Updates from our Cuckoos

Since our last update, Valentine has flown 83 km (52 miles) south in Nigeria and is close to the Falgore Game Reserve in Kano State in northern Nigeria. Last year Valentine passed through southern Nigeria in late November/early December, some 670 km (416 miles) south of his current position.

Updates received at around 06:00 this morning, show that PJ has flown a further 570 km (354 miles) south-south west from the norther border of Niger into the south western corner of Niger, completing his crossing of the Sahara. He is now approximately 165 km (102 miles) north east of the capital Niamey. PJ has arrived here in the rainy season with most of the annual rainfall expected between May and mid-September. It'll be interesting to see whether he stays here or follows Valentine in moving further east. 

Since our last update Valentine has flown 1,351 km (811 miles) east from Burkina Faso to Nigeria. He is 3.5 km (2.2 miles) north of the town of Bebeji in Kano State in northern Nigeria. In 2019 he stayed in Burkina Faso until mid-November, not reaching Nigeria until 24 November so it is interesting that he has moved east so much earlier this year. 

Over the last few days, Suffolk Cuckoo PJ has made his move south, braving the mighty Sahara. On the first leg of his journey he left southern Italy and crossed the Mediterranean just to the west of Corsica and Sardinia. He flew over Tunisia and by 16:30 on Saturday he was in or over the Tassili n'Ajjer national park in south-east Algeria, a distance of 2,163 km (1,344 miles) from his last location in Italy. He doesn't appear to have stopped here as by 19:45 on the same day he was near the southern edge of the desert. He didn't hang around as by 20:03 last night he was a further 518 km (322 miles) south and approaching the border between Algeria and Niger. The last update received at 22:43 last night showed PJ just over the border in north western Niger, approximately 30 miles (50 km) west of the small desert town of Assamakka. PJ passed close to this location on his southerly migration in 2017 but quickly moved on to southern Niger. In previous years, PJ has spent time in southern Niger/northern Nigeria so hopefully when we next hear from him he will be a little further south, having completed his desert crossing. 

Since our last update Carlton II has moved 45 km (28 miles) north west from his last location near the village of Boimorto to the Fragas do Eume natural park in north-west Spain. He is now in one of the best-preserved riverside Atlantic forests in Europe. 

Following our last update predicting that Valentine wouldn't be moving again for a while, he of course flew 220 km (138 miles) S-SE towards the border with Burkina Faso. By yesterday evening he had flown a further 67 km (41 miles) east over the border into Burkina Faso. He is now close to the town of Barani in north-western Burkina Faso. Last year, Valentine arrived in Burkina Faso at the end of July and stayed in western Burkina Faso until mid-November.  

Since arriving in Mali, Valentine has moved 20 km (12.5 miles) west, towards the Sahel river. He is now 22 km (14 miles) north east of the town of Niono in the Ségou region of Mali. The temperature is currently 31 degrees C and it is the rainy season. In Niono, most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 13, with an average total accumulation of 5.7 inches. Last year Valentine stayed in west Africa until mid-November so we don't expect him to make any more big movements anytime soon. 

Since our last update Carlton II has moved north west, travelling 300 km (187 miles) into the north west corner of Spain. Having spent a few days close to Arzúa, a municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia, he headed north towards Betanzos before looping back to his current location close to the village of Boimorto. He is now 40 km (25 miles) east of Santiago de Compostela. Based on his behaviour in previous years we expect Carlton II to head for Africa very soon.

Since our last update PJ has left the Spanish Pyrenees and flown 788 km (490 miles) north east, back over the Pyrenees and into northern Italy. Having reached Ferriere, a commune in the Province of Piacenza, about 150 kilometers west of Bologna, he immediately turned back west. He flew 105 km ( 64 miles) west to his current location near Altare in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria. He is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north west of Savona. PJ is now almost two weeks behind his usual schedule so we expect to see him making his crossing into Africa any day now.

PJ is still in the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, Huesca, Spain, and the last update received a couple of days ago shows him in the wooded valley below the Castillo Mayor mountain. Castillo Mayor is a 2,014m (6,608ft) high limestone platform and the valleys below are home to an extensive mixed forest.