Updates from our Cuckoos

An update received at 10:32 this morning shows that AJ has left Mali, flying 550 Km (342 miles) east, over the border into Burkina Faso. He is 17 Km north of the town of N'dorola in south-western Burkina Faso.

Since leaving Burkina Faso, it looks as if JAC has been on a mission to tick off as many countries as possible over the last few days. In the space of 187 Km, he has visited Benin, Niger, and Nigeria. He is now in north west Nigeria. 

It's been a couple of weeks since we last heard from Harry. New updates received over the weekend show that on Sunday morning he was 22 Km (14 miles) north of Marbella.

Cuckoo Clive has been on the move but is still in northern Spain. Having flown 300 Km (186 miles) north west towards Vilalba in Galicia, he has since flown 278 Km (173 miles) east and is now just outside Torrelavega.

By Friday night Victor II had flown 1,500 km (960 miles) south, crossing the Sahara and reaching the sahel in Niger. He has remained here, close to the town of Abalak in the Tahoua Region of southern Niger.

On his sixth tracked migration south, our super Cuckoo PJ has made it to Africa. On Saturday morning he had flown 315 km (195 miles) south from the Spanish Pyrenees to the town of Barracas, Castellón, Spain. By yesterday morning he had flown 1,150 Km (715 miles) south, across the Mediterranean and into Algeria. He pressed on through the day and by the time we received the last update at 22:27 last night, he was in the Hoggar mountains in the central Sahara, southern Algeria. He was 218 Km (135 miles) north of the oasis city of Tamanrasset, where citrus fruits, apricots, dates, almonds, cereals, corn, and figs are grown. Hopefully when we receive the next update we will see that PJ has successfully completed his desert crossing. 

Over the last week or so Cuckoo Clive has been making his way steadily west from Villoslada de Cameros in La Rioja, Spain to Valladolid. New updates received this morning show that he has now turned north, flying 300Km (186 miles) north west towards Vilalba in Galicia, north west Spain. His last locations showed him near a wind farm above the villages of Sisalde and Pardela. 

In the early hours of this morning JAC flew 185Km (115 miles) east into the Kantchari department of eastern Burkina Faso, close to the border with Niger. He is now in the W National Park (so called because it is situated around a meander in the River Niger shaped like the letter W). This is the largest remaining wilderness in Burkina Faso, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing three RAMSAR wetlands of international importance and three BirdLife International Important Bird Areas. The park has areas in Niger, Burkina Faso and Benin and covers some 10,000km2 (3,900 sq miles) of largely uninhabited land. It is known for its large mammals which include some of West Africa's last wild African elephant, packs of the endangered West African wild dog and is one of the last strongholds of  the Northwest African cheetah. It is also a great place for birds, especially migrants and over 350 species have been identified here. JAC will be in some very interesting company!

Since arriving in Burkina Faso JAC has flown 98km (60 miles) south east, into the Yamba department of Burkina Faso and he is currently close to the town of Yamba. The tempertaure there today is 24° with a high probability of thundery heavy showers. 

Updates received from Victor II at 07:30 this morning show that he has left France and crossed the Mediterranean. He has flown 1,423Km (885 miles) south and reached north eastern Algeria. He is currently over the Grand Erg Oriental (Great Eastern Sand Sea), one of the driest landscapes on earth. This "erg" or dune field is vast, stretching over an area of approximately 600 kilometers by 200 kilometers, an endlessly stretching horizon of sand. Ahead of him is Tassili n'Ajjer national park, a vast sandstone plateau, the highest peak of which is Adrar Afao at 2,158 m (7,080 ft).  Fingers crossed for Victor II!