PotM Calendar
The Photo of the Month (see gallery) is a year-round calendar of wildlife and nature images with story contributions from visitors, friends and fellow photographers.
When it comes to nature photography, it's not only those exciting tales of high adventure that often accompany talent and skill for a fabulous result. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a well-timed shot or a well-framed one can say as much about you as a photographer, too. So, if you'd like to showcase one of your pictures here, free, for one calendar month with a bio or personal account, then this page is for you.
An Imposter Calls by Roger Cox
Elmley Nature Reserve, Isle of Sheppey
The common cuckoo. One of nature’s most calculating con-artists and finest fraudsters. For an obligate brood parasite, it has one of the canniest, cost-effective solutions to the intense demands of raising its young using a well-timed strategy involving espionage, intimidation, forgery, theft, fraud, and murder.
After spying out a suitable nest, a cuckoo, displaying its barred breast, will sometimes impersonate a sparrowhawk to drive away any sitting parents or sneak onto a clutch once the coast is clear. She’ll then replace one of the host's eggs with her own. If successful, the hatchling will instinctively begin to evict any remaining eggs and chicks.
Much like a group of dubious timeshare salesmen, 40% of cuckoo species live by the shady practice of deceiving birds already sold on the idea of making a home and raising a family. But even for those that are host-specific, pulling off a chick-rearing heist is no mean feat. The common cuckoo specialises in pipits, warblers, and wagtails, though not so skilled a counterfeiter that its victims are unable to detect any one of its twenty or so forgeries by size, colour, or shell thickness.
In early April, its deceptively "name-saying" call* heralds its arrival from Africa and the start of Summer, but it should also serve to remind us that wherever this exotic imposter calls, it’s the call of a monster, out to covertly supplant and callously kill entire broods of dunnocks, robins, and a host of other birds for its own selfish ends.
Special announcements or simple hellos. Place your message or link here as part of your PotM agreement. With eight places left for 2026, the PotM Calendar is closed until April 17th. To learn more about posting news, comments and events under a PotM agreement, please visit our Terms of Use page, where you can submit your photo (along with your story) during the last two weeks of every month.