Beeding Brooks - Reed bed birds and three Cuckoos

On an evening stroll over Beeding Brooks we heard the chuntering song of Reed Warblers, the muted, exasperated song of Reed Buntings and a sudden outburst from a Cetti's Warbler.  The Mute Swan's nest that we saw the last time we were over this way was now deserted and we later saw a pair with four signets. We diverted across the fields to avoid disturbing a flock of ten Greylag Geese which are usually to be seen further up the valley near Henfield.
Best of all was the sight of three Cuckoos careering across the meadows heading southwards to where we had heard Reed Warblers singing.

First Cuckoo

We heard our first cuckoo yesterday in Windfall Wood Common near Lurgashall.  It called for a minute or so, quite near, but we did not see it.  The BTO is reporting its nearest tracked cuckoo location as the middle of the Sahara, so this one is well ahead of them.  Birds of Sussex gives the earliest ever arrival as 15 March (1936), but that was exceptional.   However, the average first arrival date has gradually got earlier.  1962-71 it was 11 April; by 2002-11, it was 2 April.  So this date of 9 April is not so unusual by current standards.