Bird photographers in Britain have had a wonderful opportunity to obtain high quality photographs of Common Cuckoo over a number of years at Thursley Common in Surrey, Southern England with the repeated visits of "Colin the Cuckoo". I am not sure why the name "Colin" was selected other than the obvious alliteration but the fact that he has a name reflects the level of familiarity birders have with this particular bird. Common Cuckoos are migratory birds that spend much of their time in Africa but migrating to Europe to breed. They are only usually present in UK for a few months (April-June) as they have no need to hang around and raise chicks, having dispensed that duty onto other birds. In June 2021 I visited Thursley to see Colin the Cuckoo for myself and despite the fact that I had a to wait a long time for his appearance, he did not disappoint, giving incredble views of a bird that is usually only seen from a distance.
To see Colin the Cuckoo in action check out my video - https://youtu.be/QOWNgLYVl1Q