Updates from our Cuckoos

From the wooded area north-east of the commune of Saint-Saëns on 20 June, Sussex has continued heading south. By the afternoon of 22 June, signals placed him 300km (190 miles) to the south-east, close to the commune of Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy in the Hautes-Alpes region in south-eastern France and to the Plateau de Bure interferometer, the most advanced facility existing today for radio astronomy.  Poor quality signals indicate he may have continued further south another 40km (25 miles) towards the commune of Bayons and into the Provence- Alpes-Cote-d’Azur region, located in the south-east corner of the country.

Sussex hasn’t wasted any time and has continued his journey on to Central France. By the afternoon of 20 June Sussex had moved 350km (220 miles) SE to south-west Burgundy. He is currently south–east of Saint-Germain-Chassenay, between the communes of Decize and Dornes.

Sussex was still in Ashdown Forest on the evening of the 15 June but by 18 June he had hopped 167km (104 miles) across the English Channel and was in the Upper Normandy region of France. He is roughly 28km (18 miles) inland of the coast in a wooded area north-east of Saint-Saëns. After Karma became the first of our cuckoos to begin his migration late last week, Sussex has become the first to leave the country this autumn!

Since being tagged on 14th May, Sussex has remained in the Ashdown Forest area of his namesake county. Although he has moved around the forest over the past month, in recent days he has been in the southern part of the forest, between Nutley and Duddleswell.