Top score for field protection

The recent splendid spell of weather prompted some readers to inquire if we had yet heard the cuckoo. The answer is no, though this early harbinger of summer should soon be making its presence known.

It arrives in Ireland around now and its distinctive call can be heard until late June. It would not be a surprise, however, if the repetitive ‘cuck-coo’ sound is already echoing through the Burren, Co Clare, and Connemara, Co Galway, which are among the best places for the cuckoo in terms of numbers.