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Updates from our Cuckoos

Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.

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George II's unexpected wanderings

05 Nov 2024

George II is another of our tagged birds who took an unexpected route. Having made steady progress into Spain, he then turned north back into France, before returning to Spain and setting of across the Mediterranean just north of Barcelona, in late September.

He then spent much of October in southern Mali before moving once again, and is now alongside the Niger River in southern Niger, close to the borders of Benin and Burkina Faso.

Cuthbert's Cameroon adventure

05 Nov 2024

Cuthbert appears to be doing well, and at the time of posting, is in western Cameroon. He is currently in the lush tropical environs of Cameroon’s largest river, the Sanaga.

Cuach Torc finally arrives in Africa!

05 Nov 2024

Cuach Torc initially made good progress and by mid-July was in southern Greece. He then inexplicably returned to western Europe, which included a protracted and unexpected stay in northern Germany. After a lot of false starts, he finally headed south again, crossed the Mediterranean and then left Algeria on 30 October.

He then flew 2,567 km (1,595 miles) to southern Niger, close to the Nigerian border, arriving just after midnight on 3 November.

By contrast, on his autumn migration in 2023 he’d made it to Sudan by 3 August – what caused his long delay this time? 

Cuach Cores in Central African Republic

05 Nov 2024

Cuach Cores crossed the Sahara much earlier this year, arriving south of the desert region by early August. In 2023, he’d lingered in Europe until 10 October.

He is currently in the Central African Republic from where he will likely move into the Congo basin shortly, given his movements last year.

Cleeve's in the Congo

05 Nov 2024

Having crossed the Sahara in early August, Cleeve has been moving slowly south and is now by the Bouenza River in the Republic of the Congo.

Cleeve had a taste of fame when he was the star of a BBC One Show episode back in May. Hannah Stitfall and crew joined our BTO team in Norfolk as they caught Cleeve and attached his satellite tag. In early spring we'll hope to see him start to make his return journey to the UK!

Hafren cruises east along the Sokoto

23 Sep 2024

Since crossing into Nigeria from Benin a week ago, Hafren made a move towards the lush shores of the Niger River.  

Currently just north-east of Kainji Lake, he is following a section of the Sokoto, a tributary of the Niger, heading eastwards into the country.

Torc walks the walk

23 Sep 2024

Cuach Torc finally seems to have come to his senses after his lengthy, unscheduled visit to northern Germany, and now appears to be heading south once more.

In recent days he left an area just north of Leipzig, flew down past Frankfurt and entered French airspace through the North Vosges Regional National Park before proceeding to Dijon, covering some 768km (477 miles). Hopefully he is fully rested, fed, and in good shape to continue south to make a swift Mediterranean crossing.    

Torc treks north

13 Sep 2024

Torc has certainly had us scratching our heads a little in recent weeks. By mid July he looked poised to cross the Mediterranean from his position in southern Greece, but since then he has headed back north through the Balkans and into central Europe.

For some reason, he is now in Saxony, western Germany, approximately 53 km (32 miles) north of Leipzig. We just hope that he can find enough food to fatten himself up for a journey south soon.   

By this time last year Cuach Torc had already been on the other side of the Sahara for around six weeks, having crossed the Mediterranean in late July. What will he do next?   

Hafren bowls into Benin

13 Sep 2024

For much of the last month, Hafren has been in Burkina Faso, but in recent days he has made a significant move to the east.

Since leaving Burkina Faso just two days ago, he has passed through northern Ghana, then Togo, and as of this morning he is in the Borgou Department of northern Benin. Our satellite signal currently shows him to be close to a stretch of the Bouli River, a few miles west of the Trois Rivières forest reserve.

Torc Czechs in

06 Sep 2024

After trying Croatia, Greece, Albania and Bosnia & Herzegovinia, new signals received from Torc's tag last night showed that he had flown 740 km (460 miles) north to the Czech Republic.

He is now near the town of Holýšov, in the Plzeň Region of western Czech Republic.

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