Updates from our Cuckoos

On Saturday afternoon (16 July), Martin remained in the area near Milan that he has been staging in since 4 July. Presumably, he is resting and feeding up in preperation for his journey south.

Clement continued his south-westerly flight into Mauritania on Friday afternoon (15 July), advancing his position by 340km (210 miles) during the course of the day. This provides evidence that at least some Cuckoos migrate across the Sahara by day and night - previously we had thought they would rest in any shade that could be found by day to avoid dehydration. Perhaps by flying at altitude Clement was able to avoid the searing desert heat?

On Sunday evening (17 July) new locations placed him in northern Senegal, on the Ferlo River 140km (88 miles) ESE from St Louis – he had safely crossed the desert! Although towards the southern edge of the arid Sahel region, the area will be green by now having received the first rains of the wet season. Over the coming month, the Ferlo will swell under heavy rainfall – the outline of seasonal pools at Clement’s current location can clearly be seen on the google earth map. He has arrived at just the right time to take advantage of the pulse of productivity the rains will bring.

Clement has moved 3,100km (1,940 miles) SSW from his stopover in Valencia to his current position in Senegal in a maximum of seven days. From the Algerian coast, he took a constant south-westerly heading all the way to Senegal. This is the first information we have demonstrating a south-westerly migration into Africa for a UK Cuckoo – we were expecting them to migrate east of south given the information we had from ringing recoveries.
 

In terms of travelling the longest distance between transmission periods, Kasper has just smashed the record, travelling approximately 2,200 km (1367 miles) in a SSW direction, placing him firmly in the Sahara. The last transmission period placed him near Rome at 0300 GMT on the 12th July and as Cuckoos are thought to be night migrants he probably stopped there during the day of the 12th before continuing his flight on either or both of the nights of the 12th and 13th July.

We next pick him up in Algeria, in the middle of the Sahara desert at about 8 in the evening of the Thursday 14th July. He is in the middle of the Parc National de l'Ahaggar a mountainous area with spectacular Saharan landscapes (try googling it!). There is very little vegetation in this area – mostly rocks and sand - so presumably we can't expect him to hang around too long in this inhospitable environment. Our next transmission is expected on Saturday night so check back on Sunday morning to see if he has transmitted.

Clement's flight continues! After arriving in Africa on the 13 July and settling in what from Google Earth satellite photos looked like the last bush before the Sahara desert, he has pushed forward. We wondered a week ago what route he would take – east through Italy or west into West Africa and he is definitely taking the westerly route. He changed course again and headed about 1,000km in a south-west direction to a location near the Algeria/Mauritania border. His last position at 11.23 GMT put him squarely in the middle of the Sahara desert in area that seems devoid of any vegetation at all. His next position is expected at around noon on Sunday – watch this space to see if he has successfully crossed the desert!

Lyster's tag  has just started up and shows he is in the vicinity of Reedham, making the most of the breeding season.

A poor quality signal received early morning on Thursday 14^th July indicates that Martin is still in the same location approximately 50km (30 miles) SSW of Milan.

We did not receive any locations from Chris when expected and, whilst we were slightly surprised not to get even one fix out of the tag, we are not yet too concerned. He is due to transmit this evening so hopefully we will have news tomorrow.

We have received no new positions for Chris as yet (morning of 13 July) but his tag is due to start transmitting very soon.