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Every spring, reapers arrive here in Britain to raise their young. But so does one of the most remarkable birds, the cuckoo, one of nature's greatest tricksters. It fools these unsuspecting weed wobblers into raising its chicks. And I'm going to film this incredible story. I'm winging through the water on the edge of this incredible habitat of the reed bed. My goal this year is to film an incredible little bird that suspends its nests in these reads. That amazing song you can hear is the reed wobbler. They've arrived from Africa and they'll be building their nests in these reeds any day now.
So, there's a wobbling singing in just over here. There's just one flying overhead. And there's another one singing in that direction. It's just a case now of tracking down those nests. And where Reed Wobblers nest, there's a chance one of nature's greatest tricksters will follow, the cuckoo. So, walking through the reed beds makes it easy to spot the nests. Just keep a real close eye as passing through. I've got a nest in here. Now, this one's fairly well built. I'll just get a photograph. Yeah, the nest is almost complete, but there's no eggs in there yet. But stunning little structure. This has been built in a matter of days. That's incredible.
So, this is the first wobblin nest I found. And I'm going to number this number one. Just popping this little tag on here. So I'm going to come back each day to check this nest. So I'll know when they lay, when they're due to hatch, and ultimately when the birds fledge. Finding my way through this maze of reads isn't easy. I've just got a start of a nest in here. And this is what I've been looking for when they first start trying to tie some reads together. This is going to be a good one to film. So, that one's nest two. The next day, I put a remote camera on it. So, I'm going to head into the swan bag to see if I can see the nest being built.
Right, I'm just setting up the live feed to the wobbler nest. But the great thing about being in here, I can keep an eye on the swans's nest as well, and she's there incubating the eggs. This is just a wonderful place to be. I'm just going to wait for the wobbler to come back. Oh, look at that. It's here already. And I think this one's the male. And the mates in the background here. Yeah, that's the male. A little bit redder. Got his crest up. And this is the female. He's coming to check the camera out. And she's sitting in the nest there. But look at him. is actually pecking of camera.
They're intrigued by the camera, but they're not disturbed by it. Look, they're back with more nesting material. And just look at the way they're actually weaving the nesting material around these reads. So, this is just incredible. And it's only when you see them building nests like this, you realize how they're actually making the nest stay up on these reads. Cuz the reads are very slippery. They're actually using these leaves to hold the nest in place. The leaf node is the anchor to all of these beautiful little nests. Further off again now for more nesting material. From the hide I can see how busy they are collecting it. So the wobble is back and what it's brought with it this time is actually a
piece from the reed seed head itself and it's actually weaving it around with all of these other nesting materials. You got moss in there. And this white here, that's actually the down from a willow flower. Oh, just look at that. It's doing a little dance in the nest, creating a cup shape, ready for the eggs to be laid in there. Lights off again from our nesting material. Oh, it's coming through the reads. It's got a really long piece of dead grass this time. And just look at the way it's weaving it around the reads there. And all this structure is done with just its beak.
Really patiently weaving all of these different materials into place. Look at that. The reason these nests are suspended over the water is protect them from predators. To start off with, these nests are really fragile, but as they add more material, they become stronger and stronger. It's just incredible how fast they move through these reads. They really are built for this environment. But what a privilege it is to sit here and see this process. I can actually hear a cuckoo calling in the distance. Reed wobblers are actually host species for the cuckoo. They lay their eggs in these nests. And I was actually lucky enough to film a cuckoo chick in a weed wobbler nest right here 30 years ago.
I'll have to make it this year's mission to see if I can find a cocoa egg or a chicken one of his wobbler nests. So, I'm going to head out, leave this recording, and see if I can find some more nests. I'm going to find as many reed wobbler nests as possible this year to maximize my chances of finding a cookaway. I've got another nest in here. And this one's well built as well. Wow. So, this one's got three eggs in it already. So, there may lay a fourth egg in there tomorrow. So, that's a really good nest in there.
It's getting really difficult going through here. Although I've just found another nest through there. So, I've come around this side to see the nest cuz I'm really mindful of the environment here. I don't want to damage anything here and open it up to predators. But that nest is almost complete. No eggs in it yet, but they'll be laying any day. So, I've just found the fifth nest through here and it's deep in the reed bed. So, I'm just going to come back with a pole camera to see if there's any eggs in it cuz I don't want to go in there and disturb anything. So, even using a pole, it's not an easy task to check the nest.
There's two eggs in this one. I've just been checking the wobbler nest and it's really important I keep a diary of what's happening each day to predict the dates when the wobblers lay, incubate, and when eggs might hatch. With nest two now complete, they should be laying eggs any day now. So that evening I build a hide closer. I'm going to have to roll this cuz it's too heavy to lift now. It's been in the water. Now the hide is complete. I'm going to leave them overnight and return with my cameras in the morning. I've got the cameras set up on the nest and I'm just waiting for the wobblers to come back.
It's not long before they return. And by the way she's looking at it, she could have laid an egg first thing this morning. I slowly moved my camera closer to get a better look. And they're going to lay now one a day until the clutch is complete. On day two, there's a second egg, another on day three, and on day four of fourth. It's been a couple of days since the fourth egg was laid, so it looks like the clutch is now complete. They'll incubate the eggs for around 2 weeks. While I've been filming the wobblers, I've been hearing a male cuckoo calling,
but I haven't seen it yet. So, I'm heading out to find it. Oh, there it is. Right in the top of that tree. Pulling. And it's such an iconic call, but not many people actually get to see the cuckoo. And only males make this call. He's calling like this for just one reason. He's trying to attract the mate. So, the males just finished calling and flown off. And this is quite typical of them. They travel around the territory calling from the top of the trees trying to attract the female.
She can lay over a dozen eggs in a season, and I'm hoping some of them will be in these reed beds. That afternoon, I find another nine wobbler nests, all of varying stages. But with 14 nests to monitor now, I'm more confident I'll find a cuckoo egg this year. Now I'm catching up with the reed wobblers whose eggs are about to hatch. There she is. Look at that. She's looking at the eggs. It looks like she's almost counting them there. That's wonderful.
She's settling in to brew those eggs. Yesterday, she was hopping straight onto the nest. But look at her now. She's really inspecting her eggs. She can probably hear the chicks tapping from inside. Look at that. The male's on his way. And he's brought a bit of food for the female, but she's headed straight off the nest. So, I think he's going to go to brood in. I love it when they shuffle down onto the eggs. And I can see him just right through here. But there's a slight reaction there. I can hear the female coming, I think.
Yeah, he's off. So, the female must be on her way. Oh, yeah. She's there again. She's checking the eggs and taking over brooding. So, she does the majority of the brooding, especially at night. But he comes and takes over for little stints relieving her. But this time, he just comes in to feed her. It's only been 12 days since the wobbler started incubating and amazingly they could actually hatch tomorrow. So, I've just got set up and one of the chicks has hatched already. I've just got to wait for the next one now. This is fascinating. The warless testing the strength of that newly hatched chick. They've got to be strong if they're going to survive the cold spring. The female's getting more fidgety. Checking
the eggs. I think another one's going to hatch soon. The female's just left. Oh, and look at that. The second egg hatching. The chick's actually prizing itself out of the shell. That's just amazing. She's just taken the eggshell out and she's taking it through the reeds. She'll drop that far away from the nest so she doesn't attract attention to her newly hatched chicks. The second chick's only a few hours old and it's just had his first feed.
It's taken over 2 days for them all to hatch, but we've now got four healthy chicks in that nest. With plentiful insects coming in, they're going to grow quickly. She stays on a nest brood in while he delivers her the food and then she's feeding the chicks underneath her. It's absolutely magical to watch. Although I found 14 reed wobbler nests, my mission is to find a cuckoo chick being raised. So day after day, my search continues. Oh, there's another wobbler nest just through here. And this is a new one. I haven't got my camera with me, so I'll just check inside the nest. I can't see into the nest at the moment.
Oh, look at that. I've actually found a cuckoo chick. It's been over 30 years since I've seen this. A little cuckoo in a Reed Wler's nest. Can't wait to get my cameras on this. So, that evening, I build a hide on this new nest where the cuckoo chick is. There we go. The hide's complete. So, it's just a case of leaving it overnight now at 10:00 in the morning with the cameras. I can see right through this nest. Brilliant. Cuckoo. chicks will push out the host eggs or chicks to remove competition. So when I filmed a cuckoo 30 years ago, I had one high eight camera and things have moved on a lot since then and it's going to take me a few trips to take all this equipment in.
So the nest is about 50 m away down this channel. The swans have made this channel to access their nest just behind me, but it makes a really easy way for me to get around. Right, I can't wait to get this camera equipment set up. And the reed wobblers in there feeding a cuckoo chick with me actually stood here. That's absolutely amazing. Right, I'll get it set up. Now that's a slight alarm call. I need to stay really still. I now have two hides set up so I can film the reed wobblers and the cuckoo chick in tandem and watch their fascinating progression through to fledging. With two nests to film, I spend
my morning with the reed wobblers and the afternoon filming a cuckoo's development. Right, I've got the cameras rolling. So, this cuckoo chick's only about a week old and it's already filling a nest. Cuckoo are parasitic birds laying their eggs in host species nests like these reed wobblers. These chicks are raised by the unsuspecting host species. The cuckoo's duty is over after egg laying and has no part in incubation or raising the chick. I found 15 reed wobbler nests this year and thankfully the cuckoo laid its egg in the strongest looking one. That was amazing. Both wobblers came in to feed the cuckoo and they didn't take any notice of me or the hide.
The wobblers sometimes look amused by this huge chick, but they're still raising it as if it's their own. The reebler chicks are now 4 days old and the female's just there brooding them. The male's here with a beak full of insects. This time he's feeding the chicks. As these chicks grow, the females spending more time catching insects, too. Reed wobbler chicks have black dots on their tongues. These are thought to act like targets when the adults are delivering food.
Back over at the cuckoo nest, one of the adults has just come in to feed the chick. And it's incredible to see how red the gape is as it opens his beak. Just listen to that cuckoo calling. That's designed to sound like a whole brood of wobbler chicks. And it's doing their job because it's encouraging these warblers to bring more food. We both parents have arrived now and they're literally bringing in food every few minutes. It's just incredible to watch.
The parents have really got the work cut out here cuz this chick will actually eat more than whole brood of reblas. There's a wobbler here now and it's brought a damsel fly this time. The damsel flies are really quite beautiful. But for the cuckoo, it's just more food. With all this food going in, it's got to go somewhere. But these reed wobbers like to keep the nest tidy and they carry away the fecal sack. And this is incredible. The female's actually trying to brood this chick. This is really comical to watch. That cuckoo chick now is way, way bigger than the reed wobblers. This is one of the most incredible relationships in the animal kingdom. The cuckoo chick
requires so much upkeep that the reed wobbler pair will only lightly raise a single chicken a year. Cuckoo chicks take longer to raise than their own brood. Reed wobbler chicks will typically fledge as young as 12 days old. But cuckoo chicks take a week longer, fledging at around 19 days old. This means they're only likely to raise one single cuckoo chick as opposed to two broods of their own in a breeding season. This cuckoo chick is developing really fast. And at around 9 days old, you can really see its feathers starting to come through now.
These two reed wobblers are run off their feet. This cuckoo chick is constantly calling for food. Thought to compensate for the hosts only seeing one mouth to feed. That's absolutely beautiful. The cuckoo chick's printing its feathers. The weight of this cuckoo chick is really weighing this nest down, especially in this wind. When I first found this nest, I tied the reads together beneath it. And if I hadn't done that, this nest would have collapsed by now. Oh wow, look at that. The female is delivering food, and the male arrives with more. One of the flies is still alive and tries to escape, but the male immediately recaptures it and delivers it back.
Everyone knows the story about cuckoo laying their eggs in other birds nests, but seeing it playing out in real life is quite incredible. I've been watching this cuckoo a week now and it's incredible to see just how much it's grown. Having watched wers bring up their own chicks, it certainly looks like it takes more food to bring up a single cooker. But feeding four males is still no easy feat. The chicks are so ready for food, they're calling out whenever there's any movement. Sadly for them, it's just the wind in the reach this time. But the adults are never far away, returning with food soon.
These reed wall blood chicks are now 4 days old. The female is still brooding them and the male is busy hunting. But these chicks are growing fast and are hungry. So the female joins the male in hunting for food. Cuckoo choose hosts with a soft insect diet. These reed wobblers are kept busy. I've noticed the reed wobblers are bringing in larger insects to feed this bigger cuckoo chick. Like this damsel fly and even this bumblebee mimic hoverfly. In the other nest, the reed wobblers are bringing in smaller insects to feed their brood. And what goes in must come out. Fecal sacks are either taken away or eaten. In the early days anyway, the nutritional value decreases as time passes
due to the digestive tracks of the chicks developing. But these chicks grow quickly and the female struggles to brood them all. And we'll spend more and more time hunting to feed these chicks. As the days go by, brooding becomes even more difficult. The chicks are growing fast, and you can see the feathers breaking through the pins. And over the course of two days, the feather development is huge. Looking back from day one to day nine, the growth is extraordinary. The wobbler chick's now 9 days old, and it's astonishing to think they could fledge in just 3 days. But unfortunately, some bad weather soon hits. This weather could spell disaster
for the lightweight reed wobbler nests. After all of the wind and storms recently, I'm really worried about the wobbler nests because they're so fragile suspended in these reads. So, I've just checked nest two, which is the one I'm filming, and everything's okay in there. So, I'm just going to head on now and see how that cuckoo chick's getting on. So, the nest with the cuckoo chicken is just through here. Oh, yeah. Look at that. They're still in the nest down there, which is great news. But I'm going to go now and check all of the other wallblow nests just to see how they're getting on. So, I've just checked nest three and everything's good in there. So, I'm
going to head up and see how an S4 is getting on. So, an S4's through here and actually looks like it's collapsed. Oh, there's a little chick down here and that's too young to be out of the nest and it's looking pretty cold. But I'm just going to wait here and actually just see what happens. See if the adults come to feed it. The adults are coming through the reeds and they've got some food. Oh, look at this. The adults are trying to feed it, but that chick's too weak and cold to feed. All right. So sad to see this. So there's no sign of any of the other chicks at the moment. And I think they must have perished now. But I've just
got to work out what to do with this little chick cuz if it's not feeding, this is going to die as well. So I think I'm going to have to head in there and actually catch it, warm it up, and try and get it back in that nest. Right, I've just had that little chick in my hands warming it up and I've got it back in the nest. Oh, look at that. They're feeding it. That's superb. Hopefully, all the storms have passed now and the rest of those war chicks fled safely. It's now time to get back to filming.
Starting with the reed wobblers. I'm just setting up, but I think there's only two chicks left in the nest. I can hear the fledglings calling in the reed bed. And there's definitely just two left in the nest. Reed wobbler chicks can fledge in as little as 11 days. In contrast, at 11 days old, cuckoo chicks are still about a week from fledging with a lot of pin feathers still visible. Oh, look at this one. It's just fledged. It's the first time this chick's been alone in the nest. And just listen to it calling out.
All that calling's paid off. The male's just arrived to feed it. It's not going to be alone long. One of the fledglings is just coming back through the reads. Oh, it's off again. It keeps taking little adventures into the reads. Oh, look at that. They've settled in for the night. I think I'm going to leave him to it now and I'll return in the morning. I'm back at the reed bed to see how the fledglings are getting on. And I think I've spotted one just there. It's been raining overnight and that one's still a little bit damp, but the weather looks quite fine now. So, that one will soon dry off.
Oh, that's nice. It's having a little pin now. It's on the move, making its way up through the reads. So that's one of the chicks accounted for, but I can hear all the others calling in the reed bed lower down. It's such a challenge getting a clear view of these chicks. Oh, but there's one heading up to the top of the reads there. Oh, that's incredible. It's made its way right to the top. I really worry about them at this stage. Sat up there, they could easily be picked off by predators such as corvits or kestrels. But there's so much thick cover in this reed bed. I'm sure they're going to be fine now.
These chicks look so vulnerable at this age, but in a few weeks time, they're going to be flying as well as their parents. And it's incredible to think they're going to then make that long migration all the way to Africa. And just like that, there's another successful brood for these reed wobblers. But over at the cuckoo nest, there's a big development change. The cuckoo's actually sat up on the rim of the nest. It won't be long before it leaves now. When I first found it, it was a week after hatching, but now it's about 16 days old. So today the cuckoo chick started making a different call and that's in preparation for fledging.
So once the cuckoo leaves the nest, this cheaping sound will help the reed wobblers locate it to give it even more food. But as it's being fed, it returns to the original begging call. Fledging is a really difficult time for an Iuku chick, but especially for those ones growing up in a rebobler nest. The fragile nest of the reed wobbler isn't designed for a heavy weight of a cuckoo chick. You can barely see the nest underneath it. And quite often in windy weather, these nests will actually collapse and the cuckoo chicks end up in the water. I've been watching this cuckoo chick grow for the last 10 days and I've got quite attached to it. So, I hope this one fletches successfully.
Look Coo chick could fledge today. So, I can't wait to see how it's getting on. I can hear the cuckoo chick calling. I wonder if it's still in the nest. Oh, the nest is empty. So, the cuckoo is out and about. Well, look at that. It's just down here. It's actually in a moan nest. So, that's been really lucky for the cuckoo. It's not fallen in the water. I'm just going to get my camera set up on that. That's absolutely amazing. This cuckoo chick has fledged 18 days old, a whole week later than the first reed wobbler chicks. That cuckoo chick has literally been given a lifeline by this moan nest. But sat down here, it would make an easy meal for a pacin or mink.
And look at that. The reed war coming in to feed it. The cuckoo chick's just pecked out of the war again. It's clearly hungry. Even with a beak full of food, this cuckoo is constantly calling for more. It must have fledged earlier this morning, and I use the word fledged very loosely. It's more or less just flopped out of the nest, and I don't think I'll be able to fly yet. It's on the move. It's making its way up through the reeds. The cuckoo chicks only made it a few meters away from the moan nest and it's just down here waiting to be fed. But the adults know exactly where it is and are busy delivering food.
It's backed out again. It's great to see it perched on a branch. It's definitely growing in confidence. It looks a bit more steadier on its feet rather than scrambling around in the res. While this cuckoo chicks over the water, I'm still worried about it, but hopefully it'll make it over onto this island, onto some drier land. This is the third day the cuckoo chick's been out of the nest and it's made it onto the island. The cuckoo chick is as hungry as ever, demanding more food. And it works. But the wobbler seems more wary, standing a bit further [clears throat] away.
It's been great following this cuckoo chick for the last two weeks. And just look at it now. It's taken its first flights, but it's not made it far. And the wobblers are still feeding it up there. So, it's calling continuously for food now, and the wobbers are able to find it no matter where it goes. Oh, it's flying up through the trees now, getting higher and higher. So, this cuckoo chick's on its way to independence, but these wobblers are going to feed it for a few more weeks first before it heads off to Africa. But it's not just the reed wobblers that might hear the vulnerable hungry cuckoo chick. And I worry with all this noise, it might attract the wrong attention.
There's a sparrow hawk nesting nearby with very hungry chicks. And I often see buzzards soaring overhead, catching the thermals on a lookout for a meal. So, I can hear thunder rumbling in the distance. So, there's a storm on the way. This is going to be the first big test for this young cuckoo. Cuckoo have soft feathers, so this chick could quickly become exhausted, losing critical energy if their feathers become water logged. Thankfully, the rain was short-lived and the sun soon returns and the cuckoo chick dries off. Not only does this single cuckoo demand more food than a whole brood of reed wobblers, it takes almost double their time to raise,
taking a lot more effort from the reed wobblers. But it won't be long now before this young cuckoo sets off on its 5,000mi journey to Africa. Reed wubbers can raise two broods in a normal breeding season. For the wobblers that have raised a cuckoo chick, it's unlikely they'll have a second brood that year. Over 30 years ago, when I first found that cuckoo, I couldn't have even imagined having all these different cameras to film every angle of this amazing spectacle.
It's been amazing to watch the curious relationship between these two species. Despite everything, those warblers have looked after it as if it was their own.
