07:45 a burst of cuckoo-ing from the west side of the bog. I was studying a pair of stonechats on one of the heathy domes to see if they were feeding young yet when I heard loud and clear, not a muffled wood pigeon, but a Cuckoo! By the third call I was jolted by the thought that this is much earlier than I normally hear one but perhaps it had travelled in with the early pieds. I know the Springwatch cuckoos are still in Africa or were couple of days ago.
I only saw and heard one pair of Curlew over most of the north bog. The male circled and called in huge orbits,landing in between times,this lasted 45 minutes from 07:15; if I had been walking I might have recorded it 3 times.
Also Skylark singing with soft return calls from its mate scurrying about on a heathery bank and a passing Wheatear. More Woodcock feathers of indeterminate age under a well-used plucking post probably the work of our local Peregrine.