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Updates from our Cuckoos

Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their migration.

Patch and Whortle move away from Lake

30 Dec 2013

On the 24 December, locations show that Whortle had moved 90km (55 miles) north-east from his previous location near Lake Mai.

Patch stayed in his location near the lake until the 26 December but also moved away, in a north-westerly direction, of around 75km (47 miles). This movement took him close to the area which Waller had recently departed as he journeyed back to Congo. Will Patch follow Waller and move even further north?

Cuckoos close at Christmas

23 Dec 2013

David, Patch, Waller and Whortle are all still in the Democratic Republic of Congo and all the tags have transmitted within the last few weeks. Patch and Waller are still close to the shores of Lake Mai while Whortle is a little further north,  

David, our one remaining Welsh tagged Cuckoo, has gone the longest without transmitting, with the last signal received just over a week ago on 16 December. This year David is a little ahead of schedule, having spent Christmas further north in the swamp forests in 2012 and moving a few days after to the area he is now in, just north of the Salonga National Park and close to a tributary of the Congo River. 

Scottish Cuckoos in wintering grounds?

12 Nov 2013

Of the Cuckoos tagged in Scotland this year, Livingstone is still on the edge of the Téké Plateau, whilst Patch is in an area of closed canopy forest with seasonally flooded grassland west of Lac Mai in DRC. Waller is in the swamp forests about 120km (75 miles) ESE of Chris and Derek. All three of these birds could be in their final mid-winter locations, although we might well see Waller at least move further south towards the gallery forest / savannah mosaics.

Patch near Lake Mai-Ndombe

24 Oct 2013

Patch didn't pause for long in Cameroon and from his location on 11 October he travelled 1240km (770 miles) south-west to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he has remained until now. He is in the Bandundu region, close to Lake Mai-Ndombe, a large freshwater lake within the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area and the largest Wetland of International Importance recognized by the Ramsar Convention in the world. 

Patch actually in Cameroon

11 Oct 2013

We were surprised to see that further signals received on 9 October showed that Patch had moved from DRC to Cameroon, a distance of over 1000km (620 miles), in less than an hour! These signals continued and it's clear to see now that the location pinpointed in DRC was an error location and that Patch is most definitely in Cameroon. He will have moved here directly from Chad, a distance of over 1000km (600 miles).

Patch on his way

09 Oct 2013

Patch is the latest Cuckoo to make a big movement southwards. From Chad, where he remained until at least 4 October, he travelled around 1000km (600 miles) and by the early hours of 9 October was in the north-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is currently just over the border from the Central African Republic's capital, Bangui.

Patch leaves Lake Chad

03 Oct 2013

By the afternoon of 26 September, Patch had left Lake Chad in a south-easterly direction, travelling around 255km (160 miles) and venturing into the Chari- Baguirmi region of Chad. By the 27 September however he had travelled 70km (45 miles) northwards and was close to the Hadjer-Lamis region. Chance currently remains at the lake. 

Patch at Lake Chad

09 Sep 2013
We continued to receive signals from Patch’s tag through the evening of 4 September and into 5 September as he travelled south in Niger. The next signal, and the first of good quality, was received on the afternoon of 6 September and showed Patch was in the Yobe region of Nigeria, northeast of Potiskum and had finished his desert crossing. From Italy on 2 September, Patch had travelled 3044km (1890 miles). 
 
From this new position, Patch then headed south-east 135km (83 miles) which took him into the Borno region of Nigeria. From here he travelled north-east throughout the early hours of 7 September in an apparent beeline for Lake Chad.  By mid-afternoon he had made and was at the north of the lake - the first of our tagged Cuckoos this year to stop-over at this site. Livingstone spent a day or two there, while transmissions from Sussex’s tag show he was no closer than about 75km (45 miles) north-west of Lake Chad. Chance is heading towards Lake Chad but has yet to reach its shores. Last year Chance also stopped here, along with Chris and Mungo, and all stayed in the area for a while. It was actually the last location we received for Mungo on his journey.  
 

Patch leaves Europe

05 Sep 2013
Patch has left Europe! In fact by midday on the 3 September he was in north Libya, and roughly 29 hours later he had made his crossing of the Tenere desert and was 1900km (1160 miles) further south, in Niger, but still with some way to go before he had finished crossing the rest of the desert. Since leaving Italy, however, we haven't yet received a location of good quality - hence nothing appearing on the map. Hopefully we will receive some of better quality shortly which will reveal his progress across the desert. 
 
 

Patch heads south

02 Sep 2013

Signals from Patch’s tag this morning and lunchtime show he was also moving south and had travelled 890km (550 miles) to southern Italy!  He is close to the town of Rizzuto and about 95km (59 miles) NE of the Straits of Messina. We expect he will stop here only briefly before continuing south to begin his desert crossing. When we next hear from his tag, he could be over Libya, Niger or Chad.... 

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