Updates from our Cuckoos

Chance has travelled a further 96km (59 miles) in a south-easterly direction, still heading towards Lake Chad but he has a little more distance to cover before reaching it. He is currently very close to his location on August 15 last year, where shortly after crossing the desert he turned eastwards and made straight for Lake Chad, spending a few weeks in and around the nearby area.

Since the last positions received on 31 August, Chance has started to head east, in the direction of Lake Chad. By early evening of 2 September he had travelled 280km (175 miles) and was 115km (75 miles) from the edge of the lake. Will he continue onwards and spend some time here again this year? 

Chance is currently the most northerly of all the tagged Cuckoos within Africa. He has moved only a small distance from the location he arrived in after crossing the desert. Last year he moved to Lake Chad after a matter of days so we are assuming that because he has yet to move on, conditions in the area must be favourable at the moment. 

A series of poor quality locations were received from Chance's tag on 8 August which revealed that Chance had left Germany and was crossing over Libya but it wasn't until 11 August that we received a good location for him to confirm that he had made it to Africa. From the location within Libya he had carried on another 1330km (830 miles), successfully completing his desert crossing and making it to the zinder region of south Niger.  

This is very similar to Chance's movements last year, with him transmitting from north Niger on 10 August 2012. After this he moved east to Chad and spent some time near Lake Chad. Will he do the same this year?  

Signals received on the 2 July show that Chance had left Scotland and was just 60km (40 miles) southwest of Berlin. He had flown 1200km (750 miles) from a location  just west of Stirling, Scotland, to a location near Treuenbrietzen, a town the Bundesland of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany.

BB and Chance both remain in the area around Loch Katrine, Trossachs National park, that they were tagged in last year.

Transmissions from the last few days show that all four Cuckoos which have returned to their breeding grounds are still in their respective areas. They are likely to remain in and around these areas looking for breeding opportunities for at least the next month.We now assume Lloyd has perished in Morocco as there is no reason for him to remain in his current position for so long. Last year, the earliest Cuckoo to leave the UK was Chris, on the 11 June, while David and BB left on 18 and Chance on the 22 June. Wallace, one of the birds tagged in Scotland last year, was the last to leave, transmitting from outside the UK on 23 July, just one day later than the last bird, Lyster, in 2011. 

Just a few miles now separate Chance and BB, who are both in the area of Loch Katrine. The weather in Scotland has been less favourable than in the south but it is currently sunny and pleasant though wet conditions are forecast over the next few days. 

The sensor data on Chance’s tag indicated that he was actively migrating when he was recorded in Northumberland late on 25 April. By Sunday morning (28 April) he was back on the south shores of Loch Katrine, in the Trossachs National Park in the southern Highlands of Scotland, approximately 1.6km (1 mile) east of the location at which he was caught in May last year. He is the first of our tracked Cuckoos back at his tagging site this year, although Chris would no doubt have made it some time ago had he not apparently opted to stay and breed in France.