Updates from our Cuckoos

From his position on the 28 September, David had travelled 735km (450 miles) south by the afternoon of the 5 October and was in the Salong National Park. He was roughly 160km (100 miles) north of the area he arrived in on 24 October 2012 and spent the winter in last year.  This wintering location is one of the furthest south we have seen from our Cuckoos since the beginning of the project. Only Kasper from the first year of the project and Lloyd from last year have also travelled as far south as David to overwinter. 

By the afternoon of 26 September, Patch had left Lake Chad in a south-easterly direction, travelling around 255km (160 miles) and venturing into the Chari- Baguirmi region of Chad. By the 27 September however he had travelled 70km (45 miles) northwards and was close to the Hadjer-Lamis region. Chance currently remains at the lake. 

Having covered 1,207km (750 miles) from his stopover in Chad, Waller is currently the most southerly of our tagged Cuckoos. He is now in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 117km (73 miles) south-east of Chris. It will be interesting to see what he does next. Will he stay in this area like Chris has done for the last two winters, or in common with the other Cuckoos tagged in England and Scotland, will he head to the Teke Plateau, 300km (187 miles) to the south-west or perhaps head further east, like the two cuckoos tagged in Wales did last year? 

David is now 749km (465 miles) south west of his last position in South Sudan. Having moved east of the Chaine Des Mongos mountains as he did last year, David has now over-flown the Central African Republic and he is now 100km south of its border in the Orientale region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is on a very similar path to last year and we would expect him to continue another 800km (500 miles) south-west to spend the mid-winter period in the same general area that he did then. 

Chris is now within the area that he has spent most of the last two mid-winter periods in, just inside Congo, on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. He arrived here on 26 September, a day later than he arrived at this location last year.

Ken had moved a further 200km (125 miles) across the Ouham region by the evening of the 24 September.  His new location is only 50km (30 miles) from Sussex's location. 

From the Zamfara Region of Nigeria, Skinner has backtracked, heading both west and slightly north - not what we would normally expect our Cuckoos to be doing at this time! This movement of about 235km (148 miles) takes him has taken him back to Niger, where he is now in the south-east corner of the country. In the last few days, Whortle has recently arrived in the area in the Zamfara region which he left behind. We aren't sure what has prompted this movement, but if it is poor feeding conditions, we can expect Whortle might alss move on from that location shortly. As for Skinner, we will have to wait for further transmissions to see when he may resume his journey in a south or easterly direction. 

Since the 13 September, Whortle has also been slowly travelling eastwards, across the Tahoua region of Niger. He covered around 370km (230 miles) eastwards in three days before then heading directly south, travelling a further 220km (136 miles). This latest movement has taken him inside the border of Nigeria, and into the Zamfara region. Transmissions received on 21 September, along with further signals today, show him stil in the area. Interestingly, this has been recently departed by Skinner the Cuckoo, who has surprisingly travelled north and west (the opposite direction to most of our Cuckoos!) into the Sokoto region.  Will Whortle stay here for long or is Skinner's departure an indication that conditions are not suitable?  

By the 15 September, Livingstone had moved south to the Mayo-Kebbi Ouest Region of Chad. Heading in a south but slightly westerly direction, by the morning of the 17 September, Livingstone had crossed into the north-east corner of Cameroon.  A further 280km (175 miles) south and he was in Mambere-Kadai region of Central African Republic, just east of the country's border with Cameroon, by 19 September. This is around 130km (80 miles) north-west of Berberati Airport. This latest movement makes him the furthest south of any of the tagged Cuckoos, although, perhaps not for long!