Updates from our Cuckoos

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. 

KP has been rather dormant of late, but he's now on the move again. He's finally left northern Italy, departing on Saturday night at around 10pm and progressing south-east through Italy.

By 6:45 on Sunday morning he had reached the foot of Italy but pressed on across the Mediterranean and by 16:25 yesterday afternoon he had reached Tobruk on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt.

He has since progressed onwards south into the Sahara and by the time the last update reached us at 09:17 this morning he had flown 772 km (480 miles) from Tobruk. At that time he was over the desert, straddling the border between Libya and Egypt, approximately 215 km (134 miles) north-east of the Libyan town of Al Jawf.  

KP has flown 2,750 km (1,708 miles) since leaving Northern Italy on Saturday night. Hopefully he has enough energy reserves to take him the rest of the way across the desert, despite the long journey he has already undertaken. 

By early Wednesday morning (28 June), KP had crossed the Alps and arrived in northern Italy. He passed over San Pellegrino Terme and moved on south-east towards Lake Garda.

The latest updates from his tag arrived early this morning. They show him in the hills to the east of the town of Nave, in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy.

KP is on the move! He left his breeding grounds yesterday afternoon and flew 86 km (53 miles) east. He spent the rest of the day in or around Castleblagh Forest, close to the village of Ballyhooly in County Cork.

A couple of further updates received late last night suggest that he may since have moved on, in a south-easterly direction towards Youghal. Will he stop again before crossing the sea, or is he aiming for Cornwall – or even France?

Cuckoo KP was tagged at Incheens in Killarney National Park, one of several male Cuckoos caught by our team on the morning of 17 May. He is one of four Cuckoos tagged in Ireland this year.

Since being tagged, KP has remained in the same area.