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. 

Cuckoo Cleeve took off from western France over the weekend and surged towards the UK, skirting the Channel Islands and crossing The Channel, before passing over Bognor Regis. From the West Sussex coast, he continued in a north-easterly direction, heading straight over London, and on towards Thetford Forest, where he should spend the next few weeks loudly announcing his presence, and chasing female Cuckoos. 

Earlier this month Frederic arrived in West Africa, well behind our other tagged Cuckoos. He was also the last to leave the region, but in the past few days he has headed north across Burkina Faso, through south-western Mali, eastern Mauritania and Algeria, and into Morrocco. 

From here he pressed on, crossing the Mediterranean and arriving in south-eastern Spain, close to the city of Almería. After a short stopover, he has now moved further into Spain, and is currently in the famous birdwatcher’s paradise of Monfragüe, Extremadura's only national park. Since leaving Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) he has covered in excess of 3,700 km (2,300 miles). 

As we intimated in our last update, Cuach Cores was certainly poised and ready to complete his journey to Ireland. He didn’t mess around. He took off in a north-westerly direction, passing up through Brittany before heading straight out to sea, and on towards the Isles of Scilly. Continuing on, he arrived on the County Cork coast before forging on to Killarney National Park, County Kerry, where he was tagged on 17 May 2023. 

Cuach Cores spent little more than six weeks on his breeding grounds last summer – how long will he stay this year?

Since we last posted his whereabouts just three days ago, Cleeve has left central Spain and made his way more than 900 km (560 miles) crossing the Bay of Biscay, and into western France. 

From here he should make his way swiftly back to the UK and towards Thetford Forest, Norfolk, where he was filmed by the BBC One Show, being tagged and released in May 2024!     

Sayann left the Pyrenees and took off across France at the end of last week, covering almost 1,000 km (620 miles) before arriving on the English coast on Saturday. He passed over Brighton and headed inland, straight to the Knepp Estate where he was tagged on 18 May, 2023. 

He returned five days earlier this year than he did last spring, when he took an unusual route north through Italy before arriving back in Sussex. 

As we anticipated, Joe took flight and left western France just before the weekend, making his way towards The Channel. He commenced his crossing from the Normandy coast close to the port of Ouistreham, and arrived in the UK close to Eastbourne. From there he continued onwards, and by the early hours of this morning he was back in Norfolk, close to Thetford Forest, where he was caught and tagged in May 2022.   

Following a period of radio silence, Cleeve’s tag sprang into life last week and showed that he was crossing the Sahara in south-east Mauritania. From here he headed to the Moroccan coast, from where he took a flight across to mainland Europe, arriving on the Portuguese / Spanish border. 

By Saturday he was in central western Spain, close to the Sierra de Gredos Regional Park in the province of Ávila, Castile and León. In just two days, Cleeve covered almost 2,500 km (1,550 miles)!   

Cores left Spain, and after a flight across the Bay of Biscay, came ashore in western France on Saturday. Currently in farmland on the outskirts of the town of Villeneuve-en-Retz in the Loire-Atlantique department, he is poised to head north straight into Ireland. Last year he arrived in County Cork on 22 April, so he’s pretty much on schedule!   

After making his way steadily north up through western France in the last few days, Jim launched across The Channel from Bayeux and arrived on the coast near Worthing in the early hours of this morning. From here, he headed swiftly inland and is now just around 11 km (7 miles), south of Wisborough Green, where he was tagged last May.