Larry has moved west and is currently in Ivory Coast, close to the border with Ghana. Looking at previous years we have no idea where Larry will launch his desert crossing from, two years ago he crossed from Nigeria and last year from Guinea. With any luck we should find out in the next week or so. Watch this space.
Updates from our Cuckoos
Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
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Larry in Ivory Coast
06 Apr 2018
No further news from Boris
06 Apr 2018
Unfortunately, we have received no further locations for Boris. We are unable to draw any conclusions as to what might have happened. The new 2g tags have not worked well on the Cuckoos and his loss could well be down to tag failure but we don't really know. We are unlikely to hear from him again, even though we have occasionally lost Cuckoos for several months for them to pop-up again when they begin to move. Boris should now be in an area where the tag should be getting plenty of sunlight to charge the battery. If the tag was going to burst into life it really should have done by now.
Selborne in Spain
04 Apr 2018
Selborne is the first of our Cuckoos to return to Europe this year. Having successfully crossed the desert he spent a few days resting north of Morocco, but was on the move again in the early hours of 3 April. By lunchtime he had crossed the ocean and was in southern Spain, just north of Linares. He is on the edge of the Sierra de Andújar Natural Park, part of the immense Sierra Morena mountain range which stretches for 400 kilometres east-west across southern Spain. It's heavily covered by Mediterranean forest and scrubland and is home to endangered species such as the lynx, wolf, black vulture and imperial eagle.
Selborne completes desert crossing
28 Mar 2018
By 23 March, Selborne was on his way north and embarking on his desert crossing, having flown over Mali and into Mauritania. Signals on 25 March show he headed northwest slightly, towards the west coast of Morocco and the latest signal, received yesterday, revealed he had sucessfully completed the crossing and was north of Marrakesh.
He has taken a much more westerly route this year compared to his route through Mali and Algeria last year, though the timing is very similar. By 28 March 2017 he had left Africa and was in Spain, arriving back in the UK by 12 April 2017.
Could Selborne become the first tagged Cuckoo back to the UK this year? And if so, let's hope he brings the spring with him!
Victor in Ghana
13 Mar 2018
Victor has made a big movement westwards and is now in Ghana, West Africa. By 8 March he had covered 1790km (1100 miles) from his previous location in Central African Republic, from where his tag last transmitted on 3 March, and was west of Lake Volta. He's a little bit ahead of where he was at this time last year, when he moved to Ghana in early April and had crossed the desert to northern Africa by 23 April. Will he spend longer preparing for his crossing or take on the challenge earlier than in 2017?
Selborne and PJ head east
13 Mar 2018
After having travelled so far west, two of our Cuckoos have turned around and gone eastwards. From the Guinea Highlands, Selborne has travelled north-eastwards 125km (80 miles) while PJ has also headed east 190km (115 miles) within Ivory Coast. This may be to do with conditions being more favourable here.
PJ moves into West Africa
28 Feb 2018
PJ is the second of our tagged Cuckoos this year to move into West Africa! By the evenng of 22 February he had covered a distance of 1230km (765 miles) west and was in Togo but, new signals received yesterday morning, show he has continued 960km (600 miles) further to Ivory Coast. He is in the west of Ivory Coast, 165km (just over 100 miles) east of Selborne in Guinea. This could be where he prepares for his desert crossing, as he did last year, crossing in early April.
Larry leaves Republic of Congo
28 Feb 2018
Larry has continued on northwards, leaving the Republic of Congo, and heading over the border into the Central African Republic. He has travelled 300km (185 miles) and is on the northern edge of the Dzanga-Sangha National Park. In previous years he has moved into West Africa during March. The first year we tracked him he made his desert crossing from Nigeria in April, but the second year he moved much further west, into Guinea, and crossed from there. What will he do this year?
Victor in Central African Republic
15 Feb 2018
Victor's newest signals on 14 February show he's moved a further 400km (245 miles) northwards and is now in the west of the Central African Republic.
Selborne in Guinea
15 Feb 2018
Selborne has only travelled a short distance since the last blog but, by flying 75km (50 miles) north-east, he is now over the country border and into Guinea. He's already covered an incredible journey of approximately 5760km (3,500 miles) from his wintering location in Angola. Go Selborne!
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