So far this year, five Cuckoos have made it successfully across the desert. Carlton II, PJ, Senan, Tennyson and Valentine are all south of the Sahara and still sending regular tag transmissions. They still have a little further to go south before reaching their final wintering destinations.
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.
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Five across the desert
14 Aug 2019
PJ in Nigeria
05 Aug 2019
Pj didn't stay long in Mali, he has since flown a further 598 km (372 miles) south east into north west Nigeria.
PJ in Mali
30 Jul 2019
PJ has continued on his desert crossing - not quite as far as 1000km as mentioned in the previous blog entry - but he did cover a further 635km (395 miles) on 29 July, which has taken him into eastern Mali. He is now close to the border with Niger, and just north of Reserve Partielle De Faune D'ansongo-Menaka.
PJ is crossing the desert!
29 Jul 2019
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 in Spain
09 Jul 2019
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 and Carlton II yet to leave
03 Jul 2019
Just PJ and Carlton II are yet to leave the UK. Three more Cuckoos have recently started on their migration, meaning a total of nine Cuckoos have departed this year already.
PJ still in King's Forest
19 Jun 2019
PJ has been faithful to his breeding site in King's Forest, Suffolk, since he arrived back in the UK. This is the fourth summer he has spent in this area since being fitted with a satellite tag. During his last three migrations he has left the UK between 24 June and 2 July - it will be interesting to see what date he leaves this year.
PJ settled
04 Jun 2019
PJ has settled into his territory since arriving back at the end of April. He seems to favour the northwest corner of King's Forest and the Berner's Heath area. During his last three southbound migrations he has left the UK between the 24 June and 3 July, so he is likely to still be in the forest for the next three weeks or so.
PJ is back!
26 Apr 2019
PJ completed the final leg of 645 Km (400 miles) of his return journey at 15:30 yesterday afternoon and is now back in the King's Forest in Suffolk. PJ was tagged in June 2016 so his successful return this year means that we have now tracked him over three complete migration loops from his breeding grounds near Thetford to his wintering grounds in Angola and back again. In previous years PJ has departed between June 23 and July 2 so we expect him to stay with us for around 9 weeks.
PJ isn't hanging around
23 Apr 2019
When his tag powered up on 18 April he was to the west of Madrid, central Spain. However, when his tag came on again around breakfast on 23 April he had left Spain and was in western France close to the town of La Roche-sur-Yon. This will automatically update on his map overnight. He is now only 658km (409 miles) from his Thetford Forest breeding site.
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