Updates from our Cuckoos

Victor is pretty much on the northern edge of the Sahara - he has a little way to go but has found the oasis town of Mansourah and its date plantations. In 2017 he arrived back in the UK on 12 May, and on 21 April in 2018, it will be interesting to see when he arrives back this year. He is currently 2,851km (1,771 miles) north and east of his last location in Ghana.

A series of locations received from Thomas' tag during the morning of 11 April show that he is around three-quarters of the way across the Sahara and in central Algeria. This will update on his map automatically overnight. So far he has travelled 2,232km (1,387 miles) from his last location in Ivory Coast - he has another 800km (500 miles) to go before he reaches the northern edge of the desert.

When we last heard from Robinson's tag on the evening of 10 April he was just over half-way across the desert and in, or over,  the Ahaggar Mountains in southern Algeria. We will have to wait until we next hear from his tag to see if he has successfully crossed the desert. All being well we should hear from him during the evening of 12 April. He is 2,256km (1,402 miles) north and east of his last location in Ivory Coast and has another 1,035km (643 miles) to go to reach the northern edge of the desert.

Raymond is still in Nigeria but has moved west towards the border with Benin. This movement has seen him fly 446km (277 miles). He is on the north bank of the Ogun River and close to the town of Aba Tuntun. The area he is in is a mix of open forest and cultivated land.

Having spent the last couple of weeks to the south of Yamoussoukro, the capital of Ivory Coast, PJ is now just to the north of the city. This could be the start of his northward movement that will hopefully see him successfully cross the desert.

Larry has crossed the desert. He is 3,003km (1,866 miles) north and east of his last location in the Guinea Highlands and has crossed the desert at its widest point. He is currently in the Atlas Saharien Mountains in northern Algeria and close to the desert town of Brida. Fingers crossed, Larry will make it back to the UK and complete his fourth migration cycle since he was fitted with a satellite tag in June 2015.

Lambert really isn't hanging around. During the last week he has moved a further 590km (367 miles) west, across Ghana and into Ivory Coast. He is currently close to the east bank of the River Comoe and west of the town of Dalaware.

Knepp has moved 321km (199 miles) north and west within Ivory Coast. We will have to wait until we hear from him again to see if this is the start of his push across the desert. He is currently in an area of farmland in the northwest of the country and just south of Tiorotierivogo.

Having received some better quality locations from Carlton II's tag we can confirm that he is in Sierra Leone. However he has moved a little further east and closer to the border with Liberia. He is currently in the northeastern part of the Gola East Forest Reserve in fairly dense forest.

A series of locations received from Bowies's tag mid-morning on 11 April showed that he was in the Grand Erg Oriental Desert, central Algeria, and around three-quarters of the way across the Sahara. This will automatically update on his map overnight. He is 2,571km (1,598 miles) north and east of his last location in Ghana. We will have to wait until his tag powers up again, around mid morning on 13 April, to see if he has successfully crossed the desert. Currently the wind is fairly light and from the north-west in this part of the desert. We have three other Cuckoos that are currently crossing the desert and, along with Bowie, these birds are also heading north-east, possibly being drifted by the north-westerly winds. We will have to wait and see if they have corrected their direction of travel when we next hear from them to help confirm this.