Updates from our Cuckoos

Having spent the best part of the last month in south-eastern Ivory Coast, KP has now headed 483km (300 miles) north-west into the Sikasso Region of southern Mali. His next move should see him pushing across the Sahara.

Since our last update KP has shifted south and is now close to the town of Agboville in south-eastern Ivory Coast. 

Since our last update Irish Cuckoo KP has made a big move West. Over the last week or so he has departed the Congo and flown 2,208km (1,372 miles) via Cameroon and Ghana to his new location in Ivory Coast.

This makes him the second of our tagged Cuckoos (after Trent) to make the move west. He is currently in eastern Ivory Coast, just north of the city of Abengourou.

The influence of the inter-tropical convergence zone means that there has been significant rainfall in this area over the past few weeks so KP will be able to benefit from the abundance of insects that this brings.

We expect KP to remain in west Africa for a few weeks while he feeds up in preparation for the next leg of his journey which will take him north across the Sahara.

KP spent November and December in the same general area close to the Salonga River deep in the rainforest of the Congo Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

Since mid January he has been moving steadily north-west and is now 536km (333 miles) from his wintering area, taking him out of DRC and into the Republic of Congo. He is currently on the edge of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, a huge area of swampy lowland rainforest in northern Republic of Congo.  

KP has flown 405km (252 miles) south from his last location in Central African Republic to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is now in north-west DRC.  

After more than a month in southern Chad, Irish Cuckoo KP is on the move again.

New updates received this morning (Monday 23 October), show that he has flown 464km (288 miles) south and is now in Central African Republic (CAR). He is in the northern part of the Ouaka region of CAR, approximately 200km north of the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Sussex Cuckoo Sayaan also passed through CAR a few days ago and is now in the Congo Basin.  

After keeping us waiting for a week, KP is finally on the move again and has flown 71 km (44 miles) south in Sudan. He is now in the Meidob volcanic field, an area of 100 km x 50 km of lava flows in northern Darfur.

This is largely a barren area but there are mountain springs, wadis and a lake which support the growth of trees and shrubs. Hopefully KP is finding sufficient food here to keep him going as he nears the southern edge of the Sahara. 

We have been waiting anxiously for further updates on KP's progress across the desert, willing him on during his epic journey. Since our last update he has battled on south, flying a further 920 km (572 miles) from Egypt into Sudan.

The most recent updates received between 3 pm and 10 pm yesterday showed him in the desert some 50 km north of the Meidob volcanic field in Darfur, Sudan.

Although he is still in the desert, he appears to be in a seasonal river bed and with heavy thunderstorms yesterday, he may well be able to find some food here.

We'll keep our fingers crossed that the next time we receive an update from KP's tag he will have completed his desert crossing.