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. 

On the morning of 30 June, Nick’s tag beamed transmissions from a new location in France, having travelled 490km (305 miles) from his previous position just south of Wicken Fen. He was in the Pays de la Lore region, and was close to Parcé-sur-Sarthe, roughly 35 km ( 22 miles) south-west from Le Mans, host to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race. Signals later that morning show him in the area of Avoise, through which the Sarthe river flows. He is the eighth tagged Cuckoo to leave the UK. 

On the evening of 26 June another of our Devon Cuckoos made his move, having been in Devon in the late evening, just 48 hours later he had travelled 1030km ( 640 miles) to the south-east of France, transmitting his location from there on the evening of 28 June! He appeared to be in hilly landscape close to the communes of Le Beaucet and Venasque in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Further signals received yesterday evening show that he continued onwards a further 206km (128 miles) and is now close to the Italian border, in the extreme south-east corner of France, to the east of Tende in the Mercantour National Park within the Maritime Alps. This makes him the seventh tagged Cuckoo to depart the UK. He is the third of the Devon Cuckoos to leave - all are currently in France but they are currently in very different areas, with Tor in the north-east and Ryder in the north-west.