Updates from our Cuckoos

Cuach Cores wasted no time after he left France, taking a direct route of around 560km (347 miles) back to Killarney National Park, where he was originally tagged on 17 May, 2023.

The majority of his flight was over open water, though he did pass briefly over the tip of Cornwall near Land's End!

He is the last of our still-active tagged Cuckoos to have returned to the breeding grounds this spring.

We enjoyed following Cuckoo George from Norfolk down through northern Italy and across the Sahara to Chad. From there he progressed via Central African Republic to the Congo Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We lost contact with him in November while he was progressing south in the Mai-Ndombe province of DRC.

The tag's battery was very low when we last received a signal and we know he had recently moved, so it seems the low charge is likely the reason we lost contact with the tag. What happened after that - continued degradation of the battery / tag or a problem for George, we don't know, and will now never know, unless he is seen or caught again, or his ring or tag are recovered.

Cuach Cores has finally left France! After spending several days south of the city of Bourges, he has headed approximately 553km (343 miles) north-west to the Brittany coast.

From here, he seems to be heading towards Cornwall, where he could make brief landfall before continuing his journey - or will he veer off to the west and take a more direct route across the Celtic Sea to Ireland?

After several days in the Finistère area of Brittany, Cuach Torc has now left north-western France and has made his way to south-west Ireland.

His journey of approximately 550km (341 miles), saw him taking a direct route across the Celtic Sea, past the Isles of Scilly and Bishop’s Rock lighthouse, and into Killarney National Park, where he joins Cuckoo cohort KP!

Since our last update two days ago, Sayaan has covered the last 385km (239 miles) to his summer residence in West Sussex. Making a direct flight north east, he cut across Normandy before crossing The Channel and arriving in the UK near Worthing.

He is currently back at the Knepp Estate, where he was originally tagged. Since leaving the UK on 19 June 2023 Sayaan has taken a wide circular route which has seen him pass through a remarkable 21 countries!   

After a relatively brief stop on the Algerian / Tunisian border, Cores took a direct route of around 850km (528 miles) across the Mediterranean, arriving in southern France near the town of Montpellier.

He has continued a further 450km (280 miles) north and is now in central France, preparing for the last leg of his journey. When will he join KP in Ireland?

KP finally made landfall on the southern coast of Ireland, just to the south of Dungarvan in County Waterford.

After a short while he headed west through County Cork and is now in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, where he was originally tagged on 17 May 2023.

Since arriving in Breckland, Norfolk three days ago, Joe has been touring around the Thetford Forest area and is currently exploring the fields and hedgerows roughly 10km south east of Downham Market.

Rather than following a more land-based route, KP suddenly left northern Spain and set off due north, crossing the Bay of Biscay and continuing his flight over water, covering some 1,090 km (677 miles)!

Skirting past the Isles of Scilly and pushing north, at the time of his last signal KP was just 70km (43 miles) from the south east coast of Ireland. Once he makes landfall will he head straight to Killarney National Park, where he was tagged on 17 May last year?

With a little encouragement from the southerly winds moving up through the continent, Trent powered north covering around 1,068km (663 miles) over the weekend.

Ater crossing the Channel he spent some time in Somerset before moving north again and is currently in the Malverns in Worcestershire. He is around 1km (.6 mile) away from where he was originally caught and tagged in May 2023!