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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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Catching the Cuckoo Class of 2013

24 May 2013
We've received tag transmissions from Chris on 24 May, from David and Chance on 23 May and from BB on 22 May which show that they all remain on their respective breeding grounds. 
 
Meanwhile, the Cuckoo Team have been travelling all over the place, visiting sites to tag new Cuckoos. So far they have tagged birds in Devon, Sussex and the Highlands of Scotland and they now have a few more birds to tag in Norfolk to complete the complement for this year. The team found that cuckoos were surprisingly abundant around Skye and adjacent parts of the mainland and managed to catch six birds - and tag four - in just one day before the weather closed in. These new birds will appear on the website and will be available for sponsorship in the next few weeks! Watch this space!

Finding Chris

16 May 2013
That was the task set by a team from Anglia News, and so, the morning of Tuesday 14 May saw the BTO’s Paul Stancliffe on Natural England’s Cavenham Heath, Suffolk in search of a bird that the BTO tagging team last saw two years previously.  There was only a short wait before the first Cuckoo appeared and as Chris had been in the spot the team were now standing on only a few hours earlier, there was a good chance that it could be him – it wasn’t.
 
Another bird appeared and began to chase the first – this wasn’t Chris either – but then a third cuckoo joined them - this had to be Chris; it wasn’t.  After a short wait another bird appeared from nowhere sporting the aerial of a satellite tag – we had found him! After two years and 40,000+ miles since he was last seen, he looked good and full of energy, joining in with the other male cuckoos on the heath in chasing a female. What an amazing bird! Watch the ITV Anglia photage on our YouTube channel here.

The end of the journey for Lloyd

13 May 2013

Transmissions from the last few days show that all four Cuckoos which have returned to their breeding grounds are still in their respective areas. They are likely to remain in and around these areas looking for breeding opportunities for at least the next month.We now assume Lloyd has perished in Morocco as there is no reason for him to remain in his current position for so long. Last year, the earliest Cuckoo to leave the UK was Chris, on the 11 June, while David and BB left on 18 and Chance on the 22 June. Wallace, one of the birds tagged in Scotland last year, was the last to leave, transmitting from outside the UK on 23 July, just one day later than the last bird, Lyster, in 2011. 

David returns to his tagging site

09 May 2013

As suspected, David has moved on quickly from his position on the south coast and transmissions received early this morning show that he is back at Tregaron, the site where he was originally tagged. He is the only tagged male Welsh Cuckoo to have made it back. There are concerns for our other Welsh bird, Lloyd, who also wintered in the Democratic Republic of Congo as transmissions show he has not continued on from Morocco. 

Chris leaves France for the UK

07 May 2013
On the evening of 1 May Chris left the Champagne-Ardenne Region, heading north-west through Picardy and by the early hours of 4 May Chris was back in the UK, at Lakenheath Warren just east of RAF Lakenheath. By the following afternoon he was back at Cavenham Heath, the area that he spent six weeks in last summer. 
 
The two weeks Chris spent in France would have been plenty of time for him to have already have had some reproductive success this year. Although last year he spent the same period in Italy, we certainly don't believe his stay in France was a simple stop-over and think he would have been behaving as a breeding bird whilst there. It's possible either that he was 'programmed' to return to Britain around a certain date (last year it was 4 days earlier) and chanced his luck in France whilst biding his time, having been keen to push on from southern Europe earlier in April. It's also possible that, like David, he had already returned to Britain during his tag's 'off' period, around 14 April, but then quickly returned to France to wait for conditions to become more suitable. The fact that he moved south by about 130km (80 miles) from Belgium, before establishing himself near Mourmelon-le-Grand in Champagne-Ardennes region, may indicate this is what he's done. 

Chance and BB close

07 May 2013

Just a few miles now separate Chance and BB, who are both in the area of Loch Katrine. The weather in Scotland has been less favourable than in the south but it is currently sunny and pleasant though wet conditions are forecast over the next few days. 

David returns to the south coast

07 May 2013

David was still in the Centre region of France on 2 May but by the evening of 6 May he had covered 345km (215 miles) and was on the north coast of France, close to Cherbourg. Three hours later and he had covered around 114 km (71 miles) across the English Channel and was 40km (25 miles) south of Bournemouth. Shortly after this, further transmissions indicate he made landfall.

No movement from Morocco

03 May 2013

Lloyd remains at his previous location in the Fes-Boulamane province of Morocco. As the conditions in this area should be quite good at this time of year (there are areas of trees and irrigated farmland in the area) we are not unduly concerned about this. We have noted that the temperature of his tag is tracking the environmental temperature a little more closely than expected, which may be a sign that all is not well, but so far we haven’t seen anything that confirms this. We will have to wait and see how Lloyd fares….

BB back at Loch Katrine

02 May 2013

Signals received late last night, 1 May, reveal that BB has now joined Chance back at Loch Katrine, having completed the last 415km (260 miles) from the final location we received as he left his previous stopping place near Nottingham. 

BB arrives in the UK

30 Apr 2013

BB is the second of our tagged Cuckoos to make it back to the UK, following fellow Scottish Cuckoo, Chance.  From his position in the Centre Region of France on 27 April, BB has travelled 675km (420 miles), crossing the English Channel to arrive in the UK on April 29. Transmissions show that he was 10km (9 miles) south-east of Nottingham during the day but left to the north during the evening - according to the sensor data, he started his flight at about 2130hrs. It is a further 415km (258 miles) back to Loch Katrine so BB could be back there by the time his tag resumes transmissions late on Wednesday - being so close to his previous breeding location we would expect him to continue onwards fairly rapidly to arrive as early as possible. He may face competition for females from Chance who has a head start on him!

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