Updates from our Cuckoos

Our last remaining un-named Cuckoo has finally received a name. 115597 will now be known as Lloyd. He has been named after John Lloyd, a long-standing BTO Regional Representative and our Honorary Wales Officer. In Welsh Lloyd becomes Llwyd and means 'grey', the colour of male Cuckoos

In common with the Cuckoos tagged in Scotland and England, over the past week there has been little movement form those tagged in Wales. The exception was Indy who, as reported in his blog last week, moved from France into Italy, joining Iolo and becoming the second Cuckoo to be staging in the Po watershed (Reacher passed though the region very briefly but is now staging close to the border between France and Spain). 115597 is still close to Marseille in France.

115597 has continued on from his position near Paris, heading south 450km (277 miles) south-east and then a further 70 km (45 miles) directly south. He is now 80km (50 miles) north of Marseille and the coast.

Our nameless Welsh Cuckoo was the second to leave Wales, following Iolo. On the evening of the Tuesday 12 June we received data from tag 115597 showing our Cuckoo to still be in the area where he was tagged, near Tregaron. By the evening of the next day (13 June) Cuckoo 115597 had moved approximately 160km (100 miles) SE, having crossed the border into England, and was in Wiltshire, 5km north of Devizes.

Transmissions received unexpectedly on the 14 (his tag was not due to have transmitted until the following day - its duty cycle may have been reset by perching on electric cables or exposure to a similar magnetic charge) showed that he had moved a further 160km (100 miles) in an easterly direction and was 8km (5m) north of Sevenoaks in Kent. That's a total distance of 310km (195 miles) covered in two days. Further data received on Saturday 16 June show that he remains in this area of Kent.

Tagged on the 29 May 2012 near Tregaron, Ceredigion, Wales, Cuckoo 115597 is in his second summer, having hatched during the summer of 2011. He has remained in the Tregaron area since his tag was fitted.