Having been in Ivory Coast since 2 March, Joe has decided that the time has come to across the Sahara. New updates received from his tag yesterday show that he has flown 1,777km (1,105 miles) north over Burkina Faso and Mali and on to Algeria. By 9pm last night (6 April) he was in the desert in southern Algeria. He needs to fly approximately 1,300km to clear the desert in northern Algeria.
Updates from our Cuckoos
Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
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Joe is crossing the Sahara
06 Apr 2023
Ellis crosses into Morocco
05 Apr 2023
Since our last update Ellis has flown 292km (181 miles) north east from his last location in Western Sahara, taking him over the border into southern Morocco. He is now 95km (60 miles) east of the city of Tan-Tan and 36km (22 miles) north west of the town of Labouriat. He has stopped in an area just south of the Draa River, Morocco's longest river. This area is designated as an Important Bird Area following a survey in 1999 which recorded the presence of the near-threatened Marbled Teal and larger numbers of Ruddy Shelduck as well as 35 breeding species. Hopefully Ellis is finding some food and shelter here to sustain him and we'll see him moving north again soon.
Ellis approaching Morccco
02 Apr 2023
Since our last update Ellis has flown a further 382km (237 miles) north through Western Sahara. A new update received at 7am this morning showed him close to the small town of Daoura, and approximately 44km (27 miles) north of the Western Sahara capital city Laayoune. He appears to be close to an intermittent river which has some bushes and shrubs along its length so hopefully he is finding some food here to sustain his onwards journey north over the border into Morocco.
Ellis is crossing the Sahara
31 Mar 2023
Perthshire Cuckoo Ellis is following hot on the heels of Llangollen Cuckoo JAC and embarked on his desert crossing. Having departed his stop over in Guinea, by 11pm last night (30 March) he was passing 120km west of the Eye of Africa in west central Mauritania. He has since flown a further 412km, heading in a north westerly direction towards the coast of central Western Sahara. At 06:38 this morning he was still crossing the desert and was approximately 155km north east of the town of Dakhla in Western Sahara. He seems to have been pushed east by fairly strong easterly winds over the last 24 hours or so. These winds should be easing as he progresses into northern Western Sahara. Last year after crossing the desert he stopped in Morocco, north of Marrakesh, 1,000km north of his current location. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that when we next hear from Ellis he will have completed his desert crossing.
JAC pushes north through Spain
30 Mar 2023
New updates received late last night show that JAV has flown a further 515km (320 miles) north east from his last location in Andalusia. He is now close to the village of Graja de Campalbo in the province of Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha.
JAC crosses the Sahara
28 Mar 2023
We predicted, based on data from last year, that Ellis would be the first of our tagged Cuckoos to cross the Sahara this year. Last year he crossed on 28 March, while JAC waited until 7 April and Victor II lingered until 14 April. New updates received last night show that JAC has not only crossed the Sahara but continued on into Spain. He has flown 3,047km (1,893 miles) north since our last update, taking him from south eastern Guinea over the Sahara and the Strait of Gibraltar into southern Spain. He is now close to the town of Gaucín in the mountains of Andalusia in Málaga. Last year he stayed in southern Spain until 26 April when he moved north again, arriving back in Llangollen on 29 April. It'll be interesting to see whether he takes a break in Spain this year before embarking on the next stage of his migration.
No news from Grove II
24 Mar 2023
There have been no updates from Grove II’s tag since 6th January, so, sadly, it is increasingly likely that we have heard the last from him but there is still a glimmer of hope that he will yet reappear.
Ellis could be moving soon
24 Mar 2023
Ellis has spent the last month north east of Sierra Leone in Guinea. He is approximately 30km (18.5 miles) north of the city of Kissidougou. Last year he began his migration across the Sahara on 28th March, so we expect to see him make his move very soon!
JAC still in Guinea
24 Mar 2023
Since arriving in Guinea on 28 Feb JAC has flown a short distance north and is now halfway between Diassadougou and Guieredougou in eastern Guinea. He has spent approximately 20 days in this area preparing for the next leg of his northward migration. Last year he began crossing the Sahara on 7th April, so be prepared for JAC to migrate north within the next 3 weeks.
Joe exploring Ivory Coast
24 Mar 2023
Since arriving in eastern Ivory Coast on 2 March Joe has made a detour south towards Bettié and returned to Damé after a few days. Earlier this week he flew 73km (45 miles) north west to Kofi Akakro, where he has remained. This being the first year in which we have tracked his spring migration we don’t know when he is likely to embark on his desert crossing.
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