Updates from our Cuckoos

After a couple of days around the Troyes area, Wilfrid flew approximately 500 km (310 miles) south toward Bordeaux, where he is currently in an area of mixed woodland and farmland just south of the Dordogne River.

When we last checked in with George II four days ago, he was on the Essex coast.

Since then, he crossed the Thames estuary into Kent and continued south into East Sussex, from where he flew out across the Channel from Hastings. Taking a rather lengthy route of around 180 km (112 miles) over open water, he has now arrived in Normandy, just south of Caen.

Since leaving north-west Scotland a week ago, George II has taken a rather leisurely route down to the Essex coast, where he is currently feeding up before (hopefully) making his Channel crossing.

His 880 km (550 miles) north-to-south journey has taken him from Dundonell, down to Stirling, through the Lake District, skirted Leeds, through the East Midlands and down past Ipswich, before coming to a stop near Southend-On-Sea.

Wilfred, tagged at Worlingham Marshes in Suffolk on 3 June 2024, has now left the UK and is heading determinedly south.

His route has taken him on a 165 km (102 miles) flight across open water, from the Suffolk coast to Dunkirk. From here he has carried on, covering a further 340 km (311 miles) to the outskirts of Troyes, a town in the Grand Est region.

Since our last update, Henry has left West Sussex and flown a distance of 300 km (186 miles), taking him to the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, approximately 65 km (40 miles) to the south-west of Paris.

In recent days, Severn has moved swiftly through France, covering some 838 km (520 miles). He crossed the Pyrenees to the west of Andorra, entering Spain at the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park.

Severn then headed south-west into the Aragon region, passing Zaragoza and eventually settling in an area by the Grio River, just to the west of the town of La Almunia de Doña Godina.

In the past week, Sayaan has moved further into Italy.

Having lingered around the Province of Parma, he then flew 310 km (192 miles), passing Florence and Assisi and is now in the Perugia region of Umbria.

After spending some time around Venice, Cuach Torc has headed eastwards across the Adriatic Sea before flying south along the Croatian coastline, travelling a distance of around 540 km (335 miles).

He is currently in an area along the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and just 10 km (6 miles) from the city of Dubrovnik.

Severn, tagged at the Gwen Finch Wetland Reserve in Worcestershire on 6 June, has swooped southward in the last couple of days, covering around 500 km (310 miles).

He passed over Southampton and the Isle of White, and headed out across the Channel, arriving in France just north of Caen.  He continued on until finally taking a break to the south-east of Le Mans, in the Pays de la Loire region.  

Following Henry’s lead, our other tagged Scottish Cuckoo George 2 has now set off in earnest. Taking a slightly different route, George is making his way down through the centre of the country.  

Initially heading south-eastwards toward Inverness, he then took a turn south and is now on the western shores of Loch Ericht in the Grampians. He has covered a distance of around 135 km (83 miles) in the last couple of days.