Cuckoos in a red nest

[Yspadadden]

Have you ever watched a little bird who's been duped by a cuckoo? She won't notice that her eggs have been pushed out and smashed. She won't notice that 'her' baby is towering over her whilst she exhausts herself feeding it. If you try to relieve her of that cuckoo, she'll fight for it as though it were her own.

That's nature. Cuckoos have not (as far as I know) taken over the world and driven sparrows and tits to extinction - but in hard times, they sure as heck don't help, and I see a sci-fi plot developing. What if you realised an aggressive alien group making Progress (note capital 'P') by strategically planting cuckoos in all the places little birds are threatened?

You'll have to box clever to deal with it - remember, if you attack the cuckoos, the little birds will turn on you and injure themselves the worse and anyway, a baby cuckoo has not done anything wrong. It really is not your enemy. something else is.

I get the impression cormorants are coming further inland than they used to.

Do you know why they stand with wings unfurled like a heraldic crest though? It's because, unlike most aquatic birds, their feathers aren't waterproofed with oils so they need to periodically dry out to prevent becoming too waterlogged. They swim much lower in the water than ducks etc (sometimes almost just the neck out like a periscope!), being less buoyant helps their sub-aqua performance.

That is such a great story, Vicky.

And it has a happy ending. (Am sucker for happy endings.)

Luggs, cuckoo clocks are great! I tried to teach my (very young nephew) how to tell time using a cuckoo clock.

Me: When the cuckoo comes out and says "Cuckoo!" one time, it is one o'clock. What time do you think it will be when the cuckoo comes out and says "Cuckoo" two times?

Very Young Nephew: One o'clock!

Sack, that sound amazing.

Errol, I didn't know that!

My grandfather once had a pet crane that he kept in the library. My grandparents also had pet Russian Wolfhounds and horses, so it was all of a piece.

Cormorants - I was on a boat trip up the 'Deep River' In Connecticut (satirically named, because it's not actually very deep) and as well as seeing about 20 cormorants all sunning themselves on a big rock with their wings outstretched to dry...we saw a Bald Eagle in a tree.

I thought this thread was about me but I didn't understand it so it can't be maybe it is
I love my cuckoo clock. Unsurprisingly.
It's like a mood magnifier - if I'm happy it makes me happier, if I'm cross it makes me crosser (happy and cross are.my only two moods).

One could say that you are cuckoo about cuckoo clocks. (Reference to a very old commercial "Cuckoo for cocoa pops".)

Very Young Nephew: One o'clock!

Oh bless him.

Cuckoocuckoo

(happy and cross are.my only two moods).

Me too! Hello 😄

happy and cross are my only two moods

There are other moods?

Crikey this thread is eye opening.

There's a strange sort of clanging from the clock in the hall

Is it a woodpecker?

Is it a woodpecker ?

I never think analogies are very useful (in this example, am I the tits?) but do love the sound of a cuckoo. Never seen one tho. Anyone heard one yet this year?

actually is it a metaphor or allegory I can't remember how it works

Redshoeblueshoe I think I heard that clanging, mixed in with the steeple bells?

I've only seen cuckoos on Mull. For a good chance of seeing some, go there in May, avail yourself of the services or Arthur (or one of the other knowledgeable people who do 'wildlife safari' type things). Also 2 types of eagles and >50 other bird species if you do a boat trip as well (and otters, whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals). IIRC no cormorants, it's shag territory.

If this is about the Labour Party are the cuckoos members of Momentum?

Momentum has certainly infiltrated Labour and is doing its best to get moderate MPs thrown out of the nest. Momentum of course may kill off the Labour Party.

This is like thought for the day - is Jesus, y'know in a funny way, like the Robin?

but do love the sound of a cuckoo. Never seen one tho. Anyone heard one yet this year?

No, but I heard the first Ice-cream van of the year the weekend before last... I should have written a letter to The Times.

I am very womanly (aka caring and sensitive) so for the sake of Progress (is that different to progress) I am willing to throw out my daughters and replace them with cuckoos in my downy nest. I will feed them and hug them to my ample (womanly like in porn movies because any other type of boobs are not feminine enough) breasts, particularly if the cuckoos have bollocks and shenises.
OP bring me the baby birds, I am a motherly mner who comes out at the top of the Barbie-GI Joe scale, not like the rest of the witches on here.

Just a couple of questions before I start fostering birds - does my nest have to be red, if so, why? What is the something else that is my enemy?

Cats. If you foster birds, cats are a bad idea.

is Jesus, y'know in a funny way, like the Robin?

My immediate thought was Robin as in Batman and Robin. Da na na na na na - Batman!

*Gerda^ you've blown my mind.

Do ice cream vans really...hibernate?

This is a great thread 😄

This is a great thread 😄

Isn't it?