Updates from our Cuckoos

A poor quality signal on 28 June indicated that the last Devon Cuckoo still remaining in the UK was also on his way. Dart was transmitting during his crossing of the English Channel and further poor quality signals on the 30 June and 1 July showed him travelling down through Central France and then southern France, following a parallel line to Whortle’s migration south. A good location on 3 July placed him just over 30 km (20 miles) north-west of Montpellier, having covered around 930km (580 miles) since leaving his position in Devon. 

Nick has travelled to northern Spain, crossing the Bay of Biscay, from his last position near Le Mans. He is 30km (20 miles) to the east of Vitoria in the province of Álava. He is the first of this year's Cuckoos to venture into Spain. In the first year of the project both Clement and Lyster successfully took this route to their wintering grounds but last year all three Cuckoos who took this route perished; John died in France after travelling north from a location in Spain, Reacher in Spain and later, Lyster, failed to complete his crossing of  the Sahara Desert. The weather there last spring was especially dry and there were forest fires which would have made conditions tough. You can read more about this and what else we have learnt througout the project here.  It will be interesting to see which Cuckoos take this route and how they fare this year. 

Poor quality locations from Chris on the 1 July revealed that he had left his position in Belgium and was travelling in a south-easterly direction. Two days later when the tag next transmitted, Chris had crossed the Alps and was close to the banks of the Venetian lagoon, north-east of Venice. 

Locations on 27 June placed Sussex in Sardinia but by late afternoon on the 29 June he was in the north of Corsica. One keen Cuckoo tracking observer noted that it was possible Sussex and the Tour de France cyclists were travelling in the same direction at the same time - what a good view he will have had if he travelled in a straight line along the eastern side!  

These two Scottish birds are still in the area close to where they were tagged and have not yet followed Livingstone south. The Cuckoos from Devon, Wales and Sussex have all left. Who will be the last to leave, Cuckoos from the Norfolk Broads or those from Scotland? 

Apart from Skinner, the other three of our Cuckoos tagged in the Norfolk Broads remain in their tagging locations and have yet to move despite 12 out of 18 of our tagged Cuckoos having left the UK.  Lyster, one of the Cuckoos tagged in the broads in year 1 of the project was the last to leave that year on 22 July (while the other four all left in June) and earned himself the nickname ‘Lyster the Laggard’. Will our Broads Cuckoos be last to leave in year 3? 

Signals received on the 2 July show that Chance had left Scotland and was just 60km (40 miles) southwest of Berlin. He had flown 1200km (750 miles) from a location  just west of Stirling, Scotland, to a location near Treuenbrietzen, a town the Bundesland of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany.

The last signal received from Karma was on the 16 June.  While we are a little concerned that it has been so long since we have heard from his tag, this is not by any means unusual and the information sent with the tag did not indicate anything to worry about. We are hoping that we may receive a signal soon to reveal his whereabouts.  

Skinner becomes the tenth of our tagged Cuckoos to leave and he, like BB, has travelled to The Netherlands. Transmissions place him in the south-east in the De Maasduinen National Park, close to the border with Germany. The park consists of forests and heathlands on a sandy plateau along the river Meuse.

Two days after what was to be David’s tag’s last transmission from Wales, new locations on the 30 June show that he was the ninth bird to leave the UK.  The first of the transmissions shows that he also chose to make his first stop in France near Burgundy, while a second transmission showed he moved a further 12km (7 miles) southwest and was in the Auvergne region, to the north-west of Moulins. His journey of 900km (560 miles) has taken him to a location that is just over 100km (60 miles) from Livingstone’s location near Roanne.