Updates from our Cuckoos

Chris and Skinner look set to spend Christmas in Angola, having spent several weeks in the area. Skinner first transmitted from Angola on 18 November, while Chris joined him at the beginning of December. 

Angola is a new country for the project, visited by the Cuckoos for the first time this year. In the past two years of the project, Chris has spent Christmas in the Congolian swamp forests but has opted for a change this year. We aren't entirely sure why, but it is likely conditions weren't as good this year, as other Cuckoos using this area have also moved away.

When we first started the tracking project it was estimated that the satellite-tags fitted to the Cuckoos would last for between 2-3 years. So far we have 2.5 years of data for Chris on his migration and, fingers crossed, we are really hoping to complete a third year to see whether this different wintering location has any affect on his return migration to the UK.   It will also be interesting to see whether Angola is a place that Skinner may return to, as this is the first year we have tracked his migration and so do not have data to indicate this may be different from previous years. 

The latest transmissions from Ken's tag show that he remains in Gabon, having arrived here on 25 October, and it's likely he will spend Christmas here.

This is also the last country from which we received a transmission from Scottish Cuckoo, Chance, in early December.  We haven't heard from him since but, there could be a number of reasons for this, including the fact that the dense cover of vegetation could be stopping the solar-powered tag from receiving enough light to charge up and transmit a signal.

Interestingly, Tor, one of our Devon Cuckoos also last transmitted from this area at the end of November, although from slightly further south within Congo, and his tag has also yet to beam another signal to us. Many of our Cuckoos have had periods where they have 'dissapeared' for a period of time before reappearing, often having moved quite substantial distances as part of their migration, having spent time feeding up beforehand. We will have to wait and see whether further transmissions reveal more information.  

Low quality transmissions received from Skinner's tag show that he has moved 85km (53 miles) further south within Angola, to the Cuanza Norte region. 

Since the 3 December, Chris has moved 270 km (170 miles) further south into Angola. He is now close to Skinner's original location within Angola, although he has subsequently also moved slightly further south. 

Livingstone has returned to the area he was in during October and early November, leaving eastern Congo and returning to the Cuvette-Ouest region to the west. 

In the very early hours of 5 December, transmissions from BB's tag showed that he had left his location in Chad and was heading south over the Central African Republic, towards the area where many of our tagged Cuckoos have been for several weeks.

The next period of transmissions, on 7 December, revealed he was in Congo. This most recent movement has taken him 1125km (700 miles) from his location in Chad. He is now just 55km (35 miles) from Norfolk Cuckoo Derek and 90km (60 miles) from fellow Scottish Cuckoo, Livingstone.  Desite this move south, he is still currently the furthest north. 

Not long after Chris left the swamp forests, Derek also left the area, travelling 230 km (144 miles) southwest to an area of the Cuvette region in central Congo. 

Waller moved from his location in the swamp forests on 30 November and signals on 2 December reveal that he is now to the west of the shores of Lake Mai and just 25km (15 miles) from fellow Scottish Cuckoo, Patch.  

On 26 November, transmissions from Chris's tag revealed that he had moved from his position in the Western Congolian Swamp forests and become the second of all our tagged Cuckoos to travel as far south as Angola! He had covered almost 800km (500 miles) and was just inside the border, in the region of Uige.

What's even more interesting than this movement south is that we have been tracking Chris for two and a half years and so know that he has spent the two previous winters in the swamp forest from which he recently moved. So what has prompted him to move? We know that rainfall has been a bit higher than usual over the past month in the area that he came from but we aren't sure whether that will have impacted conditions for him. Could food be more scarce in the area this year? If so, we may well see Derek who is in the swamp forests move on too. Keep an eye on the blog to see whether Chris decides to spend the winter in his new location or whether he returns to the swamp.  

Over a series of days, Livingstone has travelled 415km (260 miles) north-east, leaving his position in the Teke Plateau and heading to  northern Congo. Signals received today show that he is close to the border with the Central African Republic in the Noubale-Ndoki National Park.