Updates from our Cuckoos

Since our last update PJ has left the Spanish Pyrenees and flown 788 km (490 miles) north east, back over the Pyrenees and into northern Italy. Having reached Ferriere, a commune in the Province of Piacenza, about 150 kilometers west of Bologna, he immediately turned back west. He flew 105 km ( 64 miles) west to his current location near Altare in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria. He is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north west of Savona. PJ is now almost two weeks behind his usual schedule so we expect to see him making his crossing into Africa any day now.

PJ is still in the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, Huesca, Spain, and the last update received a couple of days ago shows him in the wooded valley below the Castillo Mayor mountain. Castillo Mayor is a 2,014m (6,608ft) high limestone platform and the valleys below are home to an extensive mixed forest.

Over the last few days Suffolk Cuckoo PJ, on his fifth tracked migration to Africa, has made a u-turn. Signals received early yesterday morning show that he has left his previous location in the province of Soria, Castile and León in northern Spain and flown 228 km (141 miles) north west to the southern foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. He is now on the edge of the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, approximately 70 km (43 miles) north-east of the city of Huesca. We have observed our tagged Cuckoos making u-turns before, we presume that when this happens they are in search of better feeding opportunities. 

Since our last update PJ has remained in the same forested area in the municipality of Tardelcuende in the province of Soria, Castile and León in northern Spain. Last year he left northern Spain on 28 July and in 2018 he departed on 29 July so we can expect him to make his next move very soon. 

Updates received from PJ's tag yesterday morning showed that he had flown 678 km (421 miles) south west from his last location in France to a new location in Navarra, northern Spain. He stopped approximately 25 km (16 miles) north of Pamplona. Further updates received early this morning however suggest that he quickly moved on from here, with a few low quality locations showing him 175 km (108 miles) south west, in a forested area in the municipality of Tardelcuende in the province of Soria, Castile and León. We'll have to await further updates to be sure of PJ's current location. His route so far looks very similar to the route he followed south last year. 

Updates received from PJ's tag at 4pm on Saturday afternoon show that he has flown 450 km (280 miles) south on the first leg of his fifth tracked migration to Africa. His first stop-over is near Valpuiseaux in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. In 2019 PJ's route took him to southern France and northern Spain, where he stayed until late July, before crossing into Africa on 27 July. In other years however he has flown direct from France to Africa. If PJ successfully makes it across the Sahara this year, he will succeed Chris as our longest surviving tagged Cuckoo. 

By 8pm last night PJ had arrived back in the King's Forest in Suffolk, just south west of Thetford. This marks the completion of PJ's fourth complete tracked migration cycle.  

PJ didn't stop for long in the South Downs. Having arrived near the village of Treyford at around 4pm yesterday, by 8pm he was on the move again. By the time his last update arrived at 11pm last night he had flown a further 104 km (65 miles) north east and was near Nazeing in Essex. Hopefully when we receive the next update we will see that PJ is back on his breeding grounds in Suffolk again. 

After a brief stop in the south of France, PJ has pressed on north, crossing the Channel and arriving in England this morning. By 3pm he was just north of Chichester and by early evening he had settled near the village of Treyford in the South Downs. Last year PJ arrived back in England on 26th April. We have now tracked PJ over four complete migrations between England and Africa.