Updates from our Cuckoos

The last signal David's tag sent from Wales was on the 28 June and by the evening of 30 June he was in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. This is spot on with the timing of last year when he transmitted outside of the UK on 30 June but from Central, rather than northern, France. Interestingly, in the first year we tagged David he left much earlier and headed to Germany. Despite this, both years so far he has then headed across to Montenegro to make his crossing to Africa. 

With three un-named birds left we are letting you choose what to name one of our Sherwood Cuckoos!  Anyone who sponsors a Cuckoo before the end of June will be entered in to a draw. We’ll then pick one entry at random and will contact the winner who can then suggest a suitable name*. Find out how you could name a Cuckoo. 

By the evening of 13 May David was back in Wales! He left his last location in France sometime after the 9 May, making the 660km (410 miles) journey back to Tregaron, the area in which he was first tagged.

Last year, in spring 2013, he first returned to the UK much earlier, around 26 April but promptly turned tail and returned to France - no doubt  influenced by the cool daytime weather and falling evening temperatures at Sherborne, and by the general lack of advancement of the spring due to the unseasonably cold weather earlier on in March and April.  Having spent a few weeks there, he was back in the UK by the 6 May and at his tagging site by 9 May. 

It's interesting that despite much warmer daytime temperatures in the last few weeks, David has chosen to leave it even later than last year. Perhaps using his previous experience to ensure that he doesn't make the same mistake again. This choice however may mean that he finds it harder to find a mate, as other Cuckoos who have arrived earlier will have taken the best territories.  

By the 27 April, David had travelled to Spain and was just north of the Sierra Nevada Mountains having travelled 460km (285 miles) from his last location in Morocco.

David has crossed the desert from his very westerly position near Dakar. Signals received on the late afternoon of  18 April showed he was mid-crossing, 1560km (990 miles) from his previous location, and in Morocco in the southern half of the region of Guelmin-Es Semara which forms part of the Western Sahara.  He continued on a further 1000km (624 miles) and by evening on 20 April he was in northern Morocco in the Middle Atlas, part of the Atlas mountain range. 

David has headed 650km (410 miles) north-west and is now close to Dakar in Western Senegal.  Last year he embarked on his desert crossing from his location on the border of Guinea/Sierra-Leone but, despite having headed to the same spot on the border again this year, he has instead travelled west rather than north. On 15 April last year he was crossing the desert and was over Mauritania so he seems a little delayed this year. It will be interesting to see where he heads to next.

If David does cross the desert from his current location, he will be over 1780km (1100 miles) further west than the point at which BB made his desert crossing from! 

Despite Patch's recent westerly movement to Guinea, David may still be the most westerly Cuckoo. Poor quality signals suggest that David continued on from Mali and could be in either Sierra Leone or Guinea. Last year, he was in a very similar location, almost on the Guinea/Sierra Leone border by the 8 April. This was preceeded by a couple of weeks of silence so we can't tell whether he is on schedule or ahead of last year.  We will have to await further signals to confirm his current location and update the map positions.  

David has made a massive most to the west, leaving Cameroon behind and travelling at least 2420km (1500 miles) to a location in Mali by early evening of 28 March. 

David has travelled only a small distance since he made the jump across the Congo rainforest block at the end of January. Having been in the location for 25 days now we expect that he has been feeding up and resting, ready to make the next move west along the edge of the forest. By this time last year he was 400km (250 miles) further west,  he then continued to move west over the next month and in late March, made a big move to Ghana. Will he do the same this year? If so we might expect a further westerly movement any time.