Updates from our Cuckoos

Bluey has continued his journey south, flying 429km (267 miles) south from his last location in Mauritania, crossing briefly over Mali and arriving in Senegal. By 06:21 this morning he was in the south eastern corner of Senegal, approaching Niokolo-Koba National Park. Hopefully he will now find some good places to rest and recover from his desert crossing. At the moment 3,174km (1,972 miles) separate Bluey in west Africa from Joe in Chad. 

When we last updated on Bluey he was in the south of Spain but in the last few days he has taken a mamoth journey, covering 2,443km (1,518 miles) over the Mediterranean, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritana. The most recent update which arrived at 11:08 yesterday morning showed that he had reached southern Mauritania and was approximately 75km due west of the town of Kamour. This area is mostly desert with some oasis. It looks as if Bluey may be heading for the greener lands of Senegal and he could be crossing the Senegal river into Senegal within the next 200km.  

Over the last few days Bluey has blasted south through France and Spain to reach southern Spain. By 18:30 last night he was close to the town of Ohanes in Almeria Province, Andalusia. The latest updated show him just 18km north of the Mediterranean coastal town of Almeria.  

New updates from Bluey's tag show that he has flown 305km (189 miles) south across the Channel and into France. At lunchtime yesterday he was 58km (36 miles) north-north east of Le Mans. 

Bluey is one of two birds tagged on the same morning at the amazing Knepp Estate in West Sussex in May 2022. Cuckoo catcher in Chief Lee Barber was just finishing tagging Charles when he glanced up to see the ringing team running off towards the net. They soon returned with huge smiles and a full bird bag. This was the second Cuckoo to be tagged and was also a great weight. During the tagging of Bluey, the ringing team ran towards the nets again and then again. It turned out they had caught a smaller male and a female Cuckoo. Having a female Cuckoo around isn't desirable for tagging as they can distract the males, so we were particularly lucky to catch three male Cuckoos on that morning at Knepp. This was all done to the backdrop of the classic Knepp avifauna dawn chorus, Turtle Dove and Nightingale. 6 year old Cuckoo Sponsor Erin chose the name Bluey after her favourite TV character who is brave, cheeky and full of energy - let’s hope these traits take him far!