Thomas J was tagged in Kintail on 20 May, and by early June, he had headed east across the Cairngorms, and into Aberdeenshire before heading determinedly south. He cut across the Firth of Forth between Arbroath and St Abbs before making his way past Newcastle, down to the Humber and onto north Lincolnshire. He lingered here for a few days before moving on again, this time making his way across the Wash and into Norfolk. His latest signal shows that he is currently around the WWT Welney area. 

Tagged at Morvich, Kintail, in the Northwest Highlands in May, Rob has now left Scotland and taken an interesting route. 

After heading east, he took off from Aberdeen on Saturday morning and crossed the North Sea, covering around 700 km (435 miles) of open water. He arrived on the shores of Denmark, in the Wadden Sea National Park that same evening! From here he redirected south and is now close to the northern German city of Oldenburg. 

Frederic set off from Thetford on Friday and is now around 75 km (46 miles) south of Paris. He took a short sea crossing, flying from Dover to Boulogne-sur-Mer. Continuing south, he arrived on the banks of the River Yonne, a tributary of the Seine. 

Sayaan left Sussex just five days ago, but has made great progress in this short time. After crossing The Channel, he flew southeast through France, stopping for a short break at Lucerne in Switzerland, before crossing the Alps, passing Venice and skirting along the Croatian coast on into Montenegro! Currently taking a breather by Shkodra Lake, the largest lake in Southern Europe and an area recognised for its rich biodiversity, Sayaan is the furthest east of all our tagged Cuckoos. 

Tagged in 2023, this will be the fourth post-breeding season that we are able to follow Sayaan’s migration!  

Tagged in Thetford Forest on 28 May, not far from BTO headquarters, Beech was the first of our English Cuckoos to set off for the Continent. His route took him south, heading out from the Suffolk coast north of Felixstowe, and arriving in northern Belgium at De Haan. He wasted little time, and continued toward Frankfurt, Germany, and then down to Innsbruck, Austria. He then moved further south and has spent the last couple of days by the southern shores of Lake Garda, Italy. 

Rua left Burren National Park in County Clare a week ago and rapidly made his way to the Ceredigion coast in Wales. Like his fellow Irish Cuckoo Seán, he then headed south, and crossed the Bristol Channel into England. After arriving at Minehead, he pressed on, before taking a short break close to the East Devon coast, near Seaton. 

Our most recent signal shows that he had started to cross The Channel and will hopefully arrive on the Normandy coast shortly. 

Cuach Seán set off from Wicklow National Park, Ireland on 10 June, and by the following day had crossed the Irish Sea and south-west Wales, and had arrived in Somerset. 

From here he flew south-east, flying over Poole, before crossing The Channel and arriving on the French coast near Bayeux. Soon after passing the west of Clermont-Ferrand, he veered eastwards and hit the Alps near Chambery. From here, he headed down to the Italian coast and is currently close to the town of Andora in the Province of Savona. 

We are delighted to introduce a new cohort of satellite tagged Cuckoos to add to the previously tagged birds that we followed back to the UK earlier in the spring.

As we now know, thanks to the Cuckoo Tracking Project, the first birds start to leave their breeding areas by mid June, and this year is proving no different; we have already seen some notable movements.

Newly tagged Irish bird Cuach Rua has already made his way to south-west Wales while Cuach Seán has made remarkable progress, having crossed the Channel and flown across France int o the Alps and down into northern Italy!    

Scottish tagged Thomas J left the north-west Highlands on 9 June and has since made his way down the east coast, spending some time in Lincolnshire before crossing The Wash. He is currently just south of King’s Lynn in Norfolk. 

Meanwhile, another newly tagged bird, Beech, has left Thetford Forest where he was tagged on 28 May, and having flown to the Belgian coast is now making progress through Germany. 

All our other Cuckoos are still staying put in their breeding grounds for now, but we will surely see more movement in the coming days as they commence their epic migrations through Europe, and into Africa!

Introducing the Cuckoo cohort of 2026…

Cuckoo Crispin – tagged at High Lodge in Thetford Forest and funded by a generous BTO donor.

Cuckoo Rob – tagged in Kintail in the Scottish Highlands and named in memory of the tag funders’ late friend, Rob Watson.

Cuckoo Beech – tagged in Thetford Forest and names after one of the tag funder’s favourite tree species.

Cuckoo Thomas J – tagged in Kintail in the Scottish Highlands and named by the tag funder in memory of Thomas Joseph Paul; a well-travelled engineer and gentleman with a lifelong love for the Scottish hills.

Cuckoo 40926 (name tbc) was tagged in Kintail in the Scottish Highlands and is awaiting a name so if you’d like to fund his tag (£4,000) please get in touch!

Irish Birds

Cuach Seán – tagged at Derrybawn in Wicklow National Park and named after the tag funder’s son.

Cuach Rua – funded by NPWS and named after Slieve Rua which is a hilltop in Burren National Park close to where he was captured. Rua also means red in Irish.

Just under a week ago, Frederic left central Spain and started heading to the UK. 

He made his way north, passing Salamanca before heading toward the coast, from where he crossed the Bay of Biscay from Santander. He soon arrived on the French coast, close to the city of Saint-Nazaire, and from here he continued on through Brittany before crossing The Channel and into the UK near Worthing. He quickly pushed on, arriving near Thetford Forest, Norfolk, last Sunday. In just two days, he covered over 1,500 km (930 miles) to return to the location where he was tagged in May 2025.   

As the last of the tagged Cuckoos, from which we’re currently receiving signals, to arrive in the UK, Frederic completes the set! 

These birds will likely remain in the same areas that they are now in for the next few weeks, until they start to move south once again! 

• And of course, we will be tagging more Cuckoos this spring, so keep an eye out for updates—and do please consider sponsoring this amazing project!  

We’re delighted to report that Ashok is once again back on Suffolk soil, after his surprise U-turn back to France just days after first arriving back in early April. 

BTO Cuckoo experts noted a drop in temperature which coincided with Ashok’s initial arrival, which is almost certainly what caused him to fly back across The Channel. Now, after a good spell in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France, he has returned and is back around Worlingham Marshes, Suffolk, where he was tagged last May.