Carlton II has followed PJ's lead and has started his migration back to the UK. He has spent the winter in central Gabon and over the last few days he has flown 300 km (186 miles) north towards the border between Gabon and Cameroon, and is now in the Minkebe National Park in north east Gabon. Carlton II was tagged in the spring of 2018, and in 2019 he made his first move north on 15 March. Last year he started his journey on 7 March, so he is a couple of weeks ahead of schedule this year. His route back to the UK will take him out to Ivory Coast, Liberia or Sierra Leone in West Africa where he will feed up before embarking on his Sahara crossing.
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.
- If you enjoy these updates, please consider sponsoring a Cuckoo. Sponsors receive special updates about their chosen Cuckoo in the Cuckoo e-newsletter.
Carlton II is on his way
26 Feb 2021
Carlton II still in Gabon
15 Feb 2021
Carlton II arrived in Gabon at the end of November and remains there, in the dense rainforest of central Gabon. The most recent update from his tag arrived a few days ago so his tag appears to be working fine and hopefully we will see him move north over the coming few weeks.
Valentine still in Angola
15 Feb 2021
We've seen little movement from Valentine over the last couple of months, since he arrived in Angola at the end of November. The latest updates received at the beginning of February show that he is still in rainforest in the Bengo province of northern Angola, approximately 136 km (85 miles) north east of the capital Luanda. Given that he is probably under the dense canopy of the rainforest, it isn't unusual for us to have fewer updates from his tag, which requires solar energy to charge up the battery. In previous years he has stayed in Angola until late February/early March.
PJ in Cameroon
15 Feb 2021
Since our last update PJ has flown a further 890 km (552 Miles) north from his last location in Gabon to his current location in Cameroon. He is now in an area of Guinean Savanna, near the Meng river in the south of the Adamawa region of Cameroon. He was in this same area between 3rd and 25th February 2020. In 2020 his next movement took him to Togo on his way to Ivory Coast. Over the next couple of weeks we expect PJ to cover the 2,000km (1,240 miles) journey west to Ivory Coast where he usually stops off to build up his fat reserves ready for crossing the Sahara.
PJ starts to move north
04 Feb 2021
Over the last few weeks PJ has flown 640 km (398 miles) north from north-western Angola, first to the Teke Plateau in Congo and, soon after, over the border into eastern Gabon. In previous years PJ has remained in Angola until late January before beginning his northward migration so he is right on track. He has usually reached Ivory Coast in west Africa by early March so we expect him to keep moving north and then west over the next 2-3 weeks. He will then stop over for a few weeks before tackling the Sahara.
PJ moves north
18 Dec 2020
Over the last couple of weeks, PJ has gradually moved 167 km (104 miles) north into the Zaire district of north-western Angola. He is now in dense rainforest 56 km (35 miles) N-NE of the town of N'Zeto. In previous years PJ has remained in Angola until late January.
Carlton II flies to Gabon
17 Nov 2020
Updates received from Carlton II late on Sunday evening showed that he had finally left Nigeria and flown 1,157 km (720 miles) south east over Cameroon and into Gabon. He is now in dense rainforest in central Gabon and just 128 km (80 miles) west of PJ.
Valentine nudges west in Angola
10 Nov 2020
Having flown a further 215 km (133 miles) west in northern Angola, Valentine is now very close to his 2019 wintering grounds. He is 210 km (130 miles) north east of the capital Luanda.
PJ arrives in Angola
10 Nov 2020
After a visit to the shores of the Rio del Rey estuary in western Cameroon, new signals from PJ's tag show that by yesterday evening he had flown 725 km (450 miles) south east into eastern Gabon. In previous years he has wintered in northern Angola and if this is his destination this year, he has a further 970 km (600 miles) to go before he reaches this area.
PJ arrives in Cameroon
30 Oct 2020
Further updates received late yesterday afternoon and evening show that PJ has flown 653 km (406 miles) south east from his last location in Nigeria, over the border into Cameroon. He is now approximately 19 km (12 miles) west of the town of Tibati which is on the shore of Lake Mbakaou in central Cameroon.
Share this page