At 05.46 this morning, Lyster was in a small patch of woodland on the south east edge of Chedgrave in the Norfolk Broads. He is 16km south of his previous location near Ranworth. It is amazing just how much ground he has covered since he arrived in the Broads.
Updates from our Cuckoos
Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
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Lyster on the southern edge of the Broads
Chris still close to Mildenhall, Suffolk
Chris's tag is due to come back online today. The last signals recieved on 8 May showed that he was still south west of Barton Mills and Mildenhall, Suffolk. He is 16km south east of his original tagging site at Santon Downham. He seems to be focussing on patches of isolated woodland on the south bank of the River Lark.
Chris returns to Thetford Forest
Data received from Chris' tag yesterday shows a location of Thetford Forest, the site where Chris was tagged in June 2011. In the eleven months and 10,000 miles since he was last in Norfolk, Chris has been followed by thousands of well-wishers. The drama of his journey is only matched by how much he, and his comrades, have taught us about Cuckoo migration, neatly summarised here.
The Only Way is Essex for Chris!
With Chris having been heading slowly northwards towards the Alps at the weekend and with conditions favourable for onward migration, we were keenly anticipating the resumption of transmissions from his tag. Locations received early on Tuesday morning (1 May) showed that he was between Epping and Chipping Ongar in Essex! This places him about 5km (3 miles) east of Epping Forest. He had migrated 950km (592 miles) in a north-westerly direction during the previous 48 hours.
Lyster back in the Broads!
We had been mildly concerned over the low temperature of Lyster’s tag, at the time we received the one location from south of Paris late on Friday. This, however, gave way to relief yesterday morning when his tag began transmitting again and locations showed he was in Norfolk! He had moved 530km (330 miles) almost due north since late on Friday. The sensor data from his tag indicate he was probably actively migrating at the time the Paris location was received. Since he was last in Algeria (25 April) he has moved approximately 1880km (1170 miles) almost due north in less than 5 days.
Martin left behind in Spain
We have received no further data from Martin since 9th April, and sadly must now assume that he is dead.
Martin made it as far as Lorca in southern Spain, where we last heard from him. In that last transmission his tag temperature dropped from a normal 30-32 degrees Centigrade to 11.7, a gradual change over the course of a night. While fearing for the worst, we did hope that he might pop up further north. We are now convinced that this is very unlikely, and must announce Martin's demise.
Martin has bequeathed a wealth of knowledge that has improved our understanding of Cuckoo migration. Of our original band of five, Martin was the first to return to Europe. As the only Cuckoo over two years old, he was looking good to be the first bird to return. He may have fallen victim to some severe weather conditions, which the other birds avoided by crossing the Mediterranean a little later.
Kasper may still pop up
No further data have been received from Kasper's tag, however we have not given up hope. The last, partial, signal we received from him (11th April) showed a low charge on his tag. It is possible that, like Lyster before him, he is spending some time in Algeria foraging for food before attempting the Mediterranean crossing. His solar-powered tag would therefore not charge up if he is in the undergrowth. We hope that once he has moved on, and his tag has had a chance to charge, we will see Kasper pop up soon.
Chris moves north to Milan
Chris is still in northern Italy, but is on the move. His last transmission on 29th April came from just outside Milan, around 30 miles north-west of his previous location. We hope that the next set of data, due tomorrow, will show that he has crossed the Alps.
Lyster leaps into Europe!
Lyster has travelled an amazing 1350km (800 miles) in two days, leapfrogging Chris to take the lead in the race back to the UK!
Lyster first arrived in Algeria on the 13th April, and data transmissions received on the 25th of April showed he had made a move from the date plantation in the desert northwards into the Atlas mountains. A location received late on the 27th showed that Lyster was in France about 115km (70 miles) south of Paris! He took two days to cross the Mediterranean and make it as far as central France, a journey of just over 800 miles.
We are due to receive further news from Lyster today. Could he be the first tagged Cuckoo to return to the UK?
Still no news...
No further transmissions have been received from Kasper, who was last heard from in Algeria. We have heard from Lyster, who has remained in Algeria for a number of days after his Sahara crossing, so hopefully Kasper is doing the same and we will hear from him soon.
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