Updates from our Cuckoos

Peckham has moved 90km (55 miles) south and is now in the same area where he spent last winter, close to Okandja in Gabon.

161321 has travelled westwards towards the coast of Gabon and now looks to be around the area of Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, about 85km (50 miles) inland. 

Peckham has finally moved further south, and closer to the other Cuckoos. After a journey of 940km (580 miles) he has left the Central African Republic and is (just) within the borders of Gabon. Last year he also wintered in Gabon, at a location slightly further southwest. His recent movement is over a month later than last year's arrival date in Gabon.  It will be interesting to see whether he heads to the same location as last year, or if he moves even further south, which may give more weight to the idea that conditions are drier and less favourable in Gabon and areas of the Congo rainforest this year. 

By the 14 October Larry was in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, close to the border with Angola. A week later and he had crossed over the border and was in Angola itself, north of Cuale. The next good signal we received was 333km (207 miles) to the west, and slightly north, which shows Larry heading in the direction of the Angolan coastline.  He is currently about 42km (26 miles) inland from N'zeto. 

161324 has moved on from his last location, but not too far. By the 28 he had travelled just 125km (75 miles) in a northwest direction and there he remained for a few days. Recent transmissions on 8 November show that 161324 has made a further small movement of 40km (25 miles) south.

Peckham is our only satellite tagged Cuckoo still north of the Equator. He is still in southern Chad, very close to the border with Central African Republic, and still 1,000km (626 miles) northeast of his 2015 winter location in Gabon. In 2015 he arrived in Gabon on 8 October, so he is currently running around a month late. His tag data suggests that all is well with him, so he could move south any day now.

161321 has been in the area near Lémanga, Gabon for over a month and we are still regularly receiving tag transmissions. 

Bill has indeed carried on southwards, travelling 620km (385 miles) and leaving Gabon behind, to reach northern Angola by the early hours of 29 October. Since then he has remained in the area of north-eastern Zaire and has been moving around exploring the locality.  

Having skipped into the Republic of Congo on the 18 October, PJ was in the south of the country by the eve of 24 October. Just a few days later on the 27 he had covered a further 495km (310 miles) to reach northern Angola.  He continued on, almost directly south, and by the 2 November was just south of the Cuanza River and the town of Donde.  He joins Larry, 161324 and Bill who are all also in Angola.