Updates from our Cuckoos

With no updates since April, we have to conclude that, very sadly, we've probably heard the last from Bluey. We had already lost him once, but against the odds we were able to recatch him on his breeding grounds and so, his has been a particularly exciting journey to follow. We can't be sure why we have lost contact with him this time, so who knows, perhaps we'll encounter him again in future. 

Bluey finally reoriented and has now headed north once more, travelling approximately 470km (292 miles) from southern Guinea into western Mali.

He is currently close to two vast open-pit gold mines near the town of Sadiola, in the Kayes region of Mali.

After making landfall in Mali last week, it seems Bluey had a change of heart and u-turned, flying a surprising 323km (200 miles) south, back into southern Guinea, close to the border with Sierra Leone.

Fingers crossed he reorientates himself soon, and sets off back on a northerly route toward the Sahara.  

Bluey has set off north from southern Guinea and crossed the border into Mali after a 597km (371 miles) journey.

He is now in the south west of the country, near the village of Tonbokoli, to the west of Bafing National Park. 

New updates received early this morning show that Bluey has flown 2,650km (1,647 miles) west from his last location in Cameroon to his new location in southern Guinea.

He is now 50km north-east of the city of Kissidougou and approximately 100km west of Cuckoo Trent. 

Over the last couple of weeks Bluey has departed his wintering grounds in Angola and flown 1,133km (704 miles) north to Cameroon.

He is now in the eastern part of the Dja Faunal Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage site inscribed for its incredible biodiversity and low disturbance.  

New updates received from Bluey's tag in the small hours of this morning (5 Dec) show that he continued south from his last location in Gabon, flying a further 1,000km (622 miles) to reach Angola.

He is now 50km (30 miles) due east of the town of N'zeto. Bluey is the second of our tagged Cuckoos to reach Angola this year, following Cuckoo Trent, who is 93km (58 miles) south of Bluey.  

After almost three weeks in Cameroon, Bluey has finally made another move, flying 436km (271 miles) south to Gabon.

At 3:30 on Saturday afternoon (2 Dec) he was in the forest a couple of miles due west of the city of Oyem in northern Gabon.  

Having spent three months in North-West Nigeria and lagging significantly behind the other Cuckoos, we were fearing the worst for Sussex Cuckoo Bluey. So we were thrilled when we received new updates over the last few days showing that he had flown 540km (335 miles) south-east from Nigeria to Cameroon.

Three months in one area is quite exceptional for our Cuckoos so the areas Bluey was using in Nigeria must have been very good for him. His departure occurred just after the end of the rains at that location, likely very significant given his occupation of gallery forest along seasonal watercourses.

Bluey is now in western Cameroon, 35km (21 miles) east of the city of Bafoussam.

Bluey has departed Mali and flown 1,025 km (637 miles) east, taking him across Burkina Faso and into Nigeria.

He has spent the last few days 63 km (40 miles) north-west of the town of Zuru in Kebbi State.