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Updates from our Cuckoos

Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their migration.

Your chance to name a Cuckoo

27 Jun 2014

With three un-named birds left we are letting you choose what to name one of our Sherwood Cuckoos!  Anyone who sponsors a Cuckoo before the end of June will be entered in to a draw. We’ll then pick one entry at random and will contact the winner who can then suggest a suitable name*. Find out how you could name a Cuckoo

Four Cuckoos in Italy

27 Jun 2014

Emsworthy has travelled over the border from France to join Whortle, Livingstone and Peter in Italy. Livingstone and Peter are in the Po Valley, an area that the project has shown to be important to many of our Cuckoos,  while Whortle and Emsworthy are currently close to the valley edge. 

Emsworthy's move this year, from France along and into Italy, looks remarkably similiar to Whortle's movement last year, just before he suprised us by retreating back to France and then down through Spain to Africa.  This year Whortle has headed straight to Italy and not stopped in France as far as we can tell. Will he head through Spain as last year or make the flight to Africa directly from Italy? Which route will fellow Devon Cuckoo Emsworthy take? 

Three more Cuckoos leave the UK

20 Jun 2014

Whortle, Chester and as yet un-named 134952 are the most recent Cuckoos confirmed to have left the UK. All three of these birds have travelled to north-western France, transmitting these updated locations on 19 June.   

Poor quality signals received on the same day indicate that two further Cuckoos have started their journeys. Hennah and Meavy look like they are in France too but until further locations are received to confirm this the maps won't update.

So we have at least 8 and possibly 10 Cuckoos which have left the UK. If the unconfirmed locations are true, then interestingly, all three Dartmoor birds (Emsworthy, Whortle and Meavy) and all three New Forest birds (Peter, Gilbert and Hennah) have left.  In addition one Scottish bird, 2 Nottinghamshire birds and one of the Sussex birds have also left the UK. 

Peter in Italy

18 Jun 2014
On the evening of 5 June, Peter had left the New Forest and was on the Isle of Wight and during the early hours of the 6 June he was on his way, at 02.07 he was mid-Channel.
We next heard from him during the early morning of the 8 June, 200km (130 miles) from the Channel coast and a few kilometres east of Chartres.
 
Since arriving in France he hasn’t hung around. In the early hours of 15 June he was 35km (22 miles) from the Mediterranean coast, just north-east of Montpellier. Having made it to the Mediterranean coast he then headed east and on the morning of 17 June was close to the Po Valley in north eastern Italy. We know that this is a staging area for some of our Cuckoos as they prepare for the crossing of the Sahara, so it will be interesting to see how long Peter remains here. Being the first of our Cuckoos to arrive here, he could also be the first to cross the desert.
 

First Cuckoo leaves the UK!

10 Jun 2014

It's only early June but our first Cuckoo has already left to start the journey to their wintering grounds! Recently named Peter, one of our New Forest Cuckoos tagged this year, had made it to northern France by the 8 June. This is early for our Cuckoos but by no means the earliest. In previous years Cuckoos have left as early as 3 June. Who will be next to follow?    

The New Forest four

27 May 2014

Bolderwood, New Forest, Hampshire -  Six Cuckoos caught between 04:30am and 11:00am - the first three of which (two tagged, one too small) were in the first round, one in the middle of each of a triangle of nets set at Bolderwood. The other three were caught a couple of miles to the north and four were selected for tagging. This meant we completed our tagging in Hampshire during day, in a brief weather-window.

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