Cleeve

Cleeve

Named by the tag’s funder after Cleeve Hill outside Cheltenham.

Status : Active
Tagged : Fri, May 10, 2024 - 05:30
Age when found : Adult
Tagging Location : Cranwich Heath, Thetford Forest, England
Satellite Tag No. : 262930
Wing Length (mm) : 220
Sex : Male

Cleeve's journey from 10th May 2024 to 25th May 2025

Updates on Cleeve 's movements

One Show favourite Cleeve returns

28 Apr 2025

With decent weather conditions forecast, we’d anticipated the return of our final three tagged Cuckoos this weekend and so it turned out to be the case! By Sunday afternoon Cleeve was back at Cranwich Heath, where he was tagged in May last year.

Following a similar route to fellow Cuckoo Joe, Cleeve headed from the Bordeaux region up past Angers, making a sea crossing from Caen. Heading straight inland, he flew over central London, and continued on, passing the BTO headquarters in Thetford before arriving at his summer residence on the edge of Thetford Forest.      

Cleeve was the bird who gained a little fame after being featured on the BBC’s One Show, when presenter Hannah Stitfall joined BTO staff as they went out to catch and tag Cuckoos in the Brecks. It’s great to have him back, along with our other tagged birds!

Cleeve crosses into France

25 Apr 2025

Cleeve seemed quite settled in the Soria region of north-central Spain over the last few days, preparing for the next leg of his journey north. However, he has now crossed over the French border and is now just 25 km (15 miles) to the west of Bordeaux, close to the Médoc Regional Nature Park.

With good weather conditions forecast, can we expect to see Cleeve back in Suffolk over the weekend?

Cleeve crosses the Med

17 Apr 2025

As anticipated, Cleeve made his way through Morocco, crossed the Mediterranean and entered Spanish airspace just east of Almeria covering around 750 km (466 miles) in a couple of days.

He is now in a remote area in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, approximately 100 km (62 miles) north-west of Valencia.

Cleeve makes a move

17 Apr 2025

Like Joe and Sayaan, Cleeve has been in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) preparing for his northbound migration for the last couple of weeks, and like his Cuckoo congeners, he has now commenced his northward migration.

Covering approximately 2,900 km (1,800 miles) in recent days he has flown up through Burkina Faso, passing over Timbuktu as he crossed Mali, continued through western Algeria, and is currently on the eastern flank of the Middle Atlas mountains in Morocco. Next stop, Europe!

Cleeve closes in on Joe

26 Mar 2025

Cleeve has made his way from Republic of the Congo, across the Gulf of Guinea, covering around 2,200 km (1,367 miles). He is now in eastern Côte d'Ivoire, hot on the heels of Cuckoo Joe!

Cleeve closes in on Joe

26 Mar 2025

Cleeve has made his way from Republic of the Congo, across the Gulf of Guinea, covering 2,200 km (1,367 miles).

He is now in eastern Côte d'Ivoire, hot on the heels of Cuckoo Joe! 

Cleeve creeps north

11 Mar 2025

Since our last update in mid February, Cleeve has moved slowly northwards. Still in the Republic of the Congo, he is now in the north-west of the country, around 530 km (330 miles) north from his main wintering area.

Close to the northern border of Gabon, he is currently just west of Odzala-Kokoua National Park, one of Africa’s oldest national parks and home to Forest Elephant and Western Lowland Gorilla.

Cleeve clings on

14 Feb 2025

Cleeve has spent the last few weeks in a heavily forested region in the southern part of the Republic of the Congo. 

He is just west of the Lefini Reserve, a protected area which is home to an array of wildlife including Western Lowland Gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants and more than 260 bird species.

Cleeve makes a minor move

01 Jul 2024

Cleeve is still in north-east Spain, having flown just over 100 km (62 miles) from his last location just south of Andorra.

He is currently in Huesca province in the Pre-Pyrenees, approximately 40 km (24 miles) north of the city of Lleida.

Catalonia for Cleeve

27 Jun 2024

Cleeve seems to be wasting little time, and since our last update just four days ago, he has flown a remarkable 975 km, (605 miles) from northern France down to the Pyrenees. 

He is now just over the border into Spain, approximately 18 km (11 miles) south-east of Andorra, and close to Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park, in the north of Catalonia.

Cleeve leaves the UK

24 Jun 2024

Over the weekend, Cleeve left the Cranwich Heath area in Norfolk, and headed south.

A 306 km (190 miles) overnight flight took him to the Essex coast, where he then continued across the Channel to Dunkirk. From here he flew south-east, into northern France and is currently just to the east of the city of Arras.

Cleeve was filmed by a BBC TV crew when tagged on 10 May 2024, and was the star, alongside Hannah Stitfall, of a One Show feature about the BTO Cuckoo project!

Introducing Cuckoo Cleeve

06 Jun 2023
Cuckoo Cleeve was tagged on Loddon Common in the Norfolk Broads and after retrieving him from the nets, the team made the exciting discovery that he was already fitted with a BTO ring. We soon discovered that Cleeve had been ringed in May 2019 at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. We were touched to discover that the ringer was the late Michael Holdsworth, a member of the Wicken Fen Ringing Group and a wonderfully supportive BTO member and volunteer who sadly passed away in 2019. Having been instrumental to our Spotted Flycatcher tracking work, Michael would have been thrilled to know that the Cuckoo he had ringed had been recaught and that we would be tracking its movements from now on. Since being tagged, Cleeve has remained at his breeding grounds on Loddon Common. 
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