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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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Chris remains in the Champagne-Ardenne region

29 Apr 2013
Chris remains just SE of Mourmelon-le-Grand in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. He has been there since 19 April. The area looks like good Cuckoo habitat, comprising blocks of woodland and areas of open woodland and scrub around an airfield. Chris staying here is clearly an example of breeding dispersal (a change in breeding area between years) rather than a stop-over en route to East Anglia, although he could of course move on later in the breeding season.  It’s possible that Chris had little success finding females at Cavenham Heath near Mildenhall last year, prompting him to try pastures new this season. 
 
Although it is well-known that a small proportion of birds (and long-distance migrants in particular) disperse between successive breeding attempts, it has been fascinating to be able to observe this process through tracking Chris – especially as he initially returned to an area in Belgium that he visited during his southward passage last summer, suggesting that prior knowledge may have been important. It is very possible that Chris was able to find some females in this area last June, which might have made his decision about where to return to more straightforward! 
 

David in reverse gear!

29 Apr 2013
Having still been in central Spain on 22 April, by the morning of the 24 April David had moved 350km (218 miles) NNE to the southern slopes of the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain. He didn’t stay there long though, as by two days later (Friday 26 April) he had moved a further 935km (580 miles) in a direction slightly E of N to the area around Sherborne on the border between Dorset and Somerset. 
 
Very surprisingly, however, two locations received late that evening, less than two hours after the last one near Sherborne, showed that David was heading SSE over the Channel and was approaching the Cherbourg peninsula of Normandy! by the time his tag unexpectedly started transmitting the next afternoon (27 April) David had moved a total of 490km (305 miles) SE from Sherborne, taking him to a heavily wooded landscape about 72km (45 miles) E of Tours, in Centre region of France. 
 
This is a really interesting example of spring reverse migration, a well-known phenomenon thought to occur when migrants arrive at a location and find conditions unsuitable for them. It usually involves birds moving down a mountain range or southwards, as in this case, in the hope of finding better conditions. David’s decision could have been influenced both by the cool daytime weather and falling evening temperatures on 26 April at Sherborne and by the general lack of advancement of the spring due to the unseasonably cold weather earlier on in March and April.  
 

Chance back on the shores of Loch Katrine

29 Apr 2013

The sensor data on Chance’s tag indicated that he was actively migrating when he was recorded in Northumberland late on 25 April. By Sunday morning (28 April) he was back on the south shores of Loch Katrine, in the Trossachs National Park in the southern Highlands of Scotland, approximately 1.6km (1 mile) east of the location at which he was caught in May last year. He is the first of our tracked Cuckoos back at his tagging site this year, although Chris would no doubt have made it some time ago had he not apparently opted to stay and breed in France. 

Lloyd remains in Morocco

29 Apr 2013

Lloyd made only a small amount of progress between Thursday 25 and Saturday 27 April, moving 120km (75 miles) north to an area of cultivation around the village of Tassa, at the bottom of the eastern slopes of the Moyen Atlas in the Fes-Boulamane province of Morocco. The signals received were poor quality so this new position does not show on the maps. Although this seems a long way south to be stopping he is presumably recuperating in the area after his desert crossing, in a similar fashion to Lyster did in a date plantation in Algeria in spring 2012. 

BB in France

29 Apr 2013

Early on 27 April, BB popped up in Centre region of France having moved 940km (585 miles) NNE from the location in central Spain where he was last recorded on 22 April. This placed him only 25km (16 miles) SW of David, who arrived from the NW that morning!

Chance is the first to return to the UK

26 Apr 2013

New transmissions sent late last night revealed that Chance was the first Cuckoo to have returned to the UK. His location was 40km (25 miles) north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne and just 2km (just over a mile) south of the village of Wark on Tyne. He has covered 763km (474 miles) from his position in France on 23 April and is now just over 170km (100 miles) away from Loch Katrine, where he was first tagged.

Lloyd completes desert crossing

26 Apr 2013

The last transmissions received showed Lloyd in Algeria. He had been heading on a north-easterly trajectory but he then changed direction and started to head north-west towards Morocco. By mid-morning of 25 April he was on the edge of the High Atlas Mountains having successfully completed his crossing! 

BB pushes on into central Spain

18 Apr 2013

BB has successfully completed his desert crossing and, like Chance and David before him, continued on into Spain. At the time of the first location at 20minutes before midnight last night (17/18 April), he was about 45km (28 miles) due N of Sevilla. Further locations show he travelled a further 290km (180 miles)NNE over the next 5.5 hours before probably stopping around 105km (65 miles) west of Madrid.

Judging from BB’s trajectory during this transmission period and during his desert crossing, he may have taken a route around the west end of the High Atlas and along the Moroccan coast, like David, or possibly travelled through a pass at the western end of the mountains.

No problems for David

18 Apr 2013

When David’s tag resumed transmissions yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 17 April) we were delighted to see that he had completed his desert crossing and was in Extremadura, Spain! He has stopped in an area of open olive woodland, about 27km (17 miles) due N of the town of Cáceres.

David had travelled an additional 1885km (1171 miles)slightly east of due N since he was in the Mauritania desert two days previously. He appears to have taken the short route across the desert, west of the High Atlas and along the Moroccan coast, as we had thought he and BB might do. We don’t know why he had stopped in the desert at the time of the last transmissions, but we guess that it may have been due to adverse conditions, possibly wind or dust-related.

Lloyd is on his way

23 Apr 2013

Locations received from Lloyd mid-morning of 23 April show him in central Algeria and about two thirds into his desert crossing. The next time we hear from him should be early on Friday, when, fingers crossed he will have completed the Saharan leg of his journey. His map will update tomorrow morning.

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