So who, or what, is Colin. To most photographers, Colin is known across the country as a very obliging Cuckoo spending his summer at Thursley Common in Surrey.

Cuckoos are not the easiest bird to photograph, usually very shy, but Colin had been performing for the cameras for the last nine years. Must be the most photographed bird in Britain. He only eats live mealworms, the bigger the better, and usually attends the site around early to mid morning and late afternoon.

A friend and I left for Surrey mid morning, arriving at the car park at lunchtime and then trekked the nearly 11/2 miles to the field where he performs. Arriving, there were 10 or so others waiting for him but he had not been seen - always worrying. We were informed by a local that he flies into a nearby tree, calls and then flies down to the perches already set up - no hide necessary.

Well, at 4-o-clock, without a sound, he suddenly landed on the furthest perch and surveyed his audience and called.

The sound of the cameras going off was deafening!!!! He then flew into a closer perch to feed.

He then tookoff

to land on a different perch and pose, calling again.

And so it continued for 40 minutes or so, providing fantastic photo opportunities.

He finally flew off, fully fed to leave the supporting cast - two pairs of Stonechats, taking the opportunity to feed on the mealworms to take to their young in nests behind us.

And to end the day, the usual booring Pheasant strolled in {well they rarely do anything interesting).

We had booked rooms at a nearby hotel so we went there and returned in the morning to see if Colin would oblige us with another session.

Strategically placing the mealworms, the Stonechats came in again.

and a female Chaffinch joined the feast.

Finally Colin arrived.

headed for the food perches, feeding very close.

before taking off again

and continuing his performance although it was cut short by him being spooked by two dogs, both off leads, despite all the signs saying 'Dogs on Leads'. Some people are just plain ignorant.

Finally heavy clouds and forecast rain ended the day by lunchtime.

An amazing experience.

More photos in the Recent Additions section of this website.