Scottish bird Norman, has toured the English east coast since we posted our last update. He left Northumberland on 22 June and made his way leisurely south along the Yorkshire coast, passing Spurn three days later. 

From here, he cut across to Weybourne, Norfolk and then pushed on into Suffolk. He is currently by the River Waveney, just north of North Cove Nature Reserve.    

Another newly tagged Cuckoo, Frederic left Norfolk five days ago, and headed determinedly south. After a day on the south Kent coast, he set off across The Channel from Dungeness, arriving on the French coast near Le Tréport, Normandy.  

From here he continued south into central France, bypassing Paris, before veering slightly west. He is currently just north of Limoges, near the town of Le Dorat, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, having covered around 810 km (503 miles) since setting off. 

Sayaan is still in central Italy and has spent the last 10 days in the wooded hillsides and farmland around 40 km (25 miles) to the south-east of the city of Perugia. He is roughly on schedule, compared to his location at this time in both 2023 and 2024. 

If all goes well, and he follows the previous two years’ patterns he will likely cross the Mediterranean into Libya in around three weeks… 

Since our last update 10 days ago, Cuach Cores has moved down to the south of France and is currently just west of the town of Orange, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. By this time in both 2024 and 2023, he had moved eastwards into Italy, so can we expect to see a similar move in the coming days?

It’s almost two weeks since Wingston set down just to the north of Montpellier in southern France. Tracking data show that he has been exploring over quite a wide area, hopefully finding lots of food to fuel the next leg of his journey.

Jim seems to be quite happy in the lush hills north of Montpellier, where he has remained since our last update on 20 June. As one of our newly tagged birds, it will be interesting to see where he goes from here!  

Scottish-tagged Norman has crossed the border and is now on the Northumberland coast, close to the birdwatching hotspot of Druridge Bay. As our only bird tagged in Scotland this year, it will be interesting to see what route he takes from here, and whether his movements through Europe differ from those of his English cousins…  

Cuckoo Jim has certainly motored on since we last checked in with him on 17 June. He has flown approximately 670 km (416 miles) south in just three days and is following the path of Sussex Cuckoo Wingston. Currently just on the outskirts of the city of Montpellier, close to the Mediterranean, will his next move see him heading east through Italy or attempt a sea crossing to North Africa, perhaps via Sardinia?    

Since our last update, just three days ago, Sayaan has continued heading east and has covered a further 680 km (420 miles). He flew over Geneva, Switzerland and crossed the Alps near Mont Blanc, before dropping into Italy. He then headed to the coast and spent some time around Genoa prior to making his way past Pisa. 

He is currently in central Italy on the Umbria / Tuscany border. Sayaan is considerably further into his migratory journey than he was at this time last year!
 

Cuach Cores is taking his time, making fairly steady progress through France. Since Tuesday he has moved down into southwest-central France and is currently exploring the countryside around the city of Limoges. If he follows the same route that he did last year, he will eventually head into Italy before crossing the Mediterranean.