Updates from our Cuckoos

Knepp is still settled in central Nigeria close to Robinson. Both are still in the Kaduna region. It is still pretty wet and thunderstormy in this area.

Carlton II is still in Burkina Faso but did have a short foray into Ivory Coast. Having reached Benin further to the east he has now moved back west 586km (364 miles). These westerly movements may be in response to poor weather making feeding difficult and the search for better feeding. 

Bowie is still to the north of the Teke Plateau, however, we haven't heard from his tag since 20 September. The temperature reading showed that he was alive but the battery charge was quite low. He is in an area of dense rainforest and the solar panel on the tag is probably not getting enough sunlight to properly charge the battery. Fingers crossed this will change if and when he moves further south.

Cameron is still settled in Nigeria close to the Lame Burra Game Reserve. He has been in this location for 35 days, moving around an area about 3km x 3km. We last heard from his tag on 26 September.

We last heard from Sylvester on 28 August and his last transmission showed that his body temperature was fine, which tells us he was alive. However, his battery charge was low and looking at previous data we can see that the battery charge had been falling during the previous week and not recovering. This can happen when our Cuckoos are under the thick canopy in the rainforest and we have lost Cuckoos for as much as six weeks, only for them to pop-up again once their battery gets a good charge.

Of course we don't know for sure what has happened but all we can say is that when we last heard from him he was alive and that there was an issue with the tag which we hope will resolve itself - fingers crossed.

During the weekned Selborne set off east, moving through Ghana and Togo and onwards into Benin. During this time he has flown 487km (303 miles). He is currently in the Parc National de la Pandjari in northwestern Benin.

Thomas has moved close to the border with Cameroon. He is in the northern part of the Gashaka Gumti National Park in an area of savannah grassland.

During the last two weeks Knepp has flown over 1,000km (600 miles) east, through Ghana, Togo and Benin and on into Nigeria. He is currently in the Kaduna region and only 15km (9 miles) from Robinson, a fellow Knepp Estate Cuckoo. Even though it is currently around 30 degrees, they have both just experienced a large thunderstorm and heavy rain.

During the last two weeks Carlton II has been making his way east through Ghana, Togo and Benin. Having made his way as far east as a hunting reserve in northeastern Benin he turned back west and is currently back in Burkina Faso, very close to the border with Benin. He is in Arli National Park in an area of gallery forest.

Bowie is in the Congo rainforest. He arrived there during the early hours of 12 September. He is just to the northwest of the Teke Plateau, an area that has served as an overwinter site for several of our satellite tagged Cuckoos in the past. He is currently 5,804km (3,606 miles) from his New Forest breeding site as the crow flies.