Updates from our Cuckoos

Locations received from the tag of 161324 on 23 September showed that he was heading south through Burkina Faso. His tag then powered down to allow the small solar panel to recharge the batteries. When it powered back up again 161324 had turned east and was in Nigeria, roughly midway between the Dagida Game Reserve and Old Oyo National Park. He didn't hang around though and a couple of days later he was 676km (420 miles) to the south and east of his last location but still in Nigeria. He didn't stay here long either, in the early hours of 30 September he was another 481km (300 miles) to the south in Cameroon 60km (40 miles) east of the capital Yaounde, and on the northern edge of the tropical rainforest. A few poor quality locations received on 2 October suggest he is still at this location.

Since heading back north into Mali 161324 has stayed in the river valley he found. His tag is still sending lots of information and he appears to be alive and well.

Having spent around three weeks in Burkina Faso, 161324 has made a very unusual movement. Instead of heading east and south, he has moved north and east, with the emphasis on north. He is currently on the southern edge of the Sahara in a river valley in southeast Mali. On 31 August he was 300km (184 miles) east of his current location, so it seems that he has doubled back, probably because he struggled to find food at the new site. It will be interesting to see how long he stays here, or to see if he eventually heads back to the stopover site in Burkina Faso he left on 29 August.  We have seen other Cuckoos head back to the last site they knew had good feeding.

Since arriving in Burkina Faso 161324 has been settled in the area northeast of Ouagadougou. He appears to be using an area of cultivation around a number of small settlements.The nearest town is Kyentenga, 3.8km (2.3 miles) to the southwest.

Since successfully crossing the Sahara and arriving safely in Mali, 161324 has moved south and east into Burkina Faso and is currently 82km (51 miles) north and east of the capital Ouagadougou.

On 22nd July 161324 left Spain and flew 300 miles south into northern Algeria. He only stopped there for a few hours before pushing on south, flying 1,500 miles to cross the Sahara and arrive at his current location in Mali.

During the early hours of 10 July we received a location from Cuckoo 161324's tag that showed he had left France, flown over the Pyrenees and carried south to central Spain. He is currently around 130km (80 miles) west of Castellon de la Plana.

Since arriving in France on 25 June, Cuckoo 161324 has slowly made his way south and is currently in western central France close to Limoges, where it is a sunny 27 degrees C, although if he hangs around it is forecast to be wet and cool during the middle part of next week.