Hearing a cuckoo on Southwick Hill for the first time in about 20 years is not, I am sorry to say, a sign we are in for a good summer (Letters, April 25). Every year without fail for the past 53 years, from mid April until late May early June, I, like lots of other regular walkers have heard (rarely seen) cuckoos on Southwick Hill. Bob Carden must have been extremely unlucky not to have heard them too on his travels. Before climate change, probably the most reliable spring weather gauge for the summer to come was the ancient rhyme: Oak before ash we’re in for a splash; ash before oak we’re in for a soak.

Meaning that if the oak tree comes into leaf before the ash, the summer will be dry, whereas if the ash is the first, a wet summer will follow.

With climate change continuing to raise spring temperatures it is unlikely in the foreseeable future that we shall ever see the ash coming into leaf before the oak again. I much prefer to make my judgement for the weather ahead from watching swallows, house martins or swifts on a fine summer’s evening hunting for insects.

If the birds are flying high you can be sure the weather is settled. If they are flying low, it is because the air currents are being disturbed, keeping the insects low too and this usually signals a change to cooler less settled weather.

Dave Bonwick Oakdene Close, Portslade