Signals received late last night, 1 May, reveal that BB has now joined Chance back at Loch Katrine, having completed the last 415km (260 miles) from the final location we received as he left his previous stopping place near Nottingham.
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BB back at Loch Katrine
BB arrives in the UK
BB is the second of our tagged Cuckoos to make it back to the UK, following fellow Scottish Cuckoo, Chance. From his position in the Centre Region of France on 27 April, BB has travelled 675km (420 miles), crossing the English Channel to arrive in the UK on April 29. Transmissions show that he was 10km (9 miles) south-east of Nottingham during the day but left to the north during the evening - according to the sensor data, he started his flight at about 2130hrs. It is a further 415km (258 miles) back to Loch Katrine so BB could be back there by the time his tag resumes transmissions late on Wednesday - being so close to his previous breeding location we would expect him to continue onwards fairly rapidly to arrive as early as possible. He may face competition for females from Chance who has a head start on him!
Chris remains in the Champagne-Ardenne region
David in reverse gear!
Chance back on the shores of Loch Katrine
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.
Lloyd remains in Morocco
Lloyd made only a small amount of progress between Thursday 25 and Saturday 27 April, moving 120km (75 miles) north to an area of cultivation around the village of Tassa, at the bottom of the eastern slopes of the Moyen Atlas in the Fes-Boulamane province of Morocco. The signals received were poor quality so this new position does not show on the maps. Although this seems a long way south to be stopping he is presumably recuperating in the area after his desert crossing, in a similar fashion to Lyster did in a date plantation in Algeria in spring 2012.
BB in France
Early on 27 April, BB popped up in Centre region of France having moved 940km (585 miles) NNE from the location in central Spain where he was last recorded on 22 April. This placed him only 25km (16 miles) SW of David, who arrived from the NW that morning!
Chance is the first to return to the UK
New transmissions sent late last night revealed that Chance was the first Cuckoo to have returned to the UK. His location was 40km (25 miles) north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne and just 2km (just over a mile) south of the village of Wark on Tyne. He has covered 763km (474 miles) from his position in France on 23 April and is now just over 170km (100 miles) away from Loch Katrine, where he was first tagged.
Lloyd completes desert crossing
The last transmissions received showed Lloyd in Algeria. He had been heading on a north-easterly trajectory but he then changed direction and started to head north-west towards Morocco. By mid-morning of 25 April he was on the edge of the High Atlas Mountains having successfully completed his crossing!
BB pushes on into central Spain
BB has successfully completed his desert crossing and, like Chance and David before him, continued on into Spain. At the time of the first location at 20minutes before midnight last night (17/18 April), he was about 45km (28 miles) due N of Sevilla. Further locations show he travelled a further 290km (180 miles)NNE over the next 5.5 hours before probably stopping around 105km (65 miles) west of Madrid.
Judging from BB’s trajectory during this transmission period and during his desert crossing, he may have taken a route around the west end of the High Atlas and along the Moroccan coast, like David, or possibly travelled through a pass at the western end of the mountains.
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