![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy29F6ocH52Qqnxpg8zFLBIPMBc9eKaLYho6qxi7sjscz9auBBkh8ZI-whJfZ8GO9qoqkj6Yr3XTjiGE-ODxu-AJRKPsOx1EctFTTA75fU1ok1FsXy-uBJ_fkilKtWigqDJhbaGB9OziuZ/s320/cuckoo+07082010+2+small.jpg)
A trip to Farlington Marshes today lacked anything remarkably unusual but my first Northern Wheatear of the autumn was a nice surprise and it was interesting watching an immature male Peregrine take a Feral Pigeon while his sister waited nearby.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPL5K6ffGWevGi6iUaFAFaangfpyMmjmzvDdfv3Ou_4n-ZAK7Z-MGGfYePqFN2aicpHj2kVVVi11UizyZ0gX3hp4MDRiU8KSycuwDcQDYJLeTtP96bm8JyBiS79gQ7PRc0sRrPd1q092y8/s320/cuckoo+07082010+1+small.jpg)
The undoubted highlight, however, was the splendid juvenile Cuckoo which gave the best views I've ever had of this species and I think it will really take something incredulously special to beat these views; the bird sat obligingly in a bush less than 10 metres away for as long as I was there and jumped down to catch something at one point where it sat with its wings fully open for a couple of minutes.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvtgtmt3Ok36eaPJrPaDMm2Qxj3liAgcjcjPga4VkaFD62gYIYo4oCuzauRWAMZwlHd5KS1WSbxsAH2dQN-Fs_xLxqgqqfIu30A_eQyIWsTAhxiHDYaIDyN_8QrdxZXgFRuxUCdtLSYBr/s320/cuckoo+07082010+3+small.jpg)