Updates from our Cuckoos

Although we are still receiving locations from Charlies tag, the latest was received at 07.45 on 18 December, he hasn't moved from the Sahara desert in central Chad since mid-September. We have to assume that he failed to successfully cross the desert and that his tag is still able to take a charge and keep on working.

Charlie has carried on, apparently skirting the Tibesti Mountains where a number of our Cuckoos stopped this year for the first time, to make it across the desert. He is currently located in southern Chad.

Charlie, the last of our tagged Cuckoos still in Europe, has finally left and crossed over the sea from his last location in Greece to reach Africa! We were beginning to worry that he was still in Greece but signals on the evening of the 14 September show he was in Libya. Since then he has been making his way south across the desert. 

Looking back at previous years, the only two Cuckoos to arrive in Africa later were BB on the 15 September 2014 and Lloyd on 3 October 2012. Both these Cuckoos also took the easterly route, heading to Libya but from Italy instead of Greece, as Charlie has done. 

Since the 14 August, Charlie has been slowly moving south eastwards. He left the west coast of Greece and by 16 August had covered around 250km (160 miles) to make it to the Prokopi, on the east coast.

Charlie has left Italy and travelled southwest 345km (213 miles) to Lefkada, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece.

Charlie has traveled a further 850km (530 miles) to southern Italy and is now in the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, about 100km (60 miles) from Larry's location.

From Central France, Charlie has travelled a further 350km (220 miles) and is just inside Italy's border with France, in the Alps. 

Having arrived in the Auvergne region of central France twelve days ago, Charlie seems settled. It probably won't be too long before he is on his way again

Our newest recruit tagged in Sherwood Forest, 146761,  has left the UK and travelled to France.  On the 17 June he transmitted from the Picardie region and later, on the 18 June, from the Auvergne region 335km (210 miles) further south.