Supporting Scottish Cuckoo Tracking

Next year we plan to extend our Cuckoo Tracking project to Scotland. Very kindly, Heatherlea have offered to help get the ball rolling by raising funds through a holiday offer. This offer benefits both the BTO (we receive £100 for each holiday booked through the offer) and you receive £300 off any Heatherlea holiday included in this offer.* 

 

What is so special about Scottish Cuckoos?

Through the BTO/ JNCC/ RSPB Breeding Bird Survey we know that Cuckoos are doing better overall in Scotland than they are in either England or Wales. Additionally, the latest results from Bird Atlas 2007-11 (BTO, SOC and BWI) also indicate that Cuckoo populations in the north and west of Britain & Ireland are doing better than those in the south and east.

Could these contrasting fortunes reflect a difference in migration routes or wintering areas? 

To find out, we plan to attaching tiny satellite tags (weighing just 5g) to five male Scottish Cuckoos in spring 2012. We will then be able to gather an enormous amount of comparable information on the Cuckoos’ departure dates from their breeding grounds, use of stop-over locations and migration routes on their subsequent southward migration and their movements within Africa and arrival on their wintering locations.

To do this we need your help.

£300 off Heatherlea holidays* for you and £100 to the BTO!
 

Capercaillie - just one of the spectacular birds 
you may be lucky enough to see.

 

 

 

 

   

 

BTO Corporate Member, Heatherlea is well-known as a fantastic place in Scotland for high quality wildlife holidays, and great guiding and personal care from has earned them five stars from visit Scotland for birding days, led by guides known far and wide for their birding and people skills.

Thanks to Heatherlea for making the following special offer to all our e-newsletter readers - a 7 night holiday at the Heatherlea hotel in February or March 2012 for just £695 (original price £995), plus a donation of £100 per booking to BTO for the Scottish Cuckoo Tracking project.

Offer applies to holidays booked by 31 December 2011

*The holidays included in this offer are: 

Feb 18 - Highland Winter Birding

Feb 25 - Highland Winter Birding

Mar 3 - Highland Winter Birding

Mar 10 - Top 20 birds and mammals in winter

Mar 17 - Top 20 birds and mammals in winter

Mar 24 - Spring into Scotland

(each break is for 7 nights commencing from date specified) 

If you’ve never been on a birdwatching holiday before, this is your perfect chance to start. And if it’s not, you’ll still enjoy finding new birds amid some of Britain’s most spectacular scenery. The location is in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, home to some of Britain’s rarest wildlife.

You will stay in Heatherlea’s famous AA three star Mountview Hotel, located in the perfect Highland village of Nethybridge, just 12 miles from Aviemore. Enjoy meals prepared by chefs who have earned two rosettes for good food, and during the day travel in large minibuses which are great mobile hides. Above all, your holiday includes the services of a Heatherlea Guide, who will plan your entire stay, from the briefing on the first evening to the round-up on the last. They organise everything to suit wildlife, weather and your progress through the week, and their local knowledge is unbeatable.

The Offer

PRICE: £695 per person (no single supplement) – a saving of £300 on published prices and £100 to help us unravel the story behind the decline of UK Cuckoos.

All travel, accommodation, food and services of an expert Heatherlea guide is included in the price.

If you want to holiday with Heatherlea on other dates, we can still benefit, as they have agreed to make a £50 donation to BTO for any other holiday based at Mountview hotel taken in 2012. This donation is in addition to any special offer discounts

For more info and to book your place

Call Heatherlea on 01479 821248, go to www.heatherlea.co.uk or email info [at] heatherlea [dot] co [dot] uk

(Don’t forget to quote your unique e-newsletter code)

 

Stay at Heatherlea's perfectly located Mountview Hotel, Nethybridge.