Updates from our Cuckoos

Since our last update Carlton II has flown 1,540 km (957 miles) west from Nigeria to Liberia. The most recent updates from his tag show him straddling the border between Sierra Leone and western Liberia. He also visited this area on his way North in 2019, between 9th and 17th April. He started his desert crossing on 20th April in 2019, so he may stop off in Liberia for a few weeks now. 

We haven't received any further updates from Senan since 20th Feb when he was in Congo, close to the border with Gabon. Hopefully we will hear from Senan when he starts to move north again.

Having flown further west in Ivory Coast, towards the borders with Liberia and Guinea, an update received this morning show that PJ has traveled 341 km (212 miles) east and is now 49 km (30 miles) north east of the capital Yamoussoukro, in central Ivory Coast. He is now in the general area from which he has departed on his desert crossing in several previous years, though based on data from pervious years we expect him to remain in Ivory Coast for a few weeks yet.

A new update received from Carlton II's tag early yesterday morning showed that he has flown 952 km (592 miles) north west from his last location in Cameroon to his new location in western Nigeria. He is 113 km (70 miles) north of Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and close to the border with Benin. Based on his movements last year, we expect him to progress further west to the Ivory Coast/Liberia area in the next few days.

Since the last update Tennyson has continued west, flying a further 1,076 km (670 miles) from Benin to Liberia. His latest location shows him in south-eastern Liberia, 35 km from the border with Ivory Coast. He is approximately 375 km (232 miles) south west of Cuckoo PJ who is over the border in Ivory Coast.  

Sicne our last update PJ has flown a further 405 km (252 miles) west within Ivory Coast to his current location in western Ivory Coast. He is now 40 km (25 miles) west of Ivory Coast's third largest city, Daloa. He passed through this area in March 2018, before settling near Lake Kossou and crossing the Sahara on 6th April. 

A couple of updates from Tennyson's tag arrived at around 20:00 last night, showing that he had left Congo and had made it to south west Benin, close to the border with Togo.

The latest news, received early yesterday morning (8th March) is that Carlton II has flown 622 km (387 miles) north from his last location in central Gabon to his current location in western Cameroon. He is now approximately 100 km (62 miles) north-west of the capital Yaounde. Last year he arrived in Ivory Coast on 15th March so he may not hang around long in Cameroon before pressing on west. 

An update received from Valentine's tag late last night shows that he has flown 847 km (526 miles) North from his wintering area in Gabon to a new location in dense rainforest in central Republic of the Congo. He is now just 100 km (62 miles) south-west of another Thetford Cuckoo, Tennyson. 

Over the last ten days PJ has been blazing a trail across west Africa, starting in Cameroon and ending in Ivory Coast, a total distance of 1,733 km (1,077 miles). At 10am on Tuesday 25th February he was in Nigeria but he didn't hang around, as by 18:50 that day he had crossed over Benin and was in or over Togo. We next heard from him at 17:28 yesterday (27th Feb) when he was in western Ghana, near the border with Ivory Coast. The latest update which arrived late last night showed that PJ had made it into eastern Ivory Coast and was 58 km (36 miles) west of the Ghana - Ivory Coast border. PJ has stopped off in Ivory Coast during his northward migration in all previous years but he normally stops further west, nearer Lake Kossou. This is likely to be his last major stop before he attempts to cross the Sahara so it is important that he finds good feeding opportunities here. In previous years he has departed Ivory Coast between 6th and 13th April, so he is likely to remain here for several weeks before tackling the desert.