Updates from our Cuckoos

Kasper has moved a few km’s north, and has settled in an area with trees surrounding small pools near the village of Aguié in southern Niger. He has been in this area since Tuesday (19 July) at least.

Lyster is still languishing in Norfolk. Having remained so long on the breeding grounds, it will be interesting to see whether he compensates with a fast migration when he finally leaves.

Having been near Milan since 4 July, Martin has made a dash for it in recent days. Yesterday afternoon (21 July) he was in the “toe” of Italy, about 15km (9 miles) from the Straits of Messina. He appears to be ready to cross over to Sicily and then presumably into Tunisia ready for his desert crossing…

This new location provides interesting evidence about the route Martin will take into Africa. We didn’t hear from Kasper between Rome and southern Algeria – did he too travel the length of Italy before taking this route into Africa?
 

New positions received today (22 July), show that Clement has moved 93km (56 miles) SE along the Ferlo river system since Wednesday (20 July). Having gone so far west initially, it will be interesting to see how much he compensates with an easterly movement.

Kasper successfully completed his desert crossing in the early hours of Sunday (17 July), having moved 1,070km (670 miles) due south in just over two days. He stopped just inside Niger, very close to the border with Nigeria, between the towns of Maradi and Zinder. The google earth map shows that the area is well served by seasonal watercourses and although this is still an arid region, it should be green enough now to provide plenty of food for Kasper as he recuperates from his epic journey.

Since his stopover north of Rome, Kasper has moved a total of 3,200km (2,000 miles) slightly west of due south in just five days.

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.