Updates from our Cuckoos

From north-west of Bamako on 28 July, Nick has moved south-east 280km (175 miles) in the direction of Burkino Faso, through which Lyster and Clement both passed through in the first year of the project, and was close to the village of Bondo.  Last year none of the three Cuckoos that chose the route via Spain and west Africa survived, so it is good to see that conditions have been more favourable to Nick and Ken this year. Hopefully the further four Cuckoos who have taken this route and are currently in Spain and north Africa will fare well too when they follow shortly.  

From his position within Mauritania, near the Senegal border, Ken has travelled a further 385km (240 miles) to Mali and close to the Baoul National Park. This new location is only 10 miles from the position Nick was in on 28 July.  

While most of our Cuckoos are heading south, Ryder has moved 69km (43 miles) northwards from Tazekka National Park to Taounate, a town in northern Morocco, in the Rif Mountains. This region region receives more rainfall than any other region in Morocco, particularly in the west and central areas, which is presumably why he has moved north. Hopefully he wil find some good feeding opportunities and make his desert crossing soon.  

From north of Lake Chad, Sussex moved 165km (100 miles) east and then 105km (65 miles) south-east by the 4 August,  in the direction of Waller and Chris’s locations. There are currently five Cuckoos in Chad; BB, Waller, Livingstone, Chris and Sussex. 

Signals received late on 2 August confirmed that Waller had headed south and was about to attempt his desert crossing. A series of poor quality locations tracked him over Libya in the early hours of 3 August  and by the same time on 5 August  he had flown 1,720km (1070 miles) to the Hadjer-Lamis region of Chad,  30km (18 miles) south-east of Bokoro. He is roughly 65km (105 miles) from Sussex’s last transmitted location. 

Despite being the 13th Cuckoo to leave the UK, he has transmitted from Africa one day after Sussex, the first Cuckoo to leave the UK. 

Sometime after 29 July, Livingstone left his location near the river Po in Italy. Poor quality signals placed him on the coast of Africa by 31 July, close to Ichkeul National Park in Tunisia. A further series of poor quality locations tracked his journey through the Sahara Desert and by the evening of 3 August he was in south Niger. A few hours after this he was close to the south-west shores of Lake Chad in Nigeria before heading east, skirting around the lake and across the extreme north of Cameroon, and in to Chari-Baguirmi region of Chad. He is currently 44 miles east of the border with Cameroon.  

By the 2 August, Patch had moved across the border and into Austria. Signals placed him 17km (11 miles) east of Schwaz, a city in Tyrol in the Austrian Alps. He is the only Cuckoo to have stopped in Austria this year and only Chance the Cuckoo is currently further north than Patch's current position. 

Signals on 27 July show that Sussex was still in Corsica but by the 30 July he was on his way. Poor locations early that morning show Sussex over the sea, between Sardinia and Sicily, heading south. By mid-morning of the 1 August, transmissions revealed that he had indeed been in active migration and had completed the 3300km (2000 miles) journey to a location in Chad! He joins Chris and BB there. The last good signal located him 75km (45 miles) north-west of Lake Chad. Tor is also close by, in Nigeria. 

From his last position, Patch has headed south. The latest signals, received yesterday evening, show that he had covered 190km (118 miles) and was north of Mainburg, in the region of Bavaria. We continued to receive transmissions until the early hours of 1 August, which although of poor quality, indicate that he continued south, past Munich and was around the German border with Austria.

Signals received on the afternoon of 31 July show that Waller was still in Italy but had moved into Tuscany, to a location 30km (18 miles) south-west of Siena. Having left his position in northern Italy sometime after the morning of 29 July he has travelled 345km (215 miles) in a southerly direction. Further poor quality signals received after this, throughout the evening of 31 July, indicate he then continued south along the coast and was as far as Rome when the tag transmission period ended.