Updates from our Cuckoos

A series of updates from PJ's tag early this morning show that he has embarked on his desert crossing. Over the last few days he has left Ivory Coast and flown over the southwestern corner of Mali and into Mauritania. The latest update which arrived at 06:22 this morning showed that he has flown 1,825 km (1,134 miles) from Ivory Coast and is now in or over north western Mauritania. PJ was tagged in 2016 and in the three previous spring migrations he has crossed the desert further east, mostly over Mali. In previous years, he has made his desert crossing between 6 and 13 April, so he is right on schedule. The mean arrival data of Cuckoo in the UK is around 20th April and some have already been reported here. We will now keep our fingers crossed that when we receive the next update, PJ will have safely completed his desert crossing. Stay tuned!

Since our last update Carlton II has crossed back into western Ivory Coast and in the last few days has flown 175 km (109 miles) north into northwest Ivory Coast. He is now in the north west corner of the Bafing region of Ivory Coast. 

New updates from Valentine's tag received at around 9pm last night (Sunday 5th April), show that over the last few days he has flown 2,170 km (1,348 miles) west from his last location in Central African Republic to Ivory Coast. He is now in eastern Ivory Coast, 173 km (107 miles) east of the capital Yamoussoukro. Valentine joins two other Cuckoos in Ivory Coast as PJ and Carlton II are also here. Tennyson is just over the border in Liberia. We expect the first Cuckoos to be crossing the Sahara any day now, and usually they will have spent several weeks in west Africa before attempting the crossing so it'll be intresting to see what Valentine does next. 

Having arrived in Ivory Coast in late February, PJ has been moving around the country a fair bit, roaming from the eastern border to the western border and back towards the capital, Yamoussoukro. Over the last few days PJ has flown 396 km (246 miles) west and is now just over the border in Liberia. He is 10 km (6.2 miles) north west of the Ivory Coast town of Toulepleu. In previous years PJ has made his desert crossing between 6 and 13 April. 

Since our last update Carlton II has flown 1,540 km (957 miles) west from Nigeria to Liberia. The most recent updates from his tag show him straddling the border between Sierra Leone and western Liberia. He also visited this area on his way North in 2019, between 9th and 17th April. He started his desert crossing on 20th April in 2019, so he may stop off in Liberia for a few weeks now. 

We haven't received any further updates from Senan since 20th Feb when he was in Congo, close to the border with Gabon. Hopefully we will hear from Senan when he starts to move north again.

Having flown further west in Ivory Coast, towards the borders with Liberia and Guinea, an update received this morning show that PJ has traveled 341 km (212 miles) east and is now 49 km (30 miles) north east of the capital Yamoussoukro, in central Ivory Coast. He is now in the general area from which he has departed on his desert crossing in several previous years, though based on data from pervious years we expect him to remain in Ivory Coast for a few weeks yet.

A new update received from Carlton II's tag early yesterday morning showed that he has flown 952 km (592 miles) north west from his last location in Cameroon to his new location in western Nigeria. He is 113 km (70 miles) north of Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and close to the border with Benin. Based on his movements last year, we expect him to progress further west to the Ivory Coast/Liberia area in the next few days.

Since the last update Tennyson has continued west, flying a further 1,076 km (670 miles) from Benin to Liberia. His latest location shows him in south-eastern Liberia, 35 km from the border with Ivory Coast. He is approximately 375 km (232 miles) south west of Cuckoo PJ who is over the border in Ivory Coast.