No further signals have been received from Fred’s tag since 1 August.  His tag has not been charging properly for several months and has been showing generally very low but erratic voltage. There is strong evidence that Fred’s tag has failed and nothing to suggest that he has died but it is unlikely that we will receive further signals to alert us to his progress. 

A number of locations from Fred on 1 August showed that he had left France and was in Spain, just west of Madrid.

Having been settled for almost a month in central western France, Fred is now on the move once again. A signal from him around 6.00pm on 6 July showed that he was 367km (228 miles) southwest of his previous location, and that he is north of Bayonne close to Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx. How long will he stay here before crossing the Pyrenees?

Better quality signals from Fred confirm that he is still in the area close to La Roche-sur-Yon in western France. He has been in this area since he arrived there on 10 June.

Over the last week we've only received poor quality locations from Fred but there are enough of them in the same location to indicate that he left the UK and has been in northern France since the 10 June. His location will only update on the map once a good quality location has been received.  He is close to the western coast, near to La Roche-sur-Yon, while Ash, who transmitted from France on 16 June, is further north and east.  

Freds last location was in Morocco in early May but since then he has travelled across mainland Europe and yesterday arrived back in the UK, at his breeding site in Sherwood Forest. He is the tenth tagged Cuckoo to return this spring.   

Fred is back on the map after a period of silence and has finally moved north from Ivory Coast and made his crossing of the Sahara desert. By the 2 May he had made suvvesfully completed it and made it to Morocco, to a location close to Marrakesh.  

Fred has moved 1320km (820 miles) west from Nigeria and by the evening of the 16 was in Ivory Coast, just 14km  (8 miles) from Emworthy's location. 

After a number of poor quality signals from Fred's tag indicating he was in  Nigeria we're pleased to see that a good quality location has recently been received placing him in westen Nigeria, just south of the River Moshi Forestry Reserve. 

Since receiving one transmission from Fred's tag on 5 March, nothing further has been received which details his location and he has once again dropped off the map, which shows only active Cuckoos within the last 10 days by default. We presume that, if all is ok, Fred would by now have moved to West Africa. We will have to wait to see where he is when further transmissions are received.  

On 5 March we received one good signal from Fred's tag which showed that he had moved to the northern forest edge, where many of our tagged Cuckoos have moved to before heading to West Africa.  

From time to time we ‘lose’ one or two of our Cuckoos only for them to reappear several days, or even weeks, later. We are never entirely sure why this might be at the individual level but during the course of the project we have noticed similarities between some of the ‘lost’ birds.

We have lost some of our birds just prior to them making a large movement and we think that this might be because they move into denser vegetation in order to feed up before embarking on a long flight. Moving into denser vegetation may mean that the solar panel that recharges the battery for the tag is in shade for periods of time and the battery receives a poorer charge, which in turn results in poorer performance from the satellite tag.

Once the birds have put on enough weight to begin their journey they move into the open and the tag begins charging again and the birds ‘reappear’. We also see the same thing happen, although to a lesser extent, when birds complete a long movement and presumably move into denser vegetation to rest and feed up

There have been a few small movements recently. Fred and Jake have moved west into Congo whilst David has moved into the area that Emsworthy has left. 

These are likely down to changing rainfall conditions which may affect food availability and cause the Cuckoos to seek areas which may be more plentiful in resources. It will be especially important to find a good feeding area before they make any move northwards. There's no consistent direction in which these Cuckoos leave an area and one Cuckoo may move from an area only to be replaced by another moving in from elsewhere, with no obvious reason why.

Fred and Jake, two of our Cuckoos tagged in Sherwood Forest, have moved westwards and are now in Congo. Fred recently left the Mbandaka area and has moved about 270km (165 miles) west from his previous location in Democratic Republic of Congo, while Jake, who is about 70km (45 miles) further south, travelled a shorter distance of 155km (95 miles). 

Interestingly, Derek who is slightly further north, had been moving east, the opposite direction to Jake and Fred, until recently but he has backtracked around 65km (40 miles). Emsworthy has also moved, but northwards to the area not long vacated by Fred. These movements may indicate changing conditions which are encouraging the Cuckoos to seek more favourable areas. 

From his position in Congo, Fred had moved east and into Democratic Republic of Congo by Christmas Eve and was close to the River Congo. He remained in the area until 12 January before then moving 145km (90 miles) west, crossing back into Congo but remaining in the area of swamp forest. 

Fred is in Congo, close to the border with Democratic Republic of Congo and 88km (54 miles) north west of Lake Tumba. We last heard from him at 09.06 on 17 December.

Yesterday evening and early this morning we received signals from Fred's tag showing that he was on the move and was finally travelling south towards the Congo rainforest. The last location received shows he stopped in Cameroon, having travelled 1030km (640 miles).

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.   

Cuckoo 134955 has finally crosed the desert. He remained in Morroco until around 28 July but by 1 August he he was on his way south. Signals received on 2 August show he had made it safely across the expanse and was in Senegal. 

Signals received yesterday show that Cuckoo 134955 is now in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Dudley, one of the other birds tagged in Sherwood has finished his desert crossing and made it to Nigeria while Cuckooo 134957 is much further north in Belgium. 

While we have three Cuckoos currently touring in France (Walpole, Emsworthy and 134955) there are now just two tagged birds which remain in the UK; Derek and Gowk. While the actual Tour De France will have departed the country soon, it could be a while before we see these Cuckoos move on. Last year Derek didn't leave the UK until 17 July but the latest departure we have seen since the beginning of the project was Scottish Cuckoo Patch, who left on 26 July last year. 

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. 

There has been a flurry of activity recently and 134955 is another of our Cuckoos to have left the UK in the last few days, along wth Emsworthy.  By 16 June he was in West Sussex and two days later he was 470km (290 miles) further south and in Central France! It looks like it is the end of the summer for many of our Cuckoos as they begin the journey to their wintering grounds. 

The first of three Cuckoos taggged in Sherwood Forest, 134952 was caught flying between young alders near Shirebrook, after having failed to catch three cuckoos flying over our nets at Budby Common earlier that morning. The second two birds, 134955 and 134957 were trapped at Sherwood Pines the following morning, the second bird flying into the nets just as we released the first!