TWO of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) satellite-tagged cuckoos have made it back to the UK, having left for the winter in Africa 10 months earlier.

Hennah, a cuckoo that was fitted with his tag in May 2014, was the first to arrive back on April 15. Locations received on that day showed that he was back in the New Forest, close to the location in which his satellite-tag was fitted.

Dr Chris Hewson, the scientist leading the project at the BTO, said: “We last heard from Hennah on February 9 when he was in Sierra Leone and had become concerned about what might have happened to him.

“So, it was a great relief, and surprise, when he suddenly popped up back here.

“The lack of signals between Africa and the UK, and the very low battery charge since he got back, indicate that either the tag is failing or something is preventing it from charging properly, so it’s fantastically fortunate that we’ve received these signals to confirm that Hennah is alive and well and has successfully arrived back in the UK.”

Hot on Hennah’s heels was Dudley, who arrived back in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, a day later on April 16. Both birds have spent the winter months 5,000 miles away in the Congo rainforest.

The cuckoo has declined by 73 per cent during the last 25 years, with the decline being greatest in England.

The population in Scotland is stable or increasing slightly and the decline in Wales is less severe than in England. The BTO research aims to find out why this is the case.

Dr Hewson said: “We know a lot about the behaviour of the cuckoo when it is here in the UK but our research has shown us that some of these birds spend as little as six weeks here, so it is vital to understand what pressures they face on the journeys to and from Africa and in the locations they spend the winter months. We can only do this using this cutting-edge technology.”

For more information, and to follow the cuckoos as they make their way back to the UK, visit bto.org/cuckoos