Updates from our Cuckoos

We are sorry to report sad news about Selborne. We last heard from Selborne at midday on 4 April when he had just arrived in Spain and it now looks as if he died later that day or overnight. His last location shows him over a southern ridge of the Sierra Morena mountains where it appears that he was stopped suddenly in his tracks as he topped that slope. We will probably never know what happened to Selborne but it would appear most likely that he was either taken by an avian predator or succumbed to human hunters. Selborne was named by the Hampshire Ornithological Society when he was tagged in June 2016. Since then we have followed Selborne over two complete migration loops from Hampshire to his wintering grounds in Gabon. He was only 1,430 Km (888 miles) from completing his third migration loop. We are grateful to the Hampshire Ornithological Society and all of Selborne's sponsors for enabling the wonderful contribution that Selborne has made to advancing our understanding of Cuckoo migration.

A series of locations from Selborne's tag during the early hours of 3 April showed that he was in southern Spain, just to the west of Antequera. However, a set of poor locations received around breakfast on 4 April suggest that he had moved on and was 118km (73 miles) further north and east and close to the town of Lopera. Since leaving the Guinea Highlands on the evening of 31 March he has travelled 3,294km (2,047 miles). We will have to wait for high quality locations to confirm his most recent stopover and for it to update on his map.

Selborne's tag transmitted again last night (Monday 1st April), confirming our suspicions that he was on migration over the Sahara Desert. Selborne was still in Guinea at 22:24 on 31st March and we next heard from him at 17:48 on 1st April by which time he had flown 1,440 Km (895 miles) north to Mali. Another update arrived at 19:50 last night showing he had pressed on to Algeria, making the total distance traveled 1,718 Km (1,067 miles) at an average speed of 49.8 mph over a period of 21 hours and 26 minutes. The latest update shows Selborne in the Erg Chech Desert in western Algeria. 

An update received from Hampshire Cuckoo Selborne's tag at 22:24 last night (Sunday 31st March) showed that he had flown 392 Km (243 miles) north to the north-eastern corner of Guinea, close to the border with Mali. It might just be that Selborne has continued on this trajectory and is now on his way across the Sahara Desert. In 2017 he started his crossing on 25 March and in 2018 he departed on 22nd March. We will have to await the next transmission to find out if he will be the first to tackle the mighty Sahara. Last year Selborne was the first of our tagged Cuckoos to make it back to the UK, arriving on 14th April.

Selborne is in West Africa! On the evening of 31 January Selborne's tag showed that he was in west southern Ghana. From the information we received it looks like he took the shortcut across the Gulf of Guinea, a sea crossing of 1,100km (689 miles). He is now 1,650km (1,000 miles) from his last location in Gabon and just under 5,000km (3,000 miles) from his New Forest breeding site, as the Cuckoo flies.

Selborne is still settled in the area of rainforest to the south and east of the Ogooue River. He has been in this location for almost two months. There are currently thunderstorms and pretty heavy rain where he is, and the temperature is 31 degrees. The forecast for the next couple of days is for more heavy thunderstorms. No wonder the battery charge on his tag is a little low.

Selborne seems settled in the area of rainforest he has been in for almost six weeks. Selborne is currently right in the middle of a large thunderstorm.