Updates from our Cuckoos

Like his cohort Joe, KP has returned to the same area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as he did last winter.

Currently just 165 km (102 miles) south-east of Joe, KP is in the vast tropical forests around the Salonga River.

Having conquered the Sahara by the end of August, Henry spent the last few weeks slowly making his way south. He currently seems settled in the Central African Republic, approximately 210 km (130 miles) north of the capital Bangui.

Hafren, took a rather leisurely western route through Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and on through Burkina Faso and into central Nigeria.

In recent days he has suddenly headed a further 1,500 km (932 miles) south-east into central Gabon.

He is currently in the Ivindo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is home to a large number of endangered species including Forest Elephant, Western Lowland Gorilla, Chimpanzee and a multitude of birds such as Grey Parrot and Grey-necked Rockfowl.

George II is another of our tagged birds who took an unexpected route. Having made steady progress into Spain, he then turned north back into France, before returning to Spain and setting of across the Mediterranean just north of Barcelona, in late September.

He then spent much of October in southern Mali before moving once again, and is now alongside the Niger River in southern Niger, close to the borders of Benin and Burkina Faso.

Cuthbert appears to be doing well, and at the time of posting, is in western Cameroon. He is currently in the lush tropical environs of Cameroon’s largest river, the Sanaga.

Cuach Torc initially made good progress and by mid-July was in southern Greece. He then inexplicably returned to western Europe, which included a protracted and unexpected stay in northern Germany. After a lot of false starts, he finally headed south again, crossed the Mediterranean and then left Algeria on 30 October.

He then flew 2,567 km (1,595 miles) to southern Niger, close to the Nigerian border, arriving just after midnight on 3 November.

By contrast, on his autumn migration in 2023 he’d made it to Sudan by 3 August – what caused his long delay this time? 

Cuach Cores crossed the Sahara much earlier this year, arriving south of the desert region by early August. In 2023, he’d lingered in Europe until 10 October.

He is currently in the Central African Republic from where he will likely move into the Congo basin shortly, given his movements last year.

Having crossed the Sahara in early August, Cleeve has been moving slowly south and is now by the Bouenza River in the Republic of the Congo.

Cleeve had a taste of fame when he was the star of a BBC One Show episode back in May. Hannah Stitfall and crew joined our BTO team in Norfolk as they caught Cleeve and attached his satellite tag. In early spring we'll hope to see him start to make his return journey to the UK!

Since crossing into Nigeria from Benin a week ago, Hafren made a move towards the lush shores of the Niger River.  

Currently just north-east of Kainji Lake, he is following a section of the Sokoto, a tributary of the Niger, heading eastwards into the country.

Cuach Torc finally seems to have come to his senses after his lengthy, unscheduled visit to northern Germany, and now appears to be heading south once more.

In recent days he left an area just north of Leipzig, flew down past Frankfurt and entered French airspace through the North Vosges Regional National Park before proceeding to Dijon, covering some 768km (477 miles). Hopefully he is fully rested, fed, and in good shape to continue south to make a swift Mediterranean crossing.