Updates from our Cuckoos

Waller is almost back. Having left his last location in Spain, he flew over the Cantabrian Mountains and across the Bay of Biscay and by 29 April he was in Berson, just north of the port city of Bordeaux on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France. The latest signals shows him a further 550km (340 miles) further north and, after a brief rest on the Channel Islands yesterday evening, he continued on his way again and the last transmission was over  the sea.  The next signals should reveal that he has made it to land and will be on, or closer to, his tagging ground on the Isle of Skye. 

By the 26 April Livingstone had left Algeria and made it to Spain and was in the region of Zaragoza. From here, he then travelled 200km (130 miles) north-west and was south of Soria by 30 April.

Around lunch time on 16 April Livingstone left Ivory Coast and began his long journey north. On the evening of the 16 April he stopped for a couple of hours in the southern Sahara before continuing on northward. By 5pm on the 19 April he successfully completed the desert crossing and was in Algeria just south of Beni Rached, 3,052 km (1,896 miles) north-west of his position in Ivory Coast. He is now well positioned for the crossing of the Mediterranean, something he could do any day now!

Signals received yesterday show that Chris had moved on from northern Spain was in Normandy, France. We received a series of signals which showed him moving around the area of Omaha beach. Omaha was one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings.  However he didn't spend too long on the D-day cliff faces and later signals show him in the English Channel. He is on his way and could be back anytime!  

After completing his desert crossing around the 16 April, BB continued on from Algeria and by the 18 April was a further 685km (425 miles) further north and in Spain, at a location just north of Madrid.  He didn't stop here though and has continued north to the edge of the Cantabrian mountains. He is about 100km (60 miles) south of the  Bay of Biscay. 

Derek was still in Ivory Coast on the 14 April but the next good signal we received on the 21 April showed that he had been busy during that time, having crossed the Sahara desert and reached the Atlas Mountains in Algeria. He leaves behind Ken, who is the only tagged Cuckoo now with a desert crossing ahead of him. 

Patch was still in Senegal on 16 April but by the evening of the late afternoon of 17 April he was in Morocco in the southern region of Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira, part of the Western Sahara. From this westerly point, he changed direction and headed a further 1000km in a north-easterly direction (620 miles), flying over western Algeria by midday on 18 April and then heading north, towards the Middle Atlas mountains, and back in to Morocco by the morning of 19 April.

There must have been little time to rest as by morning on 21 April he was already 780km (485 miles) further north, having crossed the Mediteranean Sea to reach Valencia, Spain. In the five days since leaving Senegal, he covered at least 3440km (2140 miles)!

David has crossed the desert from his very westerly position near Dakar. Signals received on the late afternoon of  18 April showed he was mid-crossing, 1560km (990 miles) from his previous location, and in Morocco in the southern half of the region of Guelmin-Es Semara which forms part of the Western Sahara.  He continued on a further 1000km (624 miles) and by evening on 20 April he was in northern Morocco in the Middle Atlas, part of the Atlas mountain range. 

Whortle's tag sent signals from just inside the border of Portugal on 17 April, close to  Almeida, in the Guarda region which borders Spain. He has remained in this location since then.