In one of his well known songs, the great Nat king Cole pleads 'let there be cuckoos a lark and a dove'. A fine sentiment indeed but not such an easy request to grant these days.

Ok, we can do a few doves including collard, stock, rock, some white domestic varieties and of course feral and wood pigeons but not so the turtle dove whose population has dived by ninety six percent in forty years.

We can also  find a few larks in Bushy and Richmond parks and some countryside locations but their numbers are down too by over half in that short time span.

As  for cuckoos, pictured, well they are a very different matter. Those iconic eagerly awaited dual notes of spring are heard less and less throughout Britain. In my cuckoo hotspot in Northamptonshire the bird has not appeared since 2012. On Wimbledon Common last year a single cuckoo called from April to June but it is not known if he found a mate.

Cuckoos lay eggs mainly in the nests of reed warblers, meadow pipits and dunnocks but there again, with the exception of the dunnock which is thriving, the other two species are also in decline. More reasons for the cuckoos absence include grubbing out of hedges and use of pesticides that kill off the bird's main diet of hairy moth caterpillars. Climate change could also be a factor. So, it will be interesting to hear from readers if any hear a cuckoo from now on and where it was heard.

Maybe in a few years time the only way to enjoy that lovely call will be to buy a cuckoo clock!