Going cuckoo over the weather

SIR, The cuckoo must be as confused by climate change as the rest of us. The ‘Scaraveen’ has arrived and I’ve still to hear the ‘cuck-oo cuck-oo’ call of this freeloading bird.

Scaraveen derives from the Irish phrase “garbh shion na gcuach” – the rough weather of the cuckoo, which gradually became “garbh shion,” then “Garaveen” and, finally, “Scaraveen.” Folklore has it that Scaraveen is nature’s way of exacting retribution on the cuckoo for the havoc she causes in the bird world. Between mid-April and mid-May, mild spring weather has been known to revert to cold, wet miserable weather, more typical of winter.

The cuckoo winters in sub-Saharan Africa and returns to Europe in early spring. She is a solitary bird, more often heard than seen. The familiar ‘cuck-oo cuck-oo’ call heralds the beginning of spring when the cuckoo returns to our shores. As one of the most infamous brood parasites, the cuckoo lays her eggs in the nests of small song birds with precision timing. Once hatched, the cuckoo chicks eject the legitimate occupants and are then fed by the unsuspecting foster parents. The cuckoo chick is already a true master of deception! Unfortunately, we all pay the price for the cuckoo’s misdeeds.

Alexander Buchanan, the Father of Meteorology, a leading 19th Century Scottish meteorologist, researched the existence of Scaraveen and other unseasonal weather glitches at certain times of the year. Buchanan found there were six such cold and three such warm spells. Among the cold spells were April 14th/21st and May 7th/14th, which is compatible with the Scaraveen period. I’m sure that current meteorologists can offer a more scientific explanation for the phenomenon of Scaraveen, if in fact it exists at all. Indeed, the much maligned cuckoo may be an entirely innocent party!

Sincerely,

Billy Ryle, Spa, Tralee.