Updates from our Cuckoos

PJ has travelled  250km (160 miles) from Niger and is now in northern Nigeria. 

PJ hasn't moved far but he seems to have found a river delta, where presumably there is water and vegetation at this time of year.

At 19:23 on Friday 14 July we received a location from PJ's tag that showed he was close to the coast of southern France to the west of Toulon. At 20:45 he was 46km (28 miles) to the south of here and over the sea. The last location we received before his tag powered down was at 01:41 on 15 July and he was about half-way through his crossing of the Mediterranean. We next heard from him at 16.14 on 16 July when he was in the middle of the Sahara in southern Algeria. He didn't stop here, and by 08:53 on 17 July he was in Niger and around 500km (350 miles) short of successfully completing his desert crossing. Between Friday evening and early on Monday morning, he travelled 2,900km (1,800 miles) at an average speed of 47kph (30mph). Fingers crossed, when we next hear from his tag he will have completed his desert crossing.

PJ has moved south within France and is now now on the border with France and Switzerland, north-west of Geneva and south of Lake Geneva itself. He is currently moving around an area of woodland to the south of Loisin. He is 65km (40 miles) northwest of where the French, Swiss and Italian borders meet in the Alps.   

Since arriving back in the King's Forest on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, PJ has ranged quite widely in the area and has visited the BTO's Nunnery Lakes on a few occasions. For the last few days he has been frequenting the area just north of the Elveden Memorial.

PJ has returned back to his breeding area, transmitting from Suffolk on 29 April.  He covered the 495 km (305 miles) from his previous location in France during the late evening of 27 into 28 April. Since he arrived he has been moving around the Thetford and Mildenhall area, close to Kings Forest where he was tagged. He is the second of our tagged Cuckoos to make it back this year.

PJ has flown from southern Spain to northern France, covering 1,300km (805 miles). Signals received on 21 April showed PJ crossing the Bay of Biscay and by the afternoon of 22 April he was 35km (20 miles) west of Le Mans.

Not to be outdone, PJ has also continued onwards, and from the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco he has traveled 650km (400 miles) to Spain. Poor quality locations indicate that he is currently south west of Seville. Once we receive further good quality locations his position will update on the map. Having just crossed the desert, PJ isn’t likely to move too far at the moment but you never know! Will he be the next Cuckoo back? 

Locations received from PJ's tag during the early morning on 10 April showed that he was on the southern edge of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco, and that he had successfully completed his desert crossing. He is currently close to the village of Ait Aamamou.