Updates from our Cuckoos

Sadly it is time to say goodbye to Sussex Cuckoo Charles. We followed Charles over 4,000km (2,485 miles) from his breeding grounds on the Knepp Estate south through France and Spain and into Africa. He seemed to be making such good progress but unfortunately was beaten by the Sahara. As he approached the border between Algeria and Mali he veered off course, drifting south west across the desert. Had he been able to keep going south he would've reached the River Niger within 370 miles where he would have found good feeding opportunities. Instead he travelled 410 miles and perished, still in the desert on the border between Mali and Mauritania. He is gone but not forgotten and the data he provided us with will contribute to our growing knowledge of Cuckoos and the pressures they face.

Having spent the last few weeks in south eastern Senegal, Bluey has flown 167km (104 miles) south east over the border into south western Mali. He is now 33km (20 miles) south of the rural town of Kenieba in the Kayes region of SW Mali.  

Having reached northern Italy, Daniel has flown 128km (80 miles) north west back into southern France. He is now on the lower slopes of Mont Brequin in the Vanoise Massif mountain range of the Western Alps. Daniel made his move to Africa on 12 August last year so he may linger in France/Italy a couple more weeks yet. 

Calypso has flown 25km (16 miles) north east and is now close to the town of Borgomanero in the Piedmont region. 

Having spent the last couple of weeks in Mali, Grove II has set off on his journey east across Africa to the Congo Basin. Updates received last night showed that he was moving through southern Mali towards the eastern border and the latest update which arrived at around 4am this morning showed that he was approaching the Tui Forest in south west Burkina Faso.  

Joe is still in the far south of Chad and has moved further east. He is now approximately 30km from the border with Central African Republic and 40km east of the Chad city of Sarh.  

Ellis has left Niger behind and flown 305km (190 miles) south east into Nigeria. He is now 11.5km (7 miles) west of the town of Darazo in Banchi State, north-east Nigeria. 

Having crossed into northern Spain, Ripple stopped first near the village of Buenavista de Valdavia in the province of Palencia, Castile and León. Since then he has flown 167km (104 miles) further west into the Sierra de Ancares mountain range where he is currently close to Pico Miravalles, a mountain of approximately 1,900m. 

Since our last update JAC has flown 305km (190 miles) south east from his last location in Mali into the far south western corner of Niger, close to the border with Burkina Faso. He is now 112km (70 miles) south west of the capital Niamey and is very close to where he was at this point in July last year.  

Since our last update JD has left Morocco and flown approximately 1,872km (1,163 miles) south west to north west Mauritania. However, having reached the city of Nouadhibou it seems that strong easterly winds carried him out to sea. By 19:33 on Saturday evening he was almost 300 miles out over the sea south west of Nouadhibou and heading towards Cape Verde.  He then appears to have done a u-turn and by Sunday morning had flown the 300 miles back to Nouadhibou where he remained for the rest of the day. He is currently approximately 600 miles north west of Cuckoo Bluey who has completed his desert crossing and is in Senegal. Hopefully this detour hasn't depleted all of JD's reserves and he will be able to complete his desert crossing in the next few days.