Updates from our Cuckoos

It's now more than three weeks since we received a signal from Grove's tag.  Having examined the data from the tag we have concluded that something catastrophic has happened to Grove or his tag between the last signal and the next one that was due. It could be that Grove was predated or that the antennae was snapped off the tag. We will keep our fingers crossed it was tag failure and who knows, he may yet be encountered again in the future. In the meantime he still makes a contribution to our growing knowledge and understanding of the factors affecting our Cuckoo population. 

Grove was tagged in early June when we were getting to the end of the Cuckoo catching season. An early start was called for so we were on site at Wheatfen Nature Reserve in the Norfolk Broads by 3:30am. Nets were put up with the chorus of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler and a booming Bittern in the background, and we put the stuffed cuckoo out and played the sound lure. Two Cuckoos were immediately interested and started Cuckooing but did not come any closer for about 20 minutes. We were not entirely sure we were going to catch and another 20 minutes passed. Then the bird launched off its perch and flew towards the net, and we didn't see it come out the other side - these moments of "Is it in the net?" or "Is it just sat on a bush next to the net?" are agonising. The cuckooing sound had stopped which was a good sign. We looked at each other and edged gingerly towards the nets. As we got closer, we saw it in the net - time to run! 

Tagging the bird was very straightforward although this was the first time we have tagged a bird in a public toilet. The toilet was ideal - spacious and airy, and with all the facilities you could need. After tagging, we emerged into the car park where the bird flew off strongly. We were done by 05:45 and it was a real privilege as always to be up and about before anyone else in such an amazing place. A big thank you to Will Fitch, the warden of Wheatfen Nature Reserve, for allowing us to catch and tag a bird there.

After being unable to tag any Cuckoos in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are delighted to be able to introduce eleven new Cuckoos this year!

The tagging teams faced some very early starts as usual to tag the Cuckoos, but they were rewarded with birds who were interested enough in the female lure to be caught, weighed and tagged (with the exception of a location near Loch Katrine where there were a number of female Cuckoos around, making our lure less convincing!).

Some of these newly-tagged birds have already begun their migration south, with one in France, one in the Netherlands and one of the Scottish birds is already down in Essex.

Keep an eye on the individual birds' blogs for updates on their progress.