Cuckoo!

The Scrubs this morning

This morning's light drizzle felt good. I had a good feeling - surely I'd find a nice migrant or two. Common Whitethroats were much in evidence at 6.30am this morning whilst I strolled through my realm with at least 25 frequenting the embankment and grassland area. I also found another Sedge Warbler, perhaps the 4th in as many visits. A hobby flashed along the embankment and tried to unsuccessfully ambush a mixed flock of Goldfinches and Starlings.

The cloud cover broke and by this point I was walking across The Scrubs' football pitches. As I looked up I noticed an adult Cuckoo flying fairly high heading south. It suddenly plummeted and dived into the trees of Martin Bell's Wood.

This bird constituted the second ever autumn Cuckoo and the first ever autumn adult. I was well happy, especially given that none were recorded during the spring. Mind you, there was no one on The Scrubs to see anything at the time anyway!

Today, I got signed up to give a talk to the Potters Bar RSPB Group in February next year. I'm going to do my "A Year In Wormwood Scrubs' talk that I will be premiering at Bird Fair. Speaking of which, I was invited onto the 'Call My Ruff' team that will be in action on the Friday. My fellow contestants will include my mates, The Dilge and Nick 'Bug Boy' Baker.

Here's to embarrassing myself!