Updates from our Cuckoos

Over the last few days Suffolk Cuckoo PJ, on his fifth tracked migration to Africa, has made a u-turn. Signals received early yesterday morning show that he has left his previous location in the province of Soria, Castile and León in northern Spain and flown 228 km (141 miles) north west to the southern foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. He is now on the edge of the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, approximately 70 km (43 miles) north-east of the city of Huesca. We have observed our tagged Cuckoos making u-turns before, we presume that when this happens they are in search of better feeding opportunities. 

New updates received from Valentine's tag early this morning suggest that he may have left France. A single low quality location received at 07:33 this morning place him in south eastern Spain, 41 km (26 miles) NW of the town and seaport of Águilas. He also stopped in southern Spain last year but crossed into northern Africa on 17 July and having cross the Sahara, made his stop over in Burkina Faso. We'll have to await further updates to be sure of Valentine's new location. 

Over the last couple of weeks Carlton II has been exploring the Cantabrian mountains of northern Spain. Having initially stopped approximately 48 km (30 miles) N-NE of the city of Burgos in the eastern part of the mountain range, he travelled 215 km (133 miles) west towards Lugo before returning to his starting location. It has been particularly wet in this area over the past couple of weeks and we suspect that when he travelled west he reached the edge of the rain and turned back. The wet conditions provide good feeding opportunities for our Cuckoos. Carlton II is now around 48 km (30 miles) N-NE of the City of Burgos. In 2018 he left northern Spain on 6 August and last year he departed on 28 July. In both previous years he has stopped off in Senegal after crossing the Sahara. 

Since our last update PJ has remained in the same forested area in the municipality of Tardelcuende in the province of Soria, Castile and León in northern Spain. Last year he left northern Spain on 28 July and in 2018 he departed on 29 July so we can expect him to make his next move very soon. 

Valentine has flown a further 512 km (319 miles) south and by yesterday evening was in an area of farmland just east of Nimes. Last year his route took him further west down through Spain so it'll be interesting to see whether he flies direct to Africa from France or travels first out to Spain. 

Updates received from PJ's tag yesterday morning showed that he had flown 678 km (421 miles) south west from his last location in France to a new location in Navarra, northern Spain. He stopped approximately 25 km (16 miles) north of Pamplona. Further updates received early this morning however suggest that he quickly moved on from here, with a few low quality locations showing him 175 km (108 miles) south west, in a forested area in the municipality of Tardelcuende in the province of Soria, Castile and León. We'll have to await further updates to be sure of PJ's current location. His route so far looks very similar to the route he followed south last year. 

A new update received yesterday evening shows that Carlton II has flown 261 miles (420 km) south-west over the border into northern Spain. He is now approximately 30 miles (48 km) N-NE of the city of Burgos. 

A series of good quality location updates received from Carlton II's tag yesterday evening confirm that he has continued on to the South of France. He is currently near the town of Castelnau-Montratier, approximately 72 km (45 miles) north of Toulouse. 

Carlton II arrived in France early on Friday morning, stopping first in the east of the Île-de-France of north-central France. He didn't hang around though and by 11 am yesterday morning, 5 July, he had flown 305 km (190 miles) further south into central France, stopping on the shores of a lake close to the village of Charensat in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. A further low-quality signal received just after 9am this morning place Carlton II 210 km (130 miles) SSW in the Occitanie region of southern France but we'll need to await further updates to be sure of his new location. Carlton II was tagged in 2018 so this is his third tracked migration south. In previous years his route has taken him through France and Spain, arriving in Africa in late July or early August, usually heading from Senegal. 

Updates received from PJ's tag at 4pm on Saturday afternoon show that he has flown 450 km (280 miles) south on the first leg of his fifth tracked migration to Africa. His first stop-over is near Valpuiseaux in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. In 2019 PJ's route took him to southern France and northern Spain, where he stayed until late July, before crossing into Africa on 27 July. In other years however he has flown direct from France to Africa. If PJ successfully makes it across the Sahara this year, he will succeed Chris as our longest surviving tagged Cuckoo.