We are very sad to report that the time has finally come to bid farewell to our old friend PJ, the longest lived of our satellite tagged Cuckoos to date. PJ was tagged in the King's Forest in Suffolk on Tuesday 7 June, 2016 when he was already a second year bird (i.e. hatched in 2015). He arrived back in the UK on 24th April this year but there have been no transmissions from his tag since 6th May when he was still at his breeding grounds in the King's Forest. Tag failures are rare in the UK, where the tags are not exposed to such harsh conditions as when the birds are on migration, so we must assume that PJ has reached the end of his life. He was at least seven years old when he arrived in the King’s Forest this spring, only one year short of the longevity record for a wild UK Cuckoo.

As well as being the first tagged Cuckoo to use both the Spanish and Italian routes to the wintering grounds in the Congo Basin, PJ completed six epic tracked migrations to Africa and back. This is the greatest number of migratory journeys of any tagged Cuckoo. When he returned to the UK in April this year he had over 60,000 miles under his wing.

Although PJ may be gone, his legacy - six years of location data - lives on, and his contribution to our understanding of Cuckoo migration will continue to inform BTO’s research. PJ built on the contributions of all the tagged Cuckoos before him, just as this year’s cohort will build on the knowledge we gained from PJ - a body of research which we hope will help reverse the sad decline seen in the UK Cuckoo population.

We are grateful for the data and the inspiration that PJ has given us and hope that you too have enjoyed following him. If you'd like to share any reflections on PJ's amazing story we would love to hear them.

It's been a couple of weeks since we've received any updates from PJ. The last transmission from his tag showed that he was at his breeding grounds in the King's Forest, Thetford.

Almost six years after he was tagged in June 2016, Cuckoo PJ is once again speeding back to his breeding grounds in the King's Forest, Suffolk. Wintering each year in northern Angola and the Congo Basin, he returns via Ivory Coast in west Africa, a 16,000km (10,000 mile) round trip. This means that if he makes it back to Suffolk this year he will have racked up well in excess of 60,000 miles in his lifetime. We continue to be amazed by the feats of this incredible Cuckoo and remain thankful that the tag has lasted so well.

PJ has spent the last few weeks in Ivory Coast, feeding up in preparation for attempting his crossing of the Sahara. At 09:02 on Saturday morning (April 2) he was in southern Mauritania. Over the next 38 hours he continued north over the desert, flying at an average speed of 28mph and covering 1,340 km (832 miles) so that by 23:42 last night (April 3) he had reached western Algeria. His route north over the desert has taken him further east than in previous year because of stiff westerly winds. These will switch to southerly as he moves north over Algeria, giving him a welcome boost along the way. He usually progresses through Spain and France back to England, arriving back in Suffolk between 18th and 30th April. 

PJ has finally set off on his sixth southerly migration. Having spent the last couple of months in Suffolk, by 22:50 on Thursday night he was approaching Hatfield Peverel in Essex and by 23:39 he was crossing the Thames close to Canvey Island. At 06:27am Friday morning he was over the Forest of Fontainebleau in France. By 05:24 on Sunday morning PJ had flown a further 485 km (301 miles) south to the south of France to his current location in the west of the Gers region, close to the town of Estang. He is now 70 km west of PJ who is in the far north east of Gers. Since leaving his breeding grounds in Suffolk on Thursday night, PJ jas already covered 941 km (585 miles). 

After five years and a staggering 50,000 miles, Suffolk Cuckoo PJ has once again returned from Africa to his breeding grounds in the King's Forest, Suffolk. He is the first of our tagged Cuckoos to survive five complete migrations with his tag still functioning. When we last updated you he was having a well deserved rest on the Isle of Wight, but despite the many attractions of that fine place, it couldn't keep him away from East Anglia for long. New updates received from PJ's tag at 07:30 yesterday morning (Friday 22nd April) showed that he had covered the final 223km (139 miles) from the Isle of Wight to Suffolk. Further updates since show him flying around his breeding grounds, less than 5 miles from us here at BTO HQ in Thetford. He will stay here until early July before beginning his journey back to Africa once again.

We caught and tagged Cuckoo 'PJ' in the King's Forest, Suffolk, in June 2016, and since then he has provided us with a wealth of valuable data. Through tracking PJ's migrations between UK and Africa, we have discovered that he spends the winter months in north-western Angola. Recently, while en-route to the UK he has spent several weeks feeding up in Ivory Coast and over the last few days we can see that he has tackled the mighty Sahara. He was in, or over, Mauritania on Sunday morning and by 8am yesterday morning (Monday) he had reached Morocco! The most recent update, which arrived at 19:40 last night, showed him in northern Morocco. He is currently in the Middle Atlas Mountains, approximately 95 km (59 miles) south east of Fes. From here, he will move up through Spain and France before crossing into England.

If he makes it back to Suffolk this year, PJ will have completed his fifth tracked migration, which is the most for any Cuckoo that we have tracked so far! It has been a nerve-racking time waiting for PJ to tackle the desert and we'll be keeping everything crossed that the rest of his journey goes smoothly. In previous years, he has successfully completed his desert crossing between 7th and 17th April and arrived back at his breeding grounds in Suffolk between 18th and 30th April, so he is close to his usual schedule.

PJ, who is on his fifth tracked annual migration to the UK from Africa, has spent the last couple of weeks in Ivory Coast. The rains are well established in the area that he's stopped off in - in fact, there's been a bit more than expected over the past month (up to 75mm). This should mean there's plenty of food for him. We don't know exactly what he'll be feeding on but expect that this will include some adult insects that have been aestivating over the dry season and have emerged in response to the start of the rains.

The area PJ is in was originally deciduous forest that has been transformed into secondary growth - this transformation might originally have been beneficial for Cuckoos, but depending on the extent of tree loss, it could reduce habitat quality for them. As it's now a few weeks since the rains commenced, it's likely that in addition to emergent insects, there could also be plenty of caterpillars (Cuckoos preferred prey on the breeding grounds) for him to eat by now. He's likely to use this fuel to put on fat amounting to at least 50% of his lean body mass, as well as enlarging his flight muscles, before migrating over the Sahara. He usually spends most of March in Ivory Coast before heading north across the Sahara.

The last few weeks have been quiet and for those who had not yet completed their desert crossings, it looks like the challenging conditions have claimed more of our tagged Cuckoos.

Unfortunately no further signals have been received from Knepp. From the temperature data and movements at the time, he was alive on 12 July, when we last heard from his tag. Though the battery charge had been low for a few days, there is no evidence of long term battery decline so we can't be sure what has happened to him - either he, or the tag, appear to have died suddenly. 

Lambert, who was still in France, has not moved on south and signals on 21 August showed high temperature fluctuations across the day, indicating the bird's body temperature and behaviour were not regulating it. We've heard nothing since then, and his tags battery charge had suddenly dipped, all of which leads us to believe he has likely died.

Unfortunately the challenging conditions have also impacted on Nussey who has already attempted two trips to Africa and retreated to Europe.  Abnormally low temperatures were received at the time of the last messages (16 August), having previously been fine. He was not migrating at that time, so the low temperatures were not due to high altitude, and the battery was also much lower than previously, further suggesting he was dead.

The droughts and exceptionally high temperatures in Europe appear to have proved difficult for our Cuckoos this year, however the five south of the Sahara are still regularly transmitting. Valentine, PJ, Carlton II and Tennysons' tags have all sent signals during September and the last signals received from Senan's tag were at the end of August and show him still in Burkina Faso.

At 10:54 on Wednesday 24 July PJ was still in northern Spain but by 11:18 on Sunday 29 July he had flown 1,748 km (1,086 miles) south east and was in or over the desert in central Algeria. He has since flown a further 626 km (389 miles) south and by 04:30 this morning (29 July) he was at the western edge of the Tassili Oua-N-Ahaggar Desert in the Tamanrasset region of southern Algeria. He needs to travel another 1000 km (621 miles) or so in order to complete his desert crossing, hopefully when we next hear from him he'll be safely on the other side. In previous years PJ has stopped in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger after crossing the Sahara. 

PJ left the UK on July 2 and has been making steady progress ever since. After a brief stop near Brionne in northern France he pressed on south and by 05:55 on July 4 he was 675 Km (420 miles) south, on the France/Spain border. He has since flown a further 208 Km (130 miles) south west to his current location near the city of Salas de los infantes in Burgos Province between Logrono, Soria and Burgos in Spain.

PJ has departed – and while it looks like he is the last to leave - it appears he was already on his way before Carlton II. Poor quality signals, which don't display on the map, indicate he was close to Brionne in northern France around 7am on 2 July, 370km (235 miles) from Suffolk.

Good quality signals on the morning of 4 July revealed that PJ  was in the south of France, 685km (425 miles) further south close to the border with Spain.  He is now already over  1000km (600 miles) south of his breeding grounds!

On Tuesday this week, PJ was still in Cameroon but he has since flown 2,085 Km (1,295 miles) west to Ivory Coast. He stopped briefly in Benin en-route. He is now 180 Km (111 miles) north west of the capital Yamoussoukro. We expect this to be PJ's last stop before he crosses the Sahara. In 2017 he left Ivory Coast to cross the Sahara on 8th April and in 2018 he departed on the 6th April.

Having spent the last month in Cameroon PJ is now on his way west.  A couple of poor locations around breakfast on 5 March showed he was on the move and in western Cameroon. By mid-morning he was in central Nigeria and by the early evening had crossed the border into Benin, completing a journey of 897km (557 miles) in 12 hours. This puts his average speed for this journey at 46mph. He is currently in an area of open forest in southern, central Benin. His map will update automatically overnight to show his new position in Benin.

PJ has been in Cameroon for almost a month now. In 2017 he left Cameroon on 22 February and on the 23^rd in 2018. We expect PJ to head into West Africa any day now.

PJ is still in the gallery forest to the south of Lake Mbakou but in the last couple of days he has moved a short distance to the west. It will be interesting to see when we next hear from his tag if this was the start of his journey into West Africa.

During the last few days we have received locations from PJ’s tag that show he is on his way back. He is now 754km (468 miles) north and east of his winter location in Angola and on the northern edge of the Teke Plateau.

It seems that the area of farmland that PJ was using might not be giving him what he needs and he has moved back north 56km (35 miles) to the Orient Forest Regional Natural Park just to the east of Troyes.

The children of The Green Zone Bird Club at Sandown School in Kent have been following PJ’s progress closely. One of the children at the school, Che, won a Cuckoo sponsorship in the school fair and decided to share it with his fellow pupils. ‘Where in the world is PJ?’ has been a regular activity where the children learn about geography and migration. One member of the Group, Callum (age 6), has taught everyone how to zoom in and out on PJ’s position on the satellite tracking map – well done, Callum!  

They have all been drawing amazing pictures of PJ to welcome him back to the UK (featured). We have really enjoyed looking at their brilliant drawings in the office and reading the Green Zone Bird Club’s newsletters. Well done to all the children in the Club and to their Outdoor Learning and Forest School Leader, Anne Collins, for all of her hard work and enthusiasm. Keep up the good work children and we hope you continue following PJ's journey as he migrates back to Africa.

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Our very own Paul Stancliffe, Media Manager, got a great view of PJ this morning! He's not far from our Headquarters and Paul had been out to see if could locate him in preparation for some press coverage on the project. He said: 'I found him. It was the only Cuckoo I heard and saw and he flew straight towards me, before spotting me and turning away, showing his antenna as he did!'

After having travelled so far west, two of our Cuckoos have turned around and gone eastwards. From the Guinea Highlands, Selborne has travelled north-eastwards 125km (80 miles) while PJ has also headed east 190km (115 miles) within Ivory Coast. This may be to do with conditions being more favourable here. 

PJ has started his migration towards Africa for the winter. He left his breeding territory in Thetford Forest on the Norfolk/Suffolk border on the 24^th June stopping over in NE France. He is currently in woodland west of Lachaussee, 525km (326 miles) southeast of his summer location.

PJ was tagged on 7 June 2016 in King's Forest, Suffolk. Since then he has remained largely in the area of the forest, although he has ventured north into Thetford Forest, on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, and east into Norfolk to the area of forest between Thetford and Diss. He is currently back in Suffolk and on the southern edge of Thetford Forest, very close to Elveden.