Updates from our Cuckoos

The sensor data on Chance’s tag indicated that he was actively migrating when he was recorded in Northumberland late on 25 April. By Sunday morning (28 April) he was back on the south shores of Loch Katrine, in the Trossachs National Park in the southern Highlands of Scotland, approximately 1.6km (1 mile) east of the location at which he was caught in May last year. He is the first of our tracked Cuckoos back at his tagging site this year, although Chris would no doubt have made it some time ago had he not apparently opted to stay and breed in France. 

Lloyd made only a small amount of progress between Thursday 25 and Saturday 27 April, moving 120km (75 miles) north to an area of cultivation around the village of Tassa, at the bottom of the eastern slopes of the Moyen Atlas in the Fes-Boulamane province of Morocco. The signals received were poor quality so this new position does not show on the maps. Although this seems a long way south to be stopping he is presumably recuperating in the area after his desert crossing, in a similar fashion to Lyster did in a date plantation in Algeria in spring 2012. 

Early on 27 April, BB popped up in Centre region of France having moved 940km (585 miles) NNE from the location in central Spain where he was last recorded on 22 April. This placed him only 25km (16 miles) SW of David, who arrived from the NW that morning!

New transmissions sent late last night revealed that Chance was the first Cuckoo to have returned to the UK. His location was 40km (25 miles) north-west of Newcastle upon Tyne and just 2km (just over a mile) south of the village of Wark on Tyne. He has covered 763km (474 miles) from his position in France on 23 April and is now just over 170km (100 miles) away from Loch Katrine, where he was first tagged.

The last transmissions received showed Lloyd in Algeria. He had been heading on a north-easterly trajectory but he then changed direction and started to head north-west towards Morocco. By mid-morning of 25 April he was on the edge of the High Atlas Mountains having successfully completed his crossing! 

BB has successfully completed his desert crossing and, like Chance and David before him, continued on into Spain. At the time of the first location at 20minutes before midnight last night (17/18 April), he was about 45km (28 miles) due N of Sevilla. Further locations show he travelled a further 290km (180 miles)NNE over the next 5.5 hours before probably stopping around 105km (65 miles) west of Madrid.

Judging from BB’s trajectory during this transmission period and during his desert crossing, he may have taken a route around the west end of the High Atlas and along the Moroccan coast, like David, or possibly travelled through a pass at the western end of the mountains.

When David’s tag resumed transmissions yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 17 April) we were delighted to see that he had completed his desert crossing and was in Extremadura, Spain! He has stopped in an area of open olive woodland, about 27km (17 miles) due N of the town of Cáceres.

David had travelled an additional 1885km (1171 miles)slightly east of due N since he was in the Mauritania desert two days previously. He appears to have taken the short route across the desert, west of the High Atlas and along the Moroccan coast, as we had thought he and BB might do. We don’t know why he had stopped in the desert at the time of the last transmissions, but we guess that it may have been due to adverse conditions, possibly wind or dust-related.

Locations received from Lloyd mid-morning of 23 April show him in central Algeria and about two thirds into his desert crossing. The next time we hear from him should be early on Friday, when, fingers crossed he will have completed the Saharan leg of his journey. His map will update tomorrow morning.

David has been in central Spain for six days now. He is currently 120km (75 miles) south-west of BB, and we are due to hear from him in the early morning of 24 April - might he have moved north?

BB is still south-west of Madrid but could push north any day now. We last heard from him on 22 April so could well get an update early evening on 24 April. He has been in this general area for five days now so could make his move further north anytime soon.