Carlton II arrived in France early on Friday morning, stopping first in the east of the Île-de-France of north-central France. He didn't hang around though and by 11 am yesterday morning, 5 July, he had flown 305 km (190 miles) further south into central France, stopping on the shores of a lake close to the village of Charensat in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. A further low-quality signal received just after 9am this morning place Carlton II 210 km (130 miles) SSW in the Occitanie region of southern France but we'll need to await further updates to be sure of his new location. Carlton II was tagged in 2018 so this is his third tracked migration south. In previous years his route has taken him through France and Spain, arriving in Africa in late July or early August, usually heading from Senegal.
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.
- If you enjoy these updates, please consider sponsoring a Cuckoo. Sponsors receive special updates about their chosen Cuckoo in the Cuckoo e-newsletter.
Carlton II is blazing the trail south
06 Jul 2020
PJ departs UK on his fifth tracked migration south!
06 Jul 2020
Updates received from PJ's tag at 4pm on Saturday afternoon show that he has flown 450 km (280 miles) south on the first leg of his fifth tracked migration to Africa. His first stop-over is near Valpuiseaux in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. In 2019 PJ's route took him to southern France and northern Spain, where he stayed until late July, before crossing into Africa on 27 July. In other years however he has flown direct from France to Africa. If PJ successfully makes it across the Sahara this year, he will succeed Chris as our longest surviving tagged Cuckoo.
Valentine is in France!
06 Jul 2020
On Friday 3 July Valentine left his breeding grounds in Thetford, Norfolk and flew 588 km (365 miles) south east across the Channel and into eastern France. The latest signal received from his tag at 10 am yesterday morning show that he has remained in the same area, a few miles west of Charmes in the Vosges region in north-eastern France. Valentine's route south last year took him through Spain, by 18 July he was in Morocco and by a couple of days later he was in Burkina Faso having crossed the Sahara. If he follows the same plan this year we can expect rapid progress south from Valentine.
Local movements from Carlton II, PJ and Valentine
26 May 2020
Carlton II, PJ and Valentine are all busy flying around their breeding locations, with the odd possible feeding excursion elsewhere, in areas that might be better for their caterpillar food. Right now they will be chasing and mating with female Cuckoos (all our tagged birds are males).
Tennyson and Senan likely to be lost to us
26 May 2020
We've previously reported that Senan's tag battery has been low for a while and not charging properly. After a long period of silence, we were pleased to receive the locations from Algeria, and later from Spain, to show he was migrating. However, with no further signals since the 5 May, it looks like we may finally have lost contact with him. Similarly, Tennyson's battery has also experienced charging issues and we had hoped we would receive signals at some point during his northward movements, when the solar panel was exposed to longer periods of sunshine. However, we've not heard from his tag since early April. In both these cases it appears we have lost the tag signal rather than the bird and we hope both these Cuckoos return to the UK safely - even if it's unlikely we'll be able to update you. Do keep your eyes peeled if you are on the Norfolk/Suffolk border though!
Senan in Spain
04 May 2020
A series of new updates received from Senan's tag over the weekend show that he has crossed the Mediterranean, flying 610 km (380 miles) north from Algeria to Spain. He is now in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, in eastern central Spain. As we have reported before, we think Senan's tag may stop transmitting any day so we are delighted to receive another update and will be keeping our fingers crossed that he will check in again over the next few days.
Valentine is back!
04 May 2020
Over the weekend Valentine flew the final leg of his return migration, covering 625 km (390 miles) from central France back to the BTO Nunnery Lakes Nature Reserve in Thetford, Norfolk. He is the third of our tagged Cuckoos to successfully complete their migration this year. One of our staff members spotted a tagged Cuckoo on the reserve this morning so it probably was Valentine!
Valentine reaches central France
28 Apr 2020
Valentine has pressed on through France since our last update, covering 325 km (202 miles) in a north-westerly direction into Central France. By 21:50 last night he was in a forested area, approximately 6.5 km west of Dun-sur-Auron.
PJ is back on his breeding grounds in Suffolk
27 Apr 2020
By 8pm last night PJ had arrived back in the King's Forest in Suffolk, just south west of Thetford. This marks the completion of PJ's fourth complete tracked migration cycle.
Valentine crosses the Mediterranean
26 Apr 2020
Over the last couple of days Valentine as left Tunisia and flown 867 km (539 miles) over the Mediterranean in a north-westerly direction, making landfall at 1730 just south of Martigues. Since then has has flown a further 112 km (70 miles) north west and by 2230 last night he was in the southern part of the Ardeche Gorges nature reserve in the Gard department of southern France.
Share this page