Cuckoo.

I have just received sad news from the BTO concerning my sponsored Cuckoo, Selborne

"Dear John

We are sorry to report that we have sad news about Hampshire Cuckoo Selborne. We last heard from Selborne at midday on 4 April when he had just arrived in Spain. Unfortunately it looks as if he died overnight 4 - 5 April. His last location shows him over a southern ridge of the Sierra Morena mountains and it looks as if he was stopped suddenly in his tracks as he topped that slope. We will probably never know what happened to Selborne but it would appear most likely that he was either taken by an avian predator or succumbed to human hunters. Selborne was named by the Hampshire Ornithological Society when he was tagged in June 2016. Since then we have followed Selborne over two complete migration loops from Hampshire to his wintering grounds in Gabon. He was only 1,430 Km (888 miles) from completing his third migration loop. We are grateful to the Hampshire Ornithological Society and all of Selborne's sponsors for enabling the wonderful contribution that Selborne has made to advancing our understanding of Cuckoo migration."

BTO  plan to capture five of this year' new birds and attach transponders so that they can be tracked on their first journey to Africa. I will sponsor one and keep my fingers crossed that it survives.