We now believe that Chester, tagged in spring 2014, died whilst still in the UK this summer. The last signal was received on the 4 June and none have been received since.  Chester dying on the breeding grounds is unusual and this is the first time that we have seen this for a bird that has already been tracked on one migration. It could perhaps be a knock on effect of the cold wet summer we have experienced. In 2012 we saw a similar effect.  

The last signal received from Chester was on 4 June from Ashdown Forest but nothing has been received since. In 2014 he left the UK on 19 June and by the 7 July was in Spain. Without signals we do not know whether he is still in the UK or has already begun his journey. Hopefully further signals in the future will reveal his location. 

By the 11 May Chester had covered the 1500km (930 miles) from his last location in Spain and returned to his breeding grounds at Ashdown Forest in Sussex, becoming the ninth of our tagged Cuckoos to make it back to the UK.

Chester has continued on from north Africa and by 1 May was in southern Spain, just north of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

From Nigeria on 12 April, Chester has travelled north-west around 3100km (1940 miles), crossing the Sahara desert, and making it to a location close to the Algeria/Morocco border in north Africa by 22 April.   

We hadn't heard from Chester for several weeks but the latest signal received shows he is still in the same area of southern Nigeria and has yet to move further west. 

A signal received on 24 March showed that Chester was still in Nigeria but has left the Cross River area. He has moved 245km (152 miles) south and west and is now on the edge of the Niger Delta.

Chester has left his location in Gabon and travelled 745km (460 miles) north-west to  Nigeria, where he appears to be on the outskirts of the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Cross River area.  

Chester and Dudley are the only two Cuckoos, from who we are receiving regular transmissions, who are currently within the Congo rainforest. We expect them to move north to the forest edge shortly as other Cuckoos have done.

Since arriving in Gabon Chester has settled in an area of rainforest in the north west of the country, close to the border with Equatorial Guinea. His last location signal was at 06.30 on 19 December.

By 30 November, Chester was on the move again, having spent roughly 14 days in his previous location in Nigeria he then headed south-east to a location close to the border of Cameroon. From here he has travelled 640km (400 miles) to Gabon, and finally arrived in the Congo rainforest area on 2 December. he is the last of all the tagged Cuckoos to arrive there.  In 2013, BB was the last of the Cuckoos to arrive in the rainforest, arrving on 7 December. 

Chester has continued on east from Ghana, over Togo and Benin, to make it to Nigeria by the morning of the 16 November. He is now close to Lokoja, a city which lies at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers, and is moving closer to the Congo rainforest in which all our other active tagged Cuckoos are in.

Early yesterday evening we received signals from Chester's tag to show that he had moved further east and south, leaving Ivory Coast and crossing over into Ghana. He is now close to Lake Volta, an area we have seen the Cuckoos use before, although previously this is normally on their spring migration as they head north to return to the UK. 

In the last few days, Chester has moved 445km (275 miles) south from his location in the north of Burkina Faso and he is now in Ivory Coast. He is still very far west of all the other Cuckoos so it is perhaps a little surprising that he has chosen to move south rather than east. He has, however, moved to Comoé National Park , a World Heritage Site due to the diversity of plant life present around the Comoé River including pristine patches of tropical rain forest that are usually only found further south. 

Both Sherwood birds 134957 and 134955 have moved over 700km (470 miles) east from their locations in Burkina Faso in the last few days and are now in northern Nigeria. This leaves just Chester in Burkina Faso who becomes our most westerly bird by over 960km (595 miles). 

With most cuckoos now in the Sahel region, we're entering a fairly quiet period in the annual cycle of the tagged cuckoos with less movement than during the migration season.

Birds who completed their desert crossing will spend time in the Sahel recovering their body condition, and some may stay quite a long time. In previous years, cuckoos have stayed in this area for as much as several months, while others spend a shorter amount of time before moving south into the humid zone forests.

The eastern Sahel in Chad and south Sudan has received plenty of rain recently, and thus conditions are likely good for cuckoos. Northern Cameroon was slightly drier than average in August, and so cuckoos such as Derek, Dudley, Stanley, and Emsworthy may be moving on if foraging conditions aren't suitable.

Cuckoo 134955 has moved east from Mali and is now in Burkina Faso. He has been joined by Chester, who moved on quickly from his location in Mauritania. They are further west than many of the Cuckoos and, by taking the western route through Spain, have a longer journey to get to the Congo Rainforest than some of other Cuckoos but they will have been able to cross the desert at one of its narrowest points.   

Chester has made his move from Spain and travelled south over the sea to reach Africa.  He has made his way through western Algeria and further poor quality signals indicate he has continued on into Mauritania.  

Skinner has left France and continued south to Spain where Meavy, Gilbert, Dudley and Chester are currently located. In previous years we have only seen East Anglian and Devon Cuckoos take this route but this year we also have Chester, one of the birds tagged in Sussex, Dudley, one of the Nottinghamshire birds and Gilbert, a New Forest bird, heading this way. 

The three Cuckoos which took this route in 2012/13 all perished but in 2013/14 5 of the 6 birds which took this route successfully made it to their wintering grounds. 

Waller and Chester have remained in the same areas of France in which they first transmitted, close to Reims and Le Mans respectively, as has 134955 who is a little further south. Ash, meanwhile seems to be heading south despite being the latest of the four to arrive.  

With three un-named birds left we are letting you choose what to name one of our Sherwood Cuckoos!  Anyone who sponsors a Cuckoo before the end of June will be entered in to a draw. We’ll then pick one entry at random and will contact the winner who can then suggest a suitable name*. Find out how you could name a Cuckoo. 

Hennah, Chester, Whortle and 134952 all transmitted from outside of the UK on 19 June. Whortle, one of the Devon birds tagged in 2013, hadn't even left the UK this time last year, having only transmitted from outside of the UK on 28 June in 2013.

Whortle, Chester and as yet un-named 134952 are the most recent Cuckoos confirmed to have left the UK. All three of these birds have travelled to north-western France, transmitting these updated locations on 19 June.   

Poor quality signals received on the same day indicate that two further Cuckoos have started their journeys. Hennah and Meavy look like they are in France too but until further locations are received to confirm this the maps won't update.

So we have at least 8 and possibly 10 Cuckoos which have left the UK. If the unconfirmed locations are true, then interestingly, all three Dartmoor birds (Emsworthy, Whortle and Meavy) and all three New Forest birds (Peter, Gilbert and Hennah) have left.  In addition one Scottish bird, 2 Nottinghamshire birds and one of the Sussex birds have also left the UK.