Wilfrid

Wilfrid

Named by an anonymous tag funder in memory of her father.

Status : Active
Tagged : Mon, June 03, 2024 - 05:30
Age when found : Adult
Tagging Location : Worlingham Marshes, Suffolk, England
Satellite Tag No. : 262936
Wing Length (mm) : 228
Sex : Male

Wilfrid's journey from 3rd June 2024 to 18th May 2025

Updates on Wilfrid 's movements

Wilfrid wings his way

22 Apr 2025

Once again, Wilfrid went quiet for a short while, leaving us guessing as to his whereabouts following his arrival in central Spain in early April. Our last signal placed him near Guadalupe, then over the weekend we received notification of his arrival in Suffolk – our first tagged bird to return! 

He is back in the same area near Worlingham Marshes, within the Broads National Park, where he was tagged in early June last year, further highlighting just how site-faithful these birds are! 

Where's Wilfrid?

02 Apr 2025

We hadn’t received any signals from Wilfrid since March 20, when he was still in south-east Guinea. Any concerns that we may have had for his wellbeing and whereabouts were joyously dashed yesterday when it became clear that he’d made significant progress since his last check-in.

At some point in the last 11 days he headed north in earnest, clearing the Sahara and arriving in the Extremadura region in central Spain! Currently just north of Guadalupe, he has covered at least 3,500 km (2,174 miles) since leaving Guinea and in excess of 7,000 km (4,350 miles) since departing his wintering grounds in Angola.

Of all our tagged Cuckoos, Wilfrid was the one who wintered the furthest south this year and he is now by far the most northerly of our birds!

Where's Wilfrid?

02 Apr 2025

We hadn’t received any signals from Wilfrid since March 20, when he was still in south-east Guinea. Any concerns that we may have had for his wellbeing and whereabouts were joyously dashed yesterday when it became clear that he’d made significant progress since his last check-in.

At some point in the last 11 days he headed north in earnest, clearing the Sahara and arriving in the Extremadura region in central Spain! Currently just north of Guadalupe, he has covered at least 3,500 km (2,174 miles) since leaving Guinea and in excess of 7,000 km (4,350 miles) since departing his wintering grounds in Angola.

Of all our tagged Cuckoos, Wilfrid was the one who wintered the furthest south this year and he is now by far the most northerly of our birds!

Wilfrid’s Way Out West

05 Mar 2025

Having spent the last few months deep in the forests of north-west Angola (furthest south of all our tagged Cuckoos), Wilfrid is now clearly feeling the urge to head back north.

He has made a massive leap, covering multiple African countries, passing through Gabon and western Cameroon before arriving in Nigeria a few days ago.

From here, he has continued his journey, sweeping past a further four countries until arriving at his current location in south-eastern Guinea. He has already covered approximately 3,700 km (2,300 miles) since leaving his wintering quarters in Angola.

Wilfrid's way out West Africa

29 Jul 2024

Our last update from Wilfrid, around a week ago, saw him still lingering in Portugal.

However, soon after this he set off across the Atlantic, bypassing the Canary Islands and the Moroccan coast, and making landfall at Dakhla, in the Western Sahara region.  

From here, he continued through Senegal, and our latest signal shows that he is now following the River Gambia and is just 60km (37 miles) from the Guinea border. Since leaving Portugal Wilfrid has flown more than 2,900 km (1,800 miles).  

Wilfrid pops to Portugal

22 Jul 2024

After a few days feeding up around the Spanish town of Tordesillas, Wilfrid headed in a south-westerly direction on the evening of 19 July.

In just three days he covered a distance of around 520 km (323 miles), passing Salamanca and Badajoz en route. Now in Portugal, he arrived in a fairly remote region just south-west of the Guadiana Valley Natural Park at 5.23am today (22 July).  

Wilfrid arrives in Spain

15 Jul 2024

Wilfrid has made good progress over the last few days, taking a 280 km (173 miles) route into Spain that bypassed a mountain crossing over the Pyrenees by cutting across open water from the coast of south-west France, to Bilbao.

From here he carried on a further 290 km (180 miles) and is currently in an area around the town of Tordesillas by the Douro River, in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León.  

Wilfrid wends his way to wine region

12 Jul 2024

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.

Wilfrid wings it from Worlingham

08 Jul 2024

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.