certainly back now, in full voice night and day.

With apologies to Robert Browning:

"Oh to be in Lamma, now that April's there
And whoever wakes in Lamma
Hears cuckoos everywhere
In daylight, darkness, pouring rain
One sound infuriates the brain:
The Indian cuckoo's four-note tune
In Lamma - soon!"

Yes, following Samson's "that time of the month" it's now "that time of the year" again. In the first few days of April the Indian cuckoos return to Lamma, and there will soon be a backdrop of that four-note mantra day and night - annoying or exhilarating according to taste.

As usual, I'm offering a bottle of Lammagung's best wine to the person who hears the First Indian Cuckoo of Spring.

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

Well, April 6th has come and (almost) gone, and there have been no signs or reports of any Indian cuckoos, so no records will be broken this year (unless one appears and starts calling before midnight, which is unlikely, because they usually don’t start calling for a day or two after they arrive). But I’m sure we won’t have long to wait.

Meanwhile, another species of cuckoo, the koel, is in good voice, with that persistent, far-carrying “coo-EEE” often starting well before dawn.

Yet another species of cuckoo arrived a few days ago and has been calling since then - it is the Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus), a small, brownish cuckoo with a call of around 7 notes, the first one highest, and gradually getting faster and lower pitched until it tails off into an asymptotic descending jumble. Here is the only picture I have managed to get yet. Just after this picture was taken, the bird flew on to a wire just a few metres from me, and I was just about to press the shutter when the autofocus shot back to infinity, so this is the best one I’ve got. So it’s is a challenge to others to get a better shot - I think you will agree that I have set the bar pretty low - but the hard part is actually locating the bird. Although they are easy to hear, they stay hidden and motionless for long periods, and are very difficult to get a clear shot of.


Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus)

Zep, never heard of a plaintive cuckoo - is it a parasite and if so of what species? I believe the Indian cuckoo goes for the black drongo, but is that exclusive? And how many species of cuckoo are found on Lamma?

Yes, according the book (the Birds of Hong Kong and South China) it parasitises tiny tailor birds. There is another called a large hawk cuckoo, which gives a distinctive three note call, with the stress on the second one.

7th April - still no Indian cuckoos. Enjoy your sleep.

Someone at HKBWS today posted the photo of a plaintive cuckoo that I had hoped to capture yesterday - see:

http://www.hkbws.org.hk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1988

Now 8th April, and the silence is deafening...

I hope your beloved Indian cuckoos start up soon; we are beginning to worry about you. Besides, the suspense is killing me.

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