Cuckoo Migration to Africa.

Imagine going on a trip to The Congo, in Africa, setting out from the Norfolk Broads, across the English Channel to France, then on via Spain, over the Med at Gibraltar, down through Morocco into Senegal, and across. Or through Belgium down to the toe of Italy, through Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, to end up with four others, of your species, in The Congo. This amazing route was taken between last June and December by 5 Cuckoos who were fitted with satellite tracking devices for a research project by the British Trust for Ornithology.

This ground breaking information, that is still ongoing daily, was the subject of the talk given by Paul Stancliffe of the B.T.O. at March Rotary Club on Monday 30th January 2012. A scientific research organisation, it has gathered hither too unimaginable data about the migration habits of the Cuckoo. The birds were humanely trapped last summer, and fitted with newly developed tracking device that weighs under 5 gms, equivalent to the weigh of a tea spoon of sugar. These state of the art devices cost around