When we last reported on Ellis' movements he had just moved north in Spain to the outskirts of the city of Caceres in Extremadura, west central Spain. It has now been more than two weeks since he arrived there and data received from his tag earlier this week show lower than expected temperature readings. Taken together this information strongly suggests that Ellis has perished in Spain. You may have seen that he had a rather protracted journey through Africa and we fear that the drought in Spain may have made his recovery from his desert crossing difficult. It has been nearly two years since we tagged Ellis and he has given us some fantastic data as he migrated between Scotland and the Congo. Thank you and farewell Ellis.  

Ellis has flown 300km (186 miles) north west overnight, taking him from Malaga to Extramedura. He is now just west of the city of Cáceres in west central Spain. 

After a couple of days close to the town of Casarabonela, Ellis has flown 31km (19 miles) north west and is now just north of the town of Almargen. He is now on farmland of olive groves, corn and sunflower. Last year he left Spain on 8 April and then spent 10 days in France before arriving back in the UK on 20 April.  

After a longer journey through Western Sahara and Morocco than we had expected, Ellis is on the move again and by 10am yesterday morning (Wednesday 12 April) he had flown 795km (494 miles) out of Africa and into Los Alcornocales Natural Park in Andalusia, southern Spain. A single update received just after 8am this morning (Thursday 13 April) suggest that Ellis has continued north east and is near Gibralgalia in Malaga. 

Ellis has flown 161km (100 miles) north within Morocco and is now 40km (25 miles) north east of the town of Sidi Ifni Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun, Morocco. Last year Ellis only stopped briefly in northern Morocco before pressing on to Spain on 31 March so he is spending much longer exploring Morocco this year.

Since our last update Ellis has flown 292km (181 miles) north east from his last location in Western Sahara, taking him over the border into southern Morocco. He is now 95km (60 miles) east of the city of Tan-Tan and 36km (22 miles) north west of the town of Labouriat. He has stopped in an area just south of the Draa River, Morocco's longest river. This area is designated as an Important Bird Area following a survey in 1999 which recorded the presence of the near-threatened Marbled Teal and larger numbers of Ruddy Shelduck as well as 35 breeding species. Hopefully Ellis is finding some food and shelter here to sustain him and we'll see him moving north again soon. 

Since our last update Ellis has flown a further 382km (237 miles) north through Western Sahara. A new update received at 7am this morning showed him close to the small town of Daoura, and approximately 44km (27 miles) north of the Western Sahara capital city Laayoune. He appears to be close to an intermittent river which has some bushes and shrubs along its length so hopefully he is finding some food here to sustain his onwards journey north over the border into Morocco.

Perthshire Cuckoo Ellis is following hot on the heels of Llangollen Cuckoo JAC and embarked on his desert crossing. Having departed his stop over in Guinea, by 11pm last night (30 March) he was passing 120km west of the Eye of Africa in west central Mauritania. He has since flown a further 412km, heading in a north westerly direction towards the coast of central Western Sahara. At 06:38 this morning he was still crossing the desert and was approximately 155km north east of the town of Dakhla in Western Sahara. He seems to have been pushed east by fairly strong easterly winds over the last 24 hours or so. These winds should be easing as he progresses into northern Western Sahara. Last year after crossing the desert he stopped in Morocco, north of Marrakesh, 1,000km north of his current location. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that when we next hear from Ellis he will have completed his desert crossing. 

Ellis has spent the last month north east of Sierra Leone in Guinea. He is approximately 30km (18.5 miles) north of the city of Kissidougou. Last year he began his migration across the Sahara on 28^th March, so we expect to see him make his move very soon!

After his big move west from the Congo Basin to West Africa, Ellis has now relocated within Guinea. He has flown an additional 175km (108 miles) north west and is now 30km (18.5 miles) north of the city of Kissidougou in southern Guinea. He is just 22km (14.5 miles) south west of the area where he spent several weeks on his way north last year.

Scottish Cuckoo Ellis arrived in the lush tropical rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early October and has remained there ever since. A new update received on Saturday 18 Feb 2023 showed that he had started his spring migration back to the UK. He has flown 3,250km (2,000miles) west from DRC to Guinea in West Africa. This is the first big step in his return migration. Last year he arrived in Guinea on 13 Feb and remained until 27 March when he embarked on his crossing of the Sahara. By 20 April he was back in Scotland. Heavy rain is expected in eastern Guinea later this week and Ellis will be planning on these rains providing plenty of food for him to build up his fat reserves before tackling the next leg of his journey north.  

Ellis arrived in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the end of September and he has stayed there ever since. He is in the same area that he spent last winter. Last year he moved to Cameroon on 24 January and by 31 Jan he was in Ghana. He then passed through Ivory Coast to Guinea where he spent a few weeks before crossing the Sahara in late March. If he follows the same pattern as last year we should see Ellis starting his spring migration very soon.  

Since our last update, Ellis has flown 780km (486 miles) south east from Central African Republic over the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is now in the heart of the Congo Basin in north west DRC where he may well stay for the next few months.

New updates received late last night show that Ellis has flown 825km (512 miles) south east from his last location in Nigeria over Cameroon and into Central African Republic (CAR). He is now in western CAR. Last year Ellis stopped briefly in CAR on the 14th & 15th September en-route to his wintering destination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he remained until 23rd January, so we expect him to move on from CAR very soon.   

Ellis has left Niger behind and flown 305km (190 miles) south east into Nigeria. He is now 11.5km (7 miles) west of the town of Darazo in Banchi State, north-east Nigeria. 

Ellis continued south over the desert to reach the border between Niger and Nigeria. He is now in the Sahel region of Niger, approximately 13km (8 miles) north east of the Nigerian city of Daura. It is the rainy season here so there will be a flush of invertebrate life to provide ample feeding opportunities for Ellis. 

New updates from Ellis' tag this morning show that he has flown 3,000km (1,864 miles) south from his last location near Pisa in Italy. Having crossed the Mediterranean and flown the length of Libya, he is now in central Niger, approximately 230km (142 miles) due east of the Saharan city of Agadez. He is still in the desert so when we next hear from him hopefully he will have safely completed his crossing.  

Ellis has continued his journey south through Italy, and by 22:30 on Saturday night was passing Pisa. Last year he only made a very brief stop in Italy before pressing on to Libya, arriving there on 8 July. He had completed his crossing of the Sahara to Nigeria by 12 July last year so he is running a little later this year. 

Ellis has left the Nurburgring behind and flown 700km (435 miles) south from Germany into Italy. By 18:17 this evening he was just outside the town of Brugnato in Liguria, approximately 14km (9 miles) north west of La Spezia. 

After a few weeks in the Netherlands, new updates received from Ellis' tag this morning show that he has flown 341km (212 miles) south into western Germany. By 10:13 this morning he was just south of the Nurburgring motor racing circuit. If he follows last year's timetable he will now move quickly through Germany and Italy before crossing into Libya and on across the Sahara to Niger. 

After making landfall on the Dutch coast just south of Rotterdam, Ellis took to the skies again over the weekend, flying 204km (127 miles) north east to Friesland in the north of the Netherlands. He is now on some farmland just north of the city of Leeuwarden, an area that looks as if it could offer some very good feeding opportunities for a Cuckoo. 

After what appears to be quite a long sea crossing, Ellis made landfall last night in the Netherlands. By 9pm he was on the De Kwade Hoek Nature Reserve - translated as "Evil Corner" due to the treacherous currents and sandbanks in this area. The reserve is part of the larger Dunes of Goeree nature reserve on Goeree-Overflakkee in South Holland - he has picked a beautiful spot to stop! Ellis also stopped off in the Netherlands on his way south last year albeit a little further north than his current location. In 2021 he remained in the Netherlands until 4 July when he moved swiftly south through Germany and Italy, arriving in Libya by 8 July and sub-saharan Niger by 10 July. 

With five tagged Cuckoos closing in on the UK, it looked like the first to return would be Ellis, PJ or Victor II. New updates received on Monday 18 April showed that Ellis had held on to his early lead and became the first of our tagged Cuckoos to make it back to the UK. He had flown the remaining 1,040 Km (646 miles) from his last location in France to his breeding grounds in Scotland. He is now back on the shores of Loch Arklet in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park where he will stay for the next 6-12 weeks or so. Bravo Ellis!

Ellis is still moving north and by 18:00 this evening (11 April) he had flown 285 km (177 miles) north from his last location west of Bordeaux. He is now just north of the Loire, close to the village of Allonnes in western France. He is now only a few hundred km from being back in the UK, will he keep going or is he going to slow down and give PJ a chance to overtake him? 

Ellis is the first of our tagged Cuckoos to make it to France this year. New updates received from his tag yesterday morning (9 April) show that he has flown 205 km (128 miles) north east from his last location near Lekeitio in the Basque Country to his new location on the coast to the west of Bordeaux. He is now on some farmland close to the village of Le Porge in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France.

New updates received from Ellis' tag between 4 am and 9 am this morning show that he has flown 787 km (489 miles) north, taking him the whole length of Spain. This morning's updates showed him near the towns of Lekeitio and Ondarroa in the Basque Country. 

Cuckoo Ellis has become the first of all of the Cuckoos we have tracked to cross the desert during March. New updates received on Monday 28 March showed that he had flown 2,550km (1,585 miles) north over the Sahara from Guinea to Morocco. Further updates that arrived at 06:45 this morning (31 March) show that he has continued north, crossing the Straits of Gibraltar and reaching Andalusia, southern Spain. He is now  just south of the Sierra de las Nieves National Park, approximately 20km north west of Marbella. Will he continue to press north or slow his pace as he nears the UK? Stay tuned to find out! 

New updates received yesterday evenings (13th Feb) show that Ellis has flown 358km (222 miles) north west from Ivory Coast into Guinea. He is now in south eastern Guinea, 9km south east of the town of Banankoro. 

After a brief stop in Ghana, it looks as if Ellis has pressed on into Ivory Coast. Since the last update he has flown 530 km (330 miles) west and is now close to Lake Sassandra in western Ivory Coast. 

Updates received from Ellis' tag early yesterday morning (Jan 31), show that he has flown 1,609 km (1,000 miles) west from Cameroon to Ghana. This means he is the first of our tagged Cuckoos to move into west Africa this year. He is now approximately 40 km north west of the town of Tarkwa in western Ghana. 

Since our last update Ellis has relocated, flying 108 km (68 miles) north within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is in forest approximately 60 Km west of the town of Befale in north western DRC.

A new update shows that Ellis has flown a further 564 Km (350 miles) south east from Central African Republic into Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is now south of the Equator and just over 100 Km (62 miles) east of Cuckoo AJ. They are both now deep within the Congo rainforest in north western DRC. 

Over the last few days Ellis has followed AJ from Nigeria towards the Congo rainforest. By 08:14 on Tuesday morning, Ellis had flown 1000Km (621 miles) south east and had reached the south-western corner of Central African Republic. He was close to Dzanga-Sangha National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site established as a protected site in 1990 and covering 6,865Km2. Will he remain here or follow AJ into Congo or DRC? Stay tuned to find out...

Ellis has continued south another 115km (72 miles) and is now just over the border in northern Nigeria, 22km (13 miles) east of the town of Daura.  The weather in this area at the moment is moderate rain with a maximum temperature of 33°c and minimum temperature of 26°c. Hopefully Ellis is finding plenty of food to refuel after his desert crossing. 

At 21:56 on Thursday evening Ellis was in northern Libya, by 08:40 Friday morning he was 840 km (520 miles) further south, crossing the Sahara in north east Niger. The latest updates received this morning (Saturday 10 July) show that he has now reached southern Niger and is c100km north of Zinder, the third largest city in Niger. In flying from northern Libya to southern Niger he has covered an amazing 1,806 km (1,120 miles) over the course of approximately 41 hours, which means he was traveling at an average speed of around 27mph. He was helped along by some light tail winds. It is warm and dry in this area today but Ellis is arriving in the Sahel (the semi-arid region of Africa separating the Sahara Desert to the north and tropical savannas to the south), just in time for the start of the rainy season. 

Not only has Ellis crossed into Africa, but he is crossing the Sahara! At 09:16 on Wednesday morning, Ellis was still near Rome but by 17:39 on Thursday he had flown 1,457 km (907 miles) south over the Mediterranean and was in or over Libya. He didn't stop there though and the latest update we received from his tag at 08:43 this morning (Friday 9 July) showed that he had reached Niger. He was in the far north east of Niger, just west of the Tibesti mountains. Hopefully when we next hear from Ellis he will have successfully conquered the Sahara.

Ellis has flown a further 500km (311 miles) south from his last location near Lake Como in northern Italy, towards Rome. By 05:45 yesterday morning he was near Lake Bracciano and by 06:30 he had settled in the countryside between Sacrofano and Monte Lungo, about 25 kilometers north of Rome. Attenborough is still a whisker further south of Ellis.

Cuckoo Ellis was still in the Netherlands late on Friday evening but by 22:46 last night he had flown 542 km (336 miles) south and was just south of Strasbourg and close to the city of Offenburg in Germany. By 3am this morning he was crossing the Alps in Switzerland and by 5am he was in the mountains above the city of Colico on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. 

Ellis was caught at the same site near Loch Arklet in the Trossachs as Columbus. He was caught in the evening, in exactly the same part of the same net as Columbus. The team caught another Cuckoo at the same time, a female that was sneaking up on her perceived rival. Since being tagged, Ellis spent a few days near Bungay in Suffolk before crossing the Channel to the Netherlands. Having stopped off near Leiden in South Holland, updates received last night showed that he had flown 137 km (85 miles) north east to his current location near Leeuwarden in Friesland.

After being unable to tag any Cuckoos in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are delighted to be able to introduce eleven new Cuckoos this year!

The tagging teams faced some very early starts as usual to tag the Cuckoos, but they were rewarded with birds who were interested enough in the female lure to be caught, weighed and tagged (with the exception of a location near Loch Katrine where there were a number of female Cuckoos around, making our lure less convincing!).

Some of these newly-tagged birds have already begun their migration south, with one in France, one in the Netherlands and one of the Scottish birds is already down in Essex.

Keep an eye on the individual birds' blogs for updates on their progress.