Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
Since our last update, Cuach Torc has moved from the south of Bayeux and flown around 355 km (220 miles) to an area close to the River Seine, and the medieval town of Troyes, in the Champagne region.
By this time last year Torc had already travelled as far as northern Italy – when might he be saying ‘Au revoir’ to France and ‘Ciao’ to Italy this year?
Cuach Torc didn’t linger in Cornwall for long, and as we expected, soon headed for France, passing between Guernsey and Alderney on the way.
A flight of 325 km (200 miles) saw him heading into north-west Normandy, where he is currently exploring the sprawling agricultural region just to the south of Bayeux.
Having made a move to the County Waterford coast from Killarney National Park several days ago, Torc has now finally set off from Ireland, after a stay of 45 days.
He flew a relatively short distance of 276 km (171 miles) to Cornwall, where he is currently just to the east of Falmouth. The second of our tagged birds to head south after the breeding season, his next move should see him making the 180 or kilometres (110 miles) to France in the coming days.
Cuach Torc is the first of our tagged Cuckoos to show signs of leaving his breeding grounds in Killarney National Park, having moved 110km (68 miles) east to the Cork / Waterford border.
He appears to be primed, ready to make a sea crossing any day now! Having arrived back in Ireland on 2 May, Torc may well be on French soil by the weekend.
After several days in the Finistère area of Brittany, Cuach Torc has now left north-western France and has made his way to south-west Ireland.
His journey of approximately 550km (341 miles), saw him taking a direct route across the Celtic Sea, past the Isles of Scilly and Bishop’s Rock lighthouse, and into Killarney National Park, where he joins Cuckoo cohort KP!
Since our last update, just before the weekend, Cuch Torc has moved approximately 246km (152 miles) north.
He is now in a lush mountain region in the province of Cáceres, some 160km (100 miles) west of Madrid.
After a few days spent in the Casablanca region, Torc swiftly covered 595km, (370 miles) flying into Spain just west of the Straits of Gibraltar.
He is now in the same area as Cuckoos Trent and KP, in the mountains to the north-west of the Andalusian city of Córdoba.
Cuach Torc has carried on northbound through Morocco in the last couple of days and is currently in the lush, agricultural region around the city of Settat just 60km (37 miles) south of Casablanca.
Will Torc be the first of our Cuckoos to cross into Europe?
It had been 12 days since we last heard from Cuach Torc, when he was still in western Ghana.
That all changed yesterday, when his transmitter revealed that he is now some 2,364km (1,469 miles) to the north in Algeria, just 22km (13 miles) from the Moroccan border. This puts Cuach Torc firmly in the lead, and the first of our tagged Cuckoos to cross the Sahara.
New updates received over the last few days show that Cuach Torc has left the Congo and flown 2,102km (1,306 miles) west to Ghana.
He is now in western Ghana, a few miles east of Bui National Park and the Bui Gorge Reservoir.
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