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.
Updates from our Cuckoos
Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
- If you enjoy these updates, please consider sponsoring a Cuckoo. Sponsors receive special updates about their chosen Cuckoo in the Cuckoo e-newsletter.
Battery failure for Fred's tag?
Fred in Spain
A number of locations from Fred on 1 August showed that he had left France and was in Spain, just west of Madrid.
Fred heads south
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?
Fred settled in France
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.
Poor locations received from Fred
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.
Fred returns to the UK
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 crosses the desert
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 in Ivory Coast
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.
Fred re-appears on the map
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.
No further signals from Fred
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.
Share this page