Updates from our Cuckoos

In the past few days, Cuach Cores has cracked on, speeding through north-east Morocco, crossing the Mediterranean and arriving in Europe, just east of Almeria on the Spanish coast.

From here, he has continued north and is now the most northerly of our tagged birds. He is presently close to the Iregua river, in the La Rioja province, and just 100 km (62 miles) south of Bilbao.  

Cuach Cores, whose last signal was received from Central African Republic back in November, suddenly re-appeared, somewhat Lazurus-like, around midday on 8 April in western Algeria!

He is crossing the Sahara in earnest and appears to be heading directly toward Morocco. As of this morning (9 April) he is currently just south of the town of Mogheul.   

This time last year, he was still in Nigeria, not arriving in Europe until the end of April, when he touched down in Montpelier, France.

Which route will he take this spring?  

Cuach Cores crossed the Sahara much earlier this year, arriving south of the desert region by early August. In 2023, he’d lingered in Europe until 10 October.

He is currently in the Central African Republic from where he will likely move into the Congo basin shortly, given his movements last year.

Cuach Cores spent July in Italy, preparing for the next leg of his journey.

Less than a week ago, he suddenly headed south, and crossed the Mediterranean before setting off across the Sahara, pressing on through Libya and into Chad. Our latest signal shows that he is now in the Sahel region, close to the city of Abéché, Chad’s fourth largest city.

Interestingly, Cores remained in Europe well into October last year, and took a very different route to Africa via Spain!

Cuach Cores appears to have reoriented slightly from his last location in south-eastern France, and has now headed up to an area just north of the Italian city of Turin.

He has been following the River Po, Italy’s longest river; if he continues on this route it will take him eastwards, toward the Adriatic.

After spending several days around Châteaubriant, Cuach Cores finally got going again, and made a remarkable journey of around 823 km (511 miles) over the weekend.

Along the way, he spent a little time in the same area as Sayaan, near Dijon, before he moved determinedly south-east, past Grenoble and into the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. He is just 113 km (70 miles) from the Mediterranean coast, from where he should cross into North Africa to begin the next leg of his journey.

Since leaving Ireland and arriving in north-west France a week ago, Cuach Cores has been taking it relatively easy, moving slowly south-eastwards into the Loire-Atlantique region.

Currently just north of the medieval town of Châteaubriant, he will likely head towards Italy and head down to Africa via an eastern route.

Cuach Cores was the last of our tagged Cuckoos to arrive back in the breeding grounds, and he is also the first to start heading back to Africa!

After spending just 28 days in Ireland, he took off south overnight and made landfall on the Brittany coast this morning (6 June) after a flight of 539km (335 miles).

Cuach Cores wasted no time after he left France, taking a direct route of around 560km (347 miles) back to Killarney National Park, where he was originally tagged on 17 May, 2023.

The majority of his flight was over open water, though he did pass briefly over the tip of Cornwall near Land's End!

He is the last of our still-active tagged Cuckoos to have returned to the breeding grounds this spring.

Cuach Cores has finally left France! After spending several days south of the city of Bourges, he has headed approximately 553km (343 miles) north-west to the Brittany coast.

From here, he seems to be heading towards Cornwall, where he could make brief landfall before continuing his journey - or will he veer off to the west and take a more direct route across the Celtic Sea to Ireland?