Updates from our Cuckoos

Not only has 115600 finally received a name, chosen from suggestions by Cuckoo Sponsors, he has also continued moving south. From France, the newly christened Mungo moved 230km (143 miles) SSE to the southern most tip of Switzerland between 21 and 23 June. He was still at that position, which is close to the village of Bourg Saint Pierre in an alpine pass approximately 20km (12 miles) east of the summit of Mont Blanc, on the morning of 25 June. Mungo has been named after Mungo Park, the Scottish explorer of the African continent.

One of six cuckoos to leave the UK in the last few days, Mungo has travelled the furthest from his tagging location. Tagged on the shores of Loch Katrine, Stirling, Mungo has travelled 1,163km (720 miles) and is now just north of Polaincourt-et-Clairefontaine in eastern central France. The race to Africa is on.

On 16 June Mungo was still at Flanders Moss NNR but by the 18 June he was in the North Yorks Moors National Park – this is a movement of 280km (175 miles) in a south-easterly direction. It is interesting that he has chosen to move to another upland area – there should be plenty of large hairy caterpillars for him here in the rough grassland adjacent to the heather moorland.

The first of five male Scottish cuckoos to be satellite tagged, Cuckoo 115600 was caught near Stronachlachar, Loch Katrine, Stirling on 15 May 2012. He is an adult bird at least two years old.