Updates from our Cuckoos

Cuach Torc initially made good progress and by mid-July was in southern Greece. He then inexplicably returned to western Europe, which included a protracted and unexpected stay in northern Germany. After a lot of false starts, he finally headed south again, crossed the Mediterranean and then left Algeria on 30 October.

He then flew 2,567 km (1,595 miles) to southern Niger, close to the Nigerian border, arriving just after midnight on 3 November.

By contrast, on his autumn migration in 2023 he’d made it to Sudan by 3 August – what caused his long delay this time? 

Cuach Torc finally seems to have come to his senses after his lengthy, unscheduled visit to northern Germany, and now appears to be heading south once more.

In recent days he left an area just north of Leipzig, flew down past Frankfurt and entered French airspace through the North Vosges Regional National Park before proceeding to Dijon, covering some 768km (477 miles). Hopefully he is fully rested, fed, and in good shape to continue south to make a swift Mediterranean crossing.    

Torc has certainly had us scratching our heads a little in recent weeks. By mid July he looked poised to cross the Mediterranean from his position in southern Greece, but since then he has headed back north through the Balkans and into central Europe.

For some reason, he is now in Saxony, western Germany, approximately 53 km (32 miles) north of Leipzig. We just hope that he can find enough food to fatten himself up for a journey south soon.   

By this time last year Cuach Torc had already been on the other side of the Sahara for around six weeks, having crossed the Mediterranean in late July. What will he do next?   

After trying Croatia, Greece, Albania and Bosnia & Herzegovinia, new signals received from Torc's tag last night showed that he had flown 740 km (460 miles) north to the Czech Republic.

He is now near the town of Holýšov, in the Plzeň Region of western Czech Republic.

While most of our tagged Cuckoos have now crossed the Sahara, Torc is continuing his leisurely tour of south-eastern Europe.

He has moved north again in recent days, this time from Albania into Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Currently exploring the forested uplands less than 20 km (12 miles) north-east of the capital Sarajevo, he is hopefully finding plenty of food and getting into shape to continue his long journey south.

Cuach Torc set off from the area around The Kunë-Vain-Talë Reserve on Friday night and continued south through Albania, and into Western Greece.

He is now in a wooded valley in a mountainous region approximately 25 km (15 miles) south of the city of Patras, on the Peloponnese peninsula.

Having left Dubrovnik, Torc made his way along the coast of Montenegro, and has now pitched down in north-east Albania.

He is currently on the fringes of the The Kunë-Vain-Talë-Patok-Fushëkuqe-Ishëm Nature Reserve. Formerly a hunting reserve, this protected area was designated as a nature reserve in 2010 and is recognised as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

After spending some time around Venice, Cuach Torc has headed eastwards across the Adriatic Sea before flying south along the Croatian coastline, travelling a distance of around 540 km (335 miles).

He is currently in an area along the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and just 10 km (6 miles) from the city of Dubrovnik.

Earlier this week Cuach Torc crossed the border into Italy from Switzerland.

He stopped for a short while just north of the UNESCO world heritage city of Verona, famously the home of Romeo and Juliet. From here Torc then moved a further 120 km (75 miles) to the coast just south of Venice.

In the next few days he could either continue down through Italy, or follow the route he did last year, via Bosnia and Herzegovina and on into Greece! 

Cuach Torc has powered some 483 km (300 miles) south-east through France in recent days and is now in Switzerland!

After a couple of days in and around the UNESCO Entlebuch Biosphere reserve at the foot of the Alps, close to Lucerne, he has now crossed over the high peaks and is heading towards the Italian border.