Hope for the Lappinch

Why not the cuckoo?

As the local street name suggests until recently, in Cheshire and elsewhere across England, the onomatopoeic call of the cuckoo was among the most familiar sounds of late Spring in the English countryside. 

No more.  

With a single exception on a local nature reserve, it has been more than 10 years since I last heard a cuckoo calling in Cheshire.  I know I am not alone.  It is a loss we and many others feel deeply. 

The reasons for their decline, as we understand it, are complex, elusive and transcend national boundaries – but likely share much in common with comparable declines in other previously familiar and much-loved English summer migrants such as the spotted flycatcher – a species we are still lucky enough to have as a summer visitor to our farm. 

For the cuckoo however, we are at a loss of what we can do to help.   More insects and habitat for their favourite host species (dunnock and pied wagtail) might help, albeit we still have plenty of each species on our land so that’s probably not a solution – at least not in isolation.  

Perhaps others more expert than us can advise but, unlike with breeding lapwing where we can still hope, for the cuckoo, we really are at a loss about what we can do. 

Answers on a postcard?