Updates from our Cuckoos

We expected Thomas to stage a little longer in Burkina Faso but he has surprised us all by moving a long way east, 1,337km (830 miles) to be precise. He is now in central Nigeria, around 60km (38 miles) south of the capital Abuja. He is currently under a band of thunderstorms and some fairly heavy rain.

Victor is still at his stopover site in Burkina Faso. In 2016 he moved east from here on 31 August and in 2017 on 14 August, he could make his move east any day now. His next staging location is close to the Kainji Reservoir in western Nigeria, another 900km (580 miles) to the east of his current location.

Having spent time in Senegal and Mali, Thomas is now in the southwest of Burkina Faso. He may well stay here for a couple of weeks before moving further east towards his final destination somewhere in the Congo Basin.

During the last week Sylvester has moved south and east, through Mali, Niger, Benin and into Nigeria. He is just to the west of the mighty river Niger and to the south of a village called Bawanka.

Sherwood is still in Senegal, having been here since 6 August, but during the last few days he has moved a little further west and is now frequenting the coastal scrub behind the beach to the north of the capital Dakar and to the south of the fishing viallge of Kayar. He is now the last of our tagged Cuckoos to stopover in Senegal this year.

Selborne has been at his stopover site in Burkina Faso for a month now. In 2016 he moved east from here on 26 August and on 20 August in 2017. so, we expect him to move east any day now.

During the last few days Robinson has moved further west and is now in the Lame Burra Game Reserve in central northern Nigeria. This westerly movement may well be the first in preparation for his move south into the Congo Basin, and one that will give him better feeding opportunities. He is currently on the northern edge of a band of fairly heavy rain.

Since crossing the desert, Raymond has headed east through Mali and into Burkina Faso. He is one of five of our satellite tagged Cuckoos that are currently in Burkina Faso. He arrived in Burkina Faso on 21 August and is now just to the south of a town called Boudiedara.

Since crossing the desert, PJ has gone on a bit of a fly-around. He first moved south into Burkina Faso, then moved back north towards the border with Mali before turning east towards Niger and then south along the border with Niger and Burkina Faso. He is currently in eastermost Niger.

Larry is currently the most easterly of our tagged Cuckoos. Since crossing the desert at the end of July he has been settled in an area of forest in southern Chad.