Updates from our Cuckoos

We haven't received any updates from Michael's tag since 7 August, when he was in southern France.

At that time he was close to the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.

We are not certain whether Michael perished or his tag failed but sadly it is now very unlikely we will hear anything further from him. 

Worcestershire Cuckoo Trent was the third of our Cuckoos to reach the Congo Basin, arriving yesterday (5 October).

He is now in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, approximately 13km north west of the town of Kutu.

Sayaan has flown 350km (217 miles) south-west from Chad to Central African Republic (CAR).

He is now 13km north east of the town of N'Délé in CAR.

Earlier this week, Joe left southern Chad and flew 930km (578 miles) south to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He is currently 300km north-west of Torc, on the banks of the Busira river in the rainforest of the Congo Basin.

A new update received this morning (6 October) from George's tag showed that he has flown 673km (419 miles) south from his last location in Central African Republic and has reached the Congo Basin.

At 9am this morning he was half way between Cuckoo Joe to his north and Trent to his south.

Cuach Torc was the first of our tagged Cuckoos to reach the Congo wintering grounds this year, arriving on 20th September.

Since then has has remained in the same area, deep in the rainforest of Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve, at 3,600,000 hectares it is more than half the size of Wales. This area is very isolated and only accessible by boat.

Cuach Cores' tag is still transmitting loud and clear from a location in the countryside south of the town of Arsac, just north of Bordeaux, France.

Although we don't have any conclusive evidence that Cuach Cores has perished, the fact that he has spent so long in the same location and is so far behind the tagged Cuckoos makes us fear the worst for him.

Over the last week or so, KP has flown first from Sudan into north eastern Central African Republic and then north over the border into Chad. He is now in the south eastern corner of Chad.  

Over the last few days Joe has flown 234 km (146 miles) south-east in Chad, taking him towards the border with neighbouring Central African Republic. 

Over the last few days Trent has flown 1,340 km (832 miles) east, taking him from his original position in Burkina Faso via Togo and Benin into Nigeria. He is now in central Nigeria, approximately 105 km (65 miles) east of the capital city of Abuja.