Updates from our Cuckoos

Earlier this week Cuach Torc crossed the border into Italy from Switzerland.

He stopped for a short while just north of the UNESCO world heritage city of Verona, famously the home of Romeo and Juliet. From here Torc then moved a further 120 km (75 miles) to the coast just south of Venice.

In the next few days he could either continue down through Italy, or follow the route he did last year, via Bosnia and Herzegovina and on into Greece! 

Since leaving the Dijon area in western France a few days ago, Sayaan has flown some 463 km (287 miles), skirting Switzerland, and crossing into Italy just to the west of Turin.

He is now in the Piedmont region, just north of Genoa, from where his next move should see him heading south through Italy and on towards the Mediterranean.

Over the weekend, Cleeve left the Cranwich Heath area in Norfolk, and headed south.

A 306 km (190 miles) overnight flight took him to the Essex coast, where he then continued across the Channel to Dunkirk. From here he flew south-east, into northern France and is currently just to the east of the city of Arras.

Cleeve was filmed by a BBC TV crew when tagged on 10 May 2024, and was the star, alongside Hannah Stitfall, of a One Show feature about the BTO Cuckoo project!

Joe has really covered some ground since the last update, just four days ago. After leaving the area around the Somme, he has flown approximately 868 km (540 miles) to the Mediterranean coast and is now close to the glamorous ‘jet set’ resort of Saint-Tropez.

Will Joe be the first of our tagged Cuckoos to cross into North Africa?

Cuach Torc has powered some 483 km (300 miles) south-east through France in recent days and is now in Switzerland!

After a couple of days in and around the UNESCO Entlebuch Biosphere reserve at the foot of the Alps, close to Lucerne, he has now crossed over the high peaks and is heading towards the Italian border.

After spending several days around Châteaubriant, Cuach Cores finally got going again, and made a remarkable journey of around 823 km (511 miles) over the weekend.

Along the way, he spent a little time in the same area as Sayaan, near Dijon, before he moved determinedly south-east, past Grenoble and into the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. He is just 113 km (70 miles) from the Mediterranean coast, from where he should cross into North Africa to begin the next leg of his journey.

Sayaan is making steady progress and has travelled around 167 km (103 miles) in recent days.

Currently in the Côte-d’Or area, he is exploring a commercially forested area just 16 km (10 miles) to the west of the city of Dijon, the capital city of the Burgundy region of eastern France.

Having spent the past few weeks around Cranwich Heath, just north of Thetford in Norfolk, Joe has now set off on his ‘autumn’ migration. Heading south-east, he passed Colchester, then cut down to the Kent coast before setting off across the Channel, leaving UK soil between Folkestone and Dover.

Having made landfall around the Somme Estuary, after a flight of around 265 km (164 miles), he is now resting and feeding before continuing his journey through France.

Since being tagged in June 2022, this is the third successive autumn migration where Joe will be tracked, providing us with yet more invaluable data.

Having spent the breeding season in and around the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, Sayaan has now headed south. He left the English coast at Worthing on the exact same date as he did last year! 

He cut across the Channel and arrived in France, just south of Dieppe after a journey of 380 km (236 miles). Sayaan then continued towards Paris, skirting the north-east of the French capital, and is currently just north of the city of Sens.

Remarkably, Sayaan is now around just 50km (31 miles) to the west of Cuach Torc!

Since our last update, Cuach Torc has moved from the south of Bayeux and flown around 355 km (220 miles) to an area close to the River Seine, and the medieval town of Troyes, in the Champagne region.

By this time last year Torc had already travelled as far as northern Italy – when might he be saying ‘Au revoir’ to France and ‘Ciao’ to Italy this year?