Cuckoo
There was an interesting film about satellite tagging Cuckoos on Springwatch last night. They said that male Cuckoos were starting to head back to Africa by early June after only 6 weeks in Britain, which might explain why they have vanished from my usual areas. The Sat-tagging has shown that English Cuckoos tend to use the shorter route to Africa via Spain, whereas Scottish and Welsh Cuckoos take the longer route via Italy or the Balkans. But the Spanish travelers have lower survival rates than the Italian ones. So it looks like travel food might be a key issue. Much of Spain has intensified farming with little wild habitat for the big caterpillars and insects that Cuckoos need. This might explain why English Cuckoos are faring badly compared to Scottish Cuckoos. I photographed this male Cuckoo flying between trees in a conifer plantation in the Peak District this spring.
Cuckoo
There was an interesting film about satellite tagging Cuckoos on Springwatch last night. They said that male Cuckoos were starting to head back to Africa by early June after only 6 weeks in Britain, which might explain why they have vanished from my usual areas. The Sat-tagging has shown that English Cuckoos tend to use the shorter route to Africa via Spain, whereas Scottish and Welsh Cuckoos take the longer route via Italy or the Balkans. But the Spanish travelers have lower survival rates than the Italian ones. So it looks like travel food might be a key issue. Much of Spain has intensified farming with little wild habitat for the big caterpillars and insects that Cuckoos need. This might explain why English Cuckoos are faring badly compared to Scottish Cuckoos. I photographed this male Cuckoo flying between trees in a conifer plantation in the Peak District this spring.