Great Spotted Cuckoo - Salthouse, 23 Jul 09

I couldn't get to the Great Spotted Cuckoo (a Norfolk tick for me) when it first turned up last night as I was off to watch The Dickies at The Waterfront in Norwich, so as soon as it turned up this morning, I was off! It was really distant, and I mean REALLY distant, when I first arrived (518 metres according to Google maps), but a bit of local knowledge meant that I could get much closer to the bird without disturbing it and got some really nice views, photographs and video. The bird sat in the same place for the 45 minutes or so that I watched it, often falling asleep for a while before waking up and preening. About 15 minutes after I left the bird flew off and was only seen briefly that evening before disappearing for good.

Here are a selection of photographs and a video of the bird.

Once started, click 'HQ' for high-quality video.

Pushing some Zzz's before pushing off