Updates from our Cuckoos

A couple of new updates received early this morning (9 Feb) show that Victor II has finally departed the Congo rainforest. He has flown 1,510km (940 miles) north west to south west Benin, a week ahead of last year's schedule. Last year he stopped slightly further west, in eastern Ghana, before progressing on to Ivory Coast where he stayed until 14 April when he set off across the desert. We expect him to proceed further west, perhaps to Ivory Coast over the next few days.  

New updates received over the last 24 hours show that Joe has flown a further 217km (135 miles) west from his last location in Ghana to his new location in Ivory Coast. He is now a few miles south of the town of Agnibilékrou in eastern Ivory Coast. 

After several weeks in south eastern Cameroon, Joe has made hist move west, flying 1,970km (1,225 miles) north west to Ghana. By 10pm last night (26 Feb) he was 44km (27 miles) west of the city of Kumesi. Will he follow Ellis and JAC out to Guinea or will he stay further east, stay tuned to find out! 

JAC has flown a further 1390km (864 miles) west from his last location in western Nigeria to his new location in south eastern Guinea. He is now approximately 200km south east of Cuckoo Ellis. Both Cuckoos will spend the next few weeks feeding up in preparation for the next leg of their northward migration. 

Having spent the last few weeks in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a new update received at 18:20 last night (22 February) shows that JAC has flown 1,915km (1,190 miles) west to Nigeria. At that time last night he was just south of the city of Ibadan in south-western Nigeria. In 2022 JAC's inital move west saw him arrive in Ivory Coast on 27 Feb where he stayed until 7 April when he embarked on his desert crossing, arriving back in the UK on 29 April. Will JAC move on to Ivory Coast again? Stay tuned to find out!

After his big move west from the Congo Basin to West Africa, Ellis has now relocated within Guinea. He has flown an additional 175km (108 miles) north west and is now 30km (18.5 miles) north of the city of Kissidougou in southern Guinea. He is just 22km (14.5 miles) south west of the area where he spent several weeks on his way north last year.

Scottish Cuckoo Ellis arrived in the lush tropical rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early October and has remained there ever since. A new update received on Saturday 18 Feb 2023 showed that he had started his spring migration back to the UK. He has flown 3,250km (2,000miles) west from DRC to Guinea in West Africa. This is the first big step in his return migration. Last year he arrived in Guinea on 13 Feb and remained until 27 March when he embarked on his crossing of the Sahara. By 20 April he was back in Scotland. Heavy rain is expected in eastern Guinea later this week and Ellis will be planning on these rains providing plenty of food for him to build up his fat reserves before tackling the next leg of his journey north.  

Grove II arrived in Gabon in early October and although he moved a few hundred km east in mid December he has remained in Gabon. We last received an update from Grove II's tag on 6 January when he was in dense rainforest in eastern Gabon. Assuming he has remained here he is currently close to the border with the Republic of the Congo, approximately 50km north of the Gabon town of Okondja. Hopefully the radio silence has been caused by the dense rainforest canopy and we will receive further updates when he emerges. This is the first year of winter tracking for Grove II.  

Joe arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in late September and remained there until 14 January when he moved west and crossed over into the Republic of the Congo. He has remained there since and is currently in the banks of the Sangha River in north eastern Republic of the Congo. As Joe was tagged in 2022, this is our first winter of tracking data for him. 

Victor II spent last winter in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo and he has done the same this winter. Last year he moved into northern Gabon on 1 Feb and he remained here until 14 March when he progressed west to Ghana. He then moved quickly to Ivory Coast where he remained until 14 April when he began his desert crossing. If he follows last year's timetable we will see Victor II moving further north in Gabon any day.