Ash and Waller have left the UK and traveled to Europe, joining 10 other birds, and on 22 June were in northern France.
Updates from our Cuckoos
Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
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Ash and Waller depart
24 Jun 2014
Four more birds on the way
20 Jun 2014
Hennah, Chester, Whortle and 134952 all transmitted from outside of the UK on 19 June. Whortle, one of the Devon birds tagged in 2013, hadn't even left the UK this time last year, having only transmitted from outside of the UK on 28 June in 2013.
East Anglian birds yet to move
20 Jun 2014
Our East Anglian Cuckoos have yet to budge, with all seven birds remaining in the UK. In previous years Chris has left between 11-21 June, while last year Skinner left on 30 June and Derek on 17 July. It may be a while before we see any movement from these two birds but keep an eye on Chris over the weekend.
With a flurry of Cuckoos leaving the UK, Ash looks to be the only tagged Cuckoo remaining in the most southern of our tagging locations.
Three more Cuckoos leave the UK
20 Jun 2014
Whortle, Chester and as yet un-named 134952 are the most recent Cuckoos confirmed to have left the UK. All three of these birds have travelled to north-western France, transmitting these updated locations on 19 June.
Poor quality signals received on the same day indicate that two further Cuckoos have started their journeys. Hennah and Meavy look like they are in France too but until further locations are received to confirm this the maps won't update.
So we have at least 8 and possibly 10 Cuckoos which have left the UK. If the unconfirmed locations are true, then interestingly, all three Dartmoor birds (Emsworthy, Whortle and Meavy) and all three New Forest birds (Peter, Gilbert and Hennah) have left. In addition one Scottish bird, 2 Nottinghamshire birds and one of the Sussex birds have also left the UK.
Cuckoo 134955 makes the flight to France
19 Jun 2014
There has been a flurry of activity recently and 134955 is another of our Cuckoos to have left the UK in the last few days, along wth Emsworthy. By 16 June he was in West Sussex and two days later he was 470km (290 miles) further south and in Central France! It looks like it is the end of the summer for many of our Cuckoos as they begin the journey to their wintering grounds.
Emsworthy also in France
18 Jun 2014
At 21.15 on the 16 June, Emsworthy was still on Dartmoor but by 22.00 he was on the south Devon coast at Prawle Point, having covered 41km (25 miles) in 45 minutes.
In the early hours of 17 June he popped up in France, in Brittany, north west of Pontivy, 240km (150 miles) south-east of the Devon coast. He continued on and by lunchtime on 18 June he was 70km (45 miles) north of Bordeaux.
Gilbert leaves UK
18 Jun 2014
Gilbert was still in the UK on 14 June but by the 16 June ha had travelled 285km (180 miles) almost directly south and was to the west of Rennes in Brittany, France. he continued on during the evening and early hours of 17 June and the next transmissions reveal he was on the Oléron Island in westen France.
Livingstone second out of the blocks
18 Jun 2014
On 12 June, Livingstone was still in the area north east of Kyle of Lochalsh but by midday on 14 June he was on his way and just northwest of Newtown, North Wales. He didn’t hang around though and in the early hours of the 15 June he was just south of Monkwood in west Dorset, and just 7km (4 miles) from the Channel coast.
We next heard from him during the early morning of 16 June. He had crossed the Channel and was in Brittany and by the morning of the 17 June had moved in to Loire Atlantique, and was close to Vay, 119km (74 miles) south of the Channel coast. He is the second of our tagged
Cuckoos to leave the UK!
Peter in Italy
18 Jun 2014
On the evening of 5 June, Peter had left the New Forest and was on the Isle of Wight and during the early hours of the 6 June he was on his way, at 02.07 he was mid-Channel.
We next heard from him during the early morning of the 8 June, 200km (130 miles) from the Channel coast and a few kilometres east of Chartres.
Since arriving in France he hasn’t hung around. In the early hours of 15 June he was 35km (22 miles) from the Mediterranean coast, just north-east of Montpellier. Having made it to the Mediterranean coast he then headed east and on the morning of 17 June was close to the Po Valley in north eastern Italy. We know that this is a staging area for some of our Cuckoos as they prepare for the crossing of the Sahara, so it will be interesting to see how long Peter remains here. Being the first of our Cuckoos to arrive here, he could also be the first to cross the desert.
Sad news
12 Jun 2014
Unfortunately we have lost two of the newly tagged birds. Both Wistman, from Devon, and 134962, from the New Forest, appear to have died recently according to the temperature readings that accompany the transmissions. We cannot be sure of the reasons but one possibility is predation.
Last year Karma, one of the birds tagged in western Scotland, who was the first that year to leave his breeding area, travelled to the east coast of Scotland and died there, making it only as far as Aberdeen. We wish our other Cuckoos this year better success.
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