Updates from our Cuckoos

We’re sorry to say that we haven’t heard anything from KP since October 2024, when we last received a signal from him in his wintering grounds in Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Tagged in Ireland in May 2023, KP has provided us with invaluable insights into the movements of these amazing birds.

Like his cohort Joe, KP has returned to the same area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as he did last winter.

Currently just 165 km (102 miles) south-east of Joe, KP is in the vast tropical forests around the Salonga River.

After keeping us anxiously guessing for several days, KP has finally moved on from the remote Tibesti Mountains and flown the remaining 1,000 km (621 miles) south to complete his desert crossing.

He must've found sufficient food around the few oases and rivers of the mountains to sustain him for a few days before pressing on south. He is now in south-western Chad, approximately 66 km (41 miles) south-east of the capital N'Djamena where he will hopefully be able to replenish his fat reserves and recover from his journey.

Last year KP reached the Sahel further east in Sudan on 24 August and remained in the Sahelian region of Sudan/Chad until mid October when he crossed into Central African Republic and shortly after moved south to the Congo. 

Having covered around 1,200 km (745 miles) of relentless Sahara Desert since crossing the Mediterranean, KP appears to be taking a break in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad.

With canyons and vegetated valleys running throughout this range, he will hopefully be finding plenty of food to fuel the next leg of his journey south.  

After a lengthy stay in the Italian Alps, and exploring the area around Lake Garda, KP has now upped and flown south. He has coursed through central Italy and crossed the Tyrrhenian Sea to Sicily, covering around 1,083km (672 miles) in the process.  

From here, his next move should see him crossing the Mediterranean into Libya, before commencing the perilous Saharan crossing. This time last year he was already well on his way through the desert, heading south along the Libyan / Egyptian border.

KP, the last of our tagged Irish Cuckoos has set off!

He left Ireland on 27 June, passing the South Wales coast before cutting speedily across southern England and crossing the Channel at Kent, before stopping just south of Lille, near the Belgian border - a journey of 936 km (580 miles).

After a brief respite, he set off south-east and covered another 808 km (502 miles), passing the French city of Nancy. KP then cut across south-west Germany and western Austria, before arriving on the shores of Lake Reschen, in northern Italy’s Tyrolean mountains on 29 June!

KP finally made landfall on the southern coast of Ireland, just to the south of Dungarvan in County Waterford.

After a short while he headed west through County Cork and is now in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, where he was originally tagged on 17 May 2023.

Rather than following a more land-based route, KP suddenly left northern Spain and set off due north, crossing the Bay of Biscay and continuing his flight over water, covering some 1,090 km (677 miles)!

Skirting past the Isles of Scilly and pushing north, at the time of his last signal KP was just 70km (43 miles) from the south east coast of Ireland. Once he makes landfall will he head straight to Killarney National Park, where he was tagged on 17 May last year?

KP has flown around 388km (241 miles) due north and is now in area of fertile plains just south of the Montaña Palentina Natural Park, in the province of Castile and León.  

Just 88km (54 miles) from the coast at Santander, will he head north before making a short crossing over the Bay of Biscay, or might he fly east and cross into France to the west of the Pyranees?

Lagging slightly behind Trent and Cuach Torc, KP has moved a comparatively leisurely 125km (77 miles) north since leaving the Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park area a few days ago.

He is currently just south of the municipality of Villarta de los Montes, in forest-clad mountains to the south of the Embalse de Cíjara, a large reservoir on the Guadiana River.