Updates from our Cuckoos

We are pleased to report that Sayaan has made it across the Sahara. New updates from his tag this morning show that he has flown 1,225 km (761 miles) from the Tibesti mountains in southern Libya to his new location in the south-eastern corner of Chad.

He is now in the wetter and greener environs of the Sahel where he will hopefully be able to find plenty of food to help him recover from his long journey.

Sayaan has left Italy and by Sunday afternoon he had crossed the Mediterranean and reached northern Libya.

By the time of his last transmission just after 19:30 last night (Monday 24 July) he had flown 843 km (524 miles) south through the Libyan Sahara and reached the northern edge of the remote and very inaccessible Tibesti mountain range.

He is close to Bette Peak, the highest mountain in Libya at 2,266 metres (7,434 ft).  

Hopefully when we next hear from him, he will have completed his desert crossing and will be refuelling in the Sahel. 

New updates received from Sayaan’s tag early this morning show that he has flown 378 km (235 miles) south-east through Italy. After a brief stop close to Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, he moved on to his current location in the province of Rieti.

He is now just south-east of the town of Norcia, within the national parks of Mont Sibillini and Gran Sasso, and Monti della Laga. These national parks form one of the largest protected areas in Europe, with mountains, forests, river valleys and abundant biodiversity. 

Sayaan has completed his crossing of the Gulf of Genoa, and made landfall this morning in Italy, close to the town of Ferriere, in the Province of Piacenza in the region Emilia-Romagna. He is currently on the slopes above the valley of the river Nure. 

Over the last couple of days, Sayaan has made rapid progress south through France and over the border into Italy. By around 5 p.m. last night, he had reached Finale Ligure on the Gulf of Genoa, part of the Italian Riviera.

He didn’t stop there for long, however, as our last few data points show him out to sea, heading across the Gulf of Genoa towards the town of Sestri Levante in eastern Liguria.

It’ll be interesting to see whether he stops on the Mediterranean side or moves across to the Adriatic, as Torc has done over the last few hours. 

Knepp Cuckoo Sayaan is the third of our tagged Cuckoos to depart our shores, crossing the Channel to France over the weekend.

He has flown 500 km (310 miles) south-east from his last location near Findon in West Sussex, taking him to the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. On Saturday evening he was in a forest just to the north of the town of Montbard on the river Brenne.

Sayaan has followed the lead of our other Knepp Cuckoo Bluey and moved approximately 17 km (10 miles) south. After a few days close to Worthing Crematorium, Sayaan appears to have moved east towards the Devil’s Dyke area of the South Downs, close to Brighton.