As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday, 2 June 2014

Rare sighting of cuckoo in Erith Marshes

11:28am Tuesday 27th May 2014 in NewsBy Heloise Wood

Despite the grim weather, it appears Spring has definitely sprung.

A cuckoo has been snapped in Erith, bringing joy to local bird-lovers, as the species is declining rapidly.

Experts have blamed a reduction in the large caterpillars which the cuckoos feast on with a loss of habitat in their African wintering grounds.

Twitter user @MikeFRobinson, who records wildlife sightings across south east London, posted the snap of the beautiful bird today (May 27) after originally seeing it on Friday.

He said: “The cuckoo, first seen on 23 May, still on the Erith Marshes four days later.”

The adult birds normally arrive in late March or April and depart in July or August and the younger birds leave a month or so later.

The Erith Marshes - near the Crossness Sewage Treatment Works - contain a huge and varied wildlife including the threatened water vole, birds, plants and invertebrates.


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