My Cuckoo.

Here is the latest BTO bulletin on the tracked cuckoos, including mine Cuach Torc.

 Dear John,

The last few months has been, as expected, a very quiet time on the Cuckoo front as the birds we were tracking were settled in their wintering areas. Now things are changing and as we begin to see and hear the first signs of spring here in the UK, the first of our tagged Cuckoos has just completed the first leg of his journey north. Of the 14 tagged birds that successfully departed the UK and Ireland in 2024, all except Nick 2 and Severn made it beyond the Sahara. Worcestershire Cuckoo Severn perished in Kosovo after being forced to abort his crossing of the Mediterranean. Nick 2 went further, managing to reach southern Mauritania before we lost him in the desert in late summer. It looks likely that we also lost Cuckoos Cuthbert, Henry and George 2 before they reached their wintering areas. We last heard from Cuthbert and George 2 in late 2024 when they were in Camerooon and from Henry when he was in Central African Republic. We therefore have no evidence to suggest that they successfully made it to the traditional wintering areas of UK Cuckoos in the Congo Basin or Angola. Of the remaining 9 birds, we have received updates from five over the last 30 days. The biggest mover has been Suffolk Cuckoo Wilfrid. Having spent the last few months deep in the forests of north-west Angola (furthest south of all our tagged Cuckoos), largely in radio silence, we feared the worst for him. But, over the past week he has made a massive leap, covering multiple African countries, passing through Gabon and western Cameroon before arriving in Nigeria a few days ago. From here, he has continued his journey, sweeping past a further four countries until arriving at his current location in south-eastern Guinea. He has already covered approximately 3,700 km (2,300 miles) since leaving his wintering quarters in Angola. None of the other four active Cuckoos - Cleeve, Hafren, Joe or Sayaan have made their first move north yet although Sayaan has been roaming quite widely around in the Congo rainforest, looking rather fidgety. Joe and Sayaan are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo whilst Cleeve and Hafren are in neighbouring Republic of Congo. We would expect to see them moving north and west any day now. Although we haven't received any data from the three Irish Cuckoos Cuach Torc, Cuach Cores, or KP for over a month, this doesn't necessarily signal the end for them. When the birds are in dense rainforest, the batteries in their tags can run flat due to the lack of sunlight on the solar panels which charge them. So, when they exit the rainforest and they encounter regular strong sunlight again, it is sometimes possible for the tags to power up again. The last signal we received from KP was in October, from Cuach Cores in November and from Cuach Torc in December however, so this is becoming an increasingly unlikely possibility now unfortunately.   I hope you've enjoyed this update. As the Cuckoos progress north we'll update you regularly with their movements. Don't forget that you can check the last known locations of our tagged Cuckoos on our Cuckoo tracking map. With thanks for your support and very best wishes, Ieuan          Dr Ieuan Evans Director of Engagement

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