Updates from our Cuckoos

Stanley left his location in Cameroon, likely because of drier conditions that also seem to have seen other Cuckoos leave the area, and headed south. By the 16 September he had travelled 660km (410 miles) south-east and was in central Congo, making him our most southerly tagged Cuckoo. He didn't stop there though and is now south of the equator! He travelled another 185km (115 miles) south-east, and is around 70km from the Congo river and Congo's border with Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Cuckoo 134597 has moved south, travelling 485km (300 miles) from Mali to Nigeria. He is now only 100km (60 miles) away from Skinner's location.

By the 18 September, Emsworthy had left his location on the border of Nigeria/Cameroon and travelled south-east 640km (400 miles) and was in the Central African Republic (CAR). Since then he has travelled 280km (175 miles) south-west and is on the border between CAR and Cameroon. Poor conditions in the north of Cameroon may have led to him moving on so we hope that he has found better foraging here. 

Derek has moved 175km (110 miles) east and is now in the Central African Republic. As suggested in a previous blog this may be down to it being slightly drier than average in Northern Cameroon as Dudley and Emsworthy have also left that area.  

The last transmission from Gilbert's tag was on 16 July and everything appeared fine with respect to tag charge and temperature. His last known location was in Spain, and now that all our other Cuckoos have completed their desert crossing and are safely in Africa, we presume that Gilbert has been unable to continue his journey and has probably perished there. 

There have been no further signals since 19 July from Meavy. Given this it is possible that we may have lost him and will not receive further news of his journey. 

Signals received on 13 September show BB had continued across the desert and was in Chad, roughly 380 miles north-east of Chris, who was settled around Lake Chad after completing his desert crossing.  A further signal on 15 September shows that BB had travelled 105km (65 miles) south-east. This new position means he still has roughly the same distance to travel again before he is on the same latitude as Whortle, the most northerly of the other Cuckoos

The last transmission received from Walpole's tag was on the 18 August and we have now come to the conclusion that it's likely that he has died in Sologne Forest, Central France. He is one of 4 birds, since the project began, that has been lost in France; John in 2012, Nelson in 2013 and Maji, also during August this year.

With most cuckoos now in the Sahel region, we're entering a fairly quiet period in the annual cycle of the tagged cuckoos with less movement than during the migration season.

Birds who completed their desert crossing will spend time in the Sahel recovering their body condition, and some may stay quite a long time. In previous years, cuckoos have stayed in this area for as much as several months, while others spend a shorter amount of time before moving south into the humid zone forests.

The eastern Sahel in Chad and south Sudan has received plenty of rain recently, and thus conditions are likely good for cuckoos. Northern Cameroon was slightly drier than average in August, and so cuckoos such as Derek, Dudley, Stanley, and Emsworthy may be moving on if foraging conditions aren't suitable.