I don't know if anybody else has followed the BTO Cuckoo tracking that was on Springwatch. Each of the individual blogs show their tracks.
http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tr ... 4J,1DSL9,1

How interesting, Geoff. I did no see Springwatch because we don't have a TV, but your quoted website makes fascinating reading.

Unfortunately, our local cuckoos don't seem to have stayed this year which would be the first time since we moved here more than 30 years ago. I do hope they come back in 2012r and produce young, albeit to the detriment of the meadow pipits!

Did you sponsor one Geoff ? I guess some might get added to a stew out there. It will be a shame if they disappear.

No I didn't sponsor one. Keep checking back the progress of the ones crossing the Sahara is amazing, I think I'd prefer to summer in Northern Italy like the other two!

Have you been checking back? They've covered some distance now.

http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tr ... 4J,1DSL9,1

Wow, what progress, aren't they amazing creatures, no wonder they offload their offspring they must totally exhaust themselves.
I must admit I had not checked back, a bit tired at the moment, my elderly mother had given us some mega bad nights, she is in a unit for assessment at the moment to see if they can help her into a more regular sleeping pattern which has given us some respite, they have just extended the time as she is giving them a hard time too, not on purpose - it's just problems associated with her old age.

Hope you are keeping an eye on them.

http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tr ... 4J,1DSL9,1

Yes, thank you Geoff, aren't they amazing !

They are on the move

http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tr ... 4J,1DSL9,1

Take care of yourself.

Hope they can help as that is indeed exhausting for you. I was talking to a friend from last year's trading today and he is caring for his mother and his elderly uncle - and the uncle's cattle. He looks totally drained. He is out of work and said he does not have ajob; I assured him that he DOES have a job and a very important one indeed.

I totally agree Marigold, the most important job in the world is taking care of those you love.

Heard the first Cuckoo of the year this morning, in the woods behind the allotments.

I heard a cuckoo this morning at 5am!

We think we have a blackbird feeding a cuckoo in our garden at the moment. We saw it for the first time on Saturday, it is much bigger than the blackbird and looks very slightly like a thrush in colouring at the moment.

We went to Italy two years ago and where we were staying had a cuckoo calling all day, it was mighty tiring on our ears. You eventually get fed of of the song..