Updates from our Cuckoos

Carlton II is in northwest Spain. During the early hours of 9 July his tag gave his location to the southwest of Leon. Since leaving Carlton Marshes in Suffolk he has flown 1,266km (787 miles) and is about a fifth of the way through his journey.

Over the weekend, Victor's tag showed that he was in Algeria and on the northern edge of the Sahara, but around breakfast on 9 July, three poor locations from his tag suggest he has already begun his desert crossing and that he was to the south of the Grand Erg Oriental Desert. This puts him around a third of the way into his desert flight. 

Having spent time in southeastern France, it was open to debate which route Thomas might take as both Sapin and Italy were options from there. There is no doubt now though. He is currently in Catalonia, in the wooded hills just to the north of Barcelona

PJ is in Spain - just. Around breakfast on 7 July locations from his tag showed he was in the Spanish Pyrenees, just to the north of Benasque. On his two previous migrations he launched his desert crossing from his stopover site in France, so it is interesting to see him crossing into Spain. It will also be interesting to see what he does next.

We received a series of locations during the early hours of 9 July that suggest Bowie is in Algeria, North Africa. However, they don't stop there and it seems that he might have set out on his desert crossing. If this is the case, we will know more in a couple of days, it will see him cross the Sahara at its widest point, a journey of around 2,500km (1,500 miles).

A series of locations received around breakfast on 5 July show that Victor is in Spain, the map will show this when it automatically updates. He has flown 620km (385 miles) in just over two days. He is currently south of Fayon and the Ebro River.

Robinson is now in northern Italy, a known stopover site for many of our Cuckoos. This is where they prepare for the crossing of the Sahara; for some the feeding is so good they are able to fly from here all the way non-stop to the southern edge of the desert, a distance of over 3,000km (2,000 miles). Robinson is likely to spend a little while here now.

It seems that the area of farmland that PJ was using might not be giving him what he needs and he has moved back north 56km (35 miles) to the Orient Forest Regional Natural Park just to the east of Troyes.

The children of The Green Zone Bird Club at Sandown School in Kent have been following PJ’s progress closely. One of the children at the school, Che, won a Cuckoo sponsorship in the school fair and decided to share it with his fellow pupils. ‘Where in the world is PJ?’ has been a regular activity where the children learn about geography and migration. One member of the Group, Callum (age 6), has taught everyone how to zoom in and out on PJ’s position on the satellite tracking map – well done, Callum!  

They have all been drawing amazing pictures of PJ to welcome him back to the UK (featured). We have really enjoyed looking at their brilliant drawings in the office and reading the Green Zone Bird Club’s newsletters. Well done to all the children in the Club and to their Outdoor Learning and Forest School Leader, Anne Collins, for all of her hard work and enthusiasm. Keep up the good work children and we hope you continue following PJ's journey as he migrates back to Africa.

Sylvester stayed a week in northern France before flying the length of the country and making it to the foothills of the Pyrenees, close to Arudy on 29 June. The next day he moved north again and then west. He is currently in wooded farmland close to Castaignos-Souslens in southwest France.

Having headed south from Gaillon, north of Paris, Sherwood reached as far south as Riberac, 450km (278 miles) south, before turning northeast and then north and flying another 255km (158 miles). Having flown over 700km (400 miles) he is only 288km (179 miles) from Gaillon. Presumably this u-turn is a response to conditions further south, although the weather looks OK.