Updates from our Cuckoos

Sayaan, along with Cuckoos Joe and KP, is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is exploring the lush forests by the Maringa River, just 146 km (90 miles) to the north-east of Cuckoo KP.

This is the same region where he spent his last winter, and he'll likely stay here until he gets the urge to move north again in late February.

Since crossing the Sahara almost two weeks ago, Sayaan has been taking it relatively easy and has spent the last few days in the same area in southern Chad, close to the Central African Republic border.

With conditions in this region being wetter and greener, he should find lots of food to help him recover from his epic desert crossing.

Since our last update, when Sayaan was in the Jalo oasis area of northern Libya, he has flown a further 1,766 km (1,097 miles) across the desert and is currently in east Chad.

He has reached the Sahel region, where he can hopefully rest and feed a little before continuing south. At 8.03 this morning (24 July) he was close to the western border of Sudan and just north of the city of Abéché, the fourth largest city in Chad.

After a lengthy rest in central Italy, Sayaan has clearly felt the urge to get a move on in recent days.

He has now crossed the Mediterranean and is currently in northeastern Libya, in the Al Wahat District in the Jalo oasis, and about to commence his epic Sahara crossing.

When, and where, will he arrive on the other side?

In the past week, Sayaan has moved further into Italy.

Having lingered around the Province of Parma, he then flew 310 km (192 miles), passing Florence and Assisi and is now in the Perugia region of Umbria.

Since our last update on 27 June, Sayaan has moved a little way in recent days.

Moving approximately 116 km (72 miles) to the east, he is now in the lush rolling hills of the Province of Parma in the Italian region, Emilia-Romagna.

Since leaving the Dijon area in western France a few days ago, Sayaan has flown some 463 km (287 miles), skirting Switzerland, and crossing into Italy just to the west of Turin.

He is now in the Piedmont region, just north of Genoa, from where his next move should see him heading south through Italy and on towards the Mediterranean.

Sayaan is making steady progress and has travelled around 167 km (103 miles) in recent days.

Currently in the Côte-d’Or area, he is exploring a commercially forested area just 16 km (10 miles) to the west of the city of Dijon, the capital city of the Burgundy region of eastern France.

Having spent the breeding season in and around the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, Sayaan has now headed south. He left the English coast at Worthing on the exact same date as he did last year! 

He cut across the Channel and arrived in France, just south of Dieppe after a journey of 380 km (236 miles). Sayaan then continued towards Paris, skirting the north-east of the French capital, and is currently just north of the city of Sens.

Remarkably, Sayaan is now around just 50km (31 miles) to the west of Cuach Torc!

Since our last update two days ago, Sayaan has covered the last 385km (239 miles) to his summer residence in West Sussex. Making a direct flight north east, he cut across Normandy before crossing The Channel and arriving in the UK near Worthing.

He is currently back at the Knepp Estate, where he was originally tagged. Since leaving the UK on 19 June 2023 Sayaan has taken a wide circular route which has seen him pass through a remarkable 21 countries!