Updates from our Cuckoos

We last heard from Victor on April 10 when he had just completed his desert crossing and was near the Algerian oasis town of Mansourah, at the northern edge of the Sahara. Based on the data we have received we can't be sure whether Victor has perished or it is his tag that has failed. The project will benefit greatly from the data contributed by Victor since he was first tagged in 2016 and we are grateful to everyone that sponsored and supported him. 

We last heard from Bowie's tag when he was near the Algerian town of Hammam Righa on the Oued Djer River. On examining the data it looks like Bowie was struggling in the latter part of his northward desert crossing and spent at least six hours on the desert floor on the morning of 11 April. The temperature data recorded by his tag suggest he died on 13 April, soon after his arrival at the final location.  Bowie has gien us useful information about his southward migration, wintering areas and northwards migration as far as north Africa, all of which helps extend our knowledge of Cuckoo migration. We are grateful to all of Bowie's sponsors and supporters. 

Raymond has been making steady progress north since crossing the Sahara. In the last few days he crossed into Spain, stopping briefly near Puebla de Don Rodrigo, a municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha. He has since flown a further 130 Km (80 miles) north to his current location 117 Km (73 miles) west of Madrid, near La Higuera in the province of Avila, Castile & Leon in Spain. Raymond has another 1,250 Km (777 miles) to fly before he reaches the Knepp Estate where he was tagged. 

Carlton II completed his return migration in the last few days, covering the 1,180 Km (733 miles) from northern Spain to Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve near Lowestoft.

In our last update we reported that Thomas was all at sea, 155 km (96 miles) west of the Saint-Pierre Light in Penmarch on the coast of Brittany in fact. Well, a short time later Thomas' tag transmitted again showing that he had covered the remaining 719 Km (447 miles) back to his tagging location in Thetford Forest, much to our relief. 

Updates received from Lambert's tag late yesterday afternoon show that he has flown 400 Km (249 miles) north from his last location in southern Spain to the La Rioja province of northern Spain, near the González-Lacasa Reservoir. 

He's had us holding our breath waiting to see if he was going to make his move north and finally Sussex Cuckoo Raymond has crossed the Sahara. At 19:23 on April 29, Raymond was still south of the Sahara, in west central Ivory Coast. By 16:27 yesterday (May 1) he was in the middle of his desert crossing and had reached northern Mauritania. By 3:03 this morning (May 2) he was over the Middle Atlas mountain range in Morocco and by 08:35 he had reached his destination, 30 Km (19 miles) from the north coast of Morocco, near the commune of Iferni. This means that over the last 57 hours, Raymond has covered 3,031 Km (1,883 miles) at an average speed of 33 mph, crossing some of the most inhospitable places on earth. He now has "just" another 1,811 Km (1,125 miles) to go before he arrives back at his breeding grounds on the Knepp Estate. 

An update received from Lambert's tag this morning shows that he has crossed from northern Algeria into southern Spain. He is currently on the northern edge of the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park, the largest protected area in Spain. Lambert has another 1,380 Km (857 miles) to go before he can join fellow Cuckoo Knepp back on the Knepp Estate in Sussex where he was tagged. 

Thomas is making steady progress towards home having flown another 280 Km (173 miles) north west from his last location near Monesterio in the south of Extremadura to his new location in central Portugal. He is in the eastern part of the Serra de Estrela Natural Park.

We last heard from Larry on April 14 when he was in northern Algeria. An update received from Larry’s tag at 05:48 Sunday morning (28 April) showed that he had covered 2,035 Km (1,264 miles) and is now back at his breeding grounds in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire. Larry was tagged here in June 2015 so his successful return means he has now completed four full migration loops from Lancashire to his wintering grounds in Angola and back again. In completing each of his loops he covered approximately 16,000 Km (9,940 miles) so we have followed him over at least 64,000 Km (39,770 miles) – what a bird!