Updates from our Cuckoos

Martin was the first of our Cuckoos to return to Europe, but we have not received a signal from him since his last movement in Spain on 6 April. The weather may have had something to do with him staying put for a few days with thunderstorms, hail and strong northerly winds.

We heard from Chris's tag on the evening of the 14 April but there has been no further movement from his previous position in Italy. He is poised for his return to the UK and could arrive anytime.

During the afternoon and early evening of 13 April, we received a series of locations for Lyster - the first since 1 April.  They showed that he had emerged from Ghana and had almost completed his desert crossing! As with the three Cuckoos that had preceded him across the desert he was located in northern Algeria, his route having taken him between the paths taken by Chris and Kasper. He was between the Grand Erg Oriental and Occidental deserts and during the eight hour period that the locations spanned, he did not appear to be moving. His tag is due to start transmitting again this evening (Sunday) when we hope to find out how he has fared during the remainder of his mammoth journey across the desert.

There was no signal from Martin yesterday (11 April) and we shall be concerned if there is nothing in the transmission period that starts tomorrow. As far as we know he is still in Lorca.

There was a brief message from Kasper over-night but without any location information. The battery charge was about one third full and it's cool and wet at the moment in the uplands of Algeria so this could explain the lack of signals.

As far as we know, Lyster is still in Ghana. The last transmission period should have been yesterday (11 April) and we really would like to see some signs of activity tomorrow. If we do,  he'll be on a much later schedule than other birds, as he was last summer.

Today's transmissions from Chris show that he has not moved far since 10 April. He may need to refuel for a week before the last leg of the journey from  Italy to Norfolk.

We have not heard from Lyster since a transmission on 1 April in Ghana. We have had periods when birds have been 'offline' but we would have hoped to have had a transmission or two in the last 10 days.

Our last point on 7 April put Chris in the middle of the the Mediterranean between Corsica and the French and Italian coasts. We weren't confident of this point as it was a poor quality fix and his tag appeared to be malfunctioning as transmissions continued for more than the scheduled 10 hour. However, it appears to have reset itself and at 9am on 10 April we picked him up in north-western Italy near the town of Sarzana. He appears to be in a mosaic of forest/farmland which looks like ideal staging habitat.

Over the Easter period we had Kasper crossing the Grand Erg Oriental Desert but frustratingly we didn't know if he made it! However on the 9 April we found him in the north-west Atlas mountains in Algeria in the Foret de Charef. This typical Atlas habitat (see http://www.panoramio.com/photo/9456326) looks ideal staging habitat.