Updates from our Cuckoos

Emsworthy has travelled over the border from France to join Whortle, Livingstone and Peter in Italy. Livingstone and Peter are in the Po Valley, an area that the project has shown to be important to many of our Cuckoos,  while Whortle and Emsworthy are currently close to the valley edge. 

Emsworthy's move this year, from France along and into Italy, looks remarkably similiar to Whortle's movement last year, just before he suprised us by retreating back to France and then down through Spain to Africa.  This year Whortle has headed straight to Italy and not stopped in France as far as we can tell. Will he head through Spain as last year or make the flight to Africa directly from Italy? Which route will fellow Devon Cuckoo Emsworthy take? 

Stanley is now on the move and, while the maps show him over the English Channel, we've received further (low quality) locations which place him south-west of Paris, France. Meanwhile BB is a little further behind but has left Scotland and, as of early this morning, was north-west of Newcastle. 

Ash and Waller have left the UK and traveled to Europe, joining 10 other birds, and on 22 June were in northern France. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.