Signals received on the 8 February show that Bill is still alive and well and has continued north to Gabon.
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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Bill in Gabon
16 Feb 2017
Selborne heads for southern forest
07 Feb 2017
Having gone so far north and west, past the rains, it's reassuring to see that Selborne has headed south a little to the Guinean forests, where conditions are likely to be better than his previous location 115km (70 miles north).
Selborne in West Africa
03 Feb 2017
We have our first Cuckoo in West Africa and it's Selborne! Having left land and set off across the Gulf of Guinea, it looks like Selborne travelled around 240km (150 miles) to the volcanic island of Bioko. Here he seems to have rested for the day on 28 January in the Luba Crater Scientific Reserve which is a protected area with dense rainforest.
When he left he headed off on a different tangent to that he had been taking, travelling 1185km (735 miles) straight towards Ghana, arriving there sometime before 10am on 30 January. By 10pm on 1 Feb he was already a further 800km (500 miles) north-west and was in southern Guinea. His tag location shows him to be in the densely forested mountainous plateau of the Guinea Highlands.
This is the earliest we have seen one of our tagged Cuckoos this far west - they don't normally get here until late March or April. His oversea passage might be related to this (i.e. not going around the Gulf of Guinea but over it) - he really seems to have been making a beeline for a specific destination a long way west, unlike our other cuckoos which head west into West Africa much slower, stopping at suitable locations along the way. It's a bit worrying as he has overshot the rains by some margin, so we have to hope he finds suitable locations.
PJ in Cameroon
25 Jan 2017
PJ has travelled 400km (250 miles) and is now in Cameroon. He is currently north of Boumba Bek National Park and is the most northerly Cuckoo.
Selborne heads north
24 Jan 2017
As of 23 January, Selborne's tag transmitted from Equatorial Guinea, showing he had left Gabon and was on his way north. He had covered around 535km (325 miles). However, further signals indicate he hasn't stopped there, but instead set out across the Gulf of Guinea and continued onwards across the sea, in the direction of Nigeria. This sea crossing is quite unusual!
Peckham in Congo
24 Jan 2017
In the last few days Peckham has journeyed a short distance of 90km (just over 50 miles) north east and is now in the Republic of Congo. He is one of several Cuckoos to begin heading north.
PJ continues on north
17 Jan 2017
PJ has moved north and is currently in the central Congo rainforest close to Tsongo-Pa. He has been there since 8 January but we have received no further signals since then. This is likely because he is beneath the rainforest canopy and the solar panel on his tag is unable to charge the tag batteries very well.
Markoo in DRC
17 Jan 2017
Markoo has headed north again and is now in DRC, close to the border with Cabinda, a disputed northern exclave of Angola. He is currently 48km (30 miles) south and east of Cabinda city.
Larry moves north and east
17 Jan 2017
Larry has left his mid-winter location in Angola and has moved north and west into DRC and the Congo rainforest. He will probably stay here for a month or so, feeding up to fuel his move into West Africa sometime in February.
David still in DRC
17 Jan 2017
We haven't heard from David for a few weeks but on 12 January we received a poor location that showed he was still at his winter location in DRC. We have 'lost' David during the winter months in previous years and think that he must spend time under the canopy in the forest, resulting in a poor charge for the batteries from the solar panel on the tag. Once he pops out into better light we should receive more locations from the tag.
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