Los Jilgueros Preserve makes history with discovery of a black-billed cuckoo

FALLBROOK – Sept. 4 provided a unique birding experience for Fallbrook residents Diane and Doug Walkley. That day, they were in Los Jilgueros Preserve for a mere half-hour. Yet, with just five minutes left on their walk, they both see a bird and say to themselves: "Cuckoo!"

They tried to turn it into something local, like a Brown Creeper or California Thrasher, but couldn't. He was 10 feet away from them when they were able to glass him for a good 15 seconds as he ate insects and slowly hopped along a branch, eight feet up on a scrubby pecan tree.

October 2008 was the last sighting in all of C...