Updates from our Cuckoos

We haven't received any signals from Clement's tag since 22 February when he ventured in to Cameroon. He was the second Cuckoo to leave Congo but has since been left behind by all of the others as they moved west– he is the only one still in the eastern hemisphere! We have of course had many periods longer than this when we have not received transmissions from some of the Cuckoo’s tags but we are now concerned for Clement as we would have expected him to continue his movement westwards, towards where the other Cuckoos are, by now.

A signal received from Kasper's tag shows that he, like Lyster, has remained on the north-west shore of Lake Volta.

On the 12 March we received a transmission from Lyster's tag which showed that he has remained  on the north-west shore of Lake Volta, just north of Digya National Park, around 25km (16 miles) south of Kasper.

Chris travelled 328 km (203 miles) WNW from his previous postion in Togo between 9 and 11 March and is now the third Cuckoo , along with Lyster and Kasper, in Ghana. He is about 40km  north-west of Kumasi. This is an area that the BTO field team working in Ghana know well, as it is on the main route to the Nightingale study site at Nsuatre.

Martin has been taking the 'tourist route' - by 9 March, he had moved south from Mole National Park to Bui Mational Park in western Ghana. Two days later, he had moved 140km (87 miles) west from there to Ivory Coast.  He is currently close to the town of Kamele and is about 80km (50 miles) south of Comoé National Park.

Since Martin's tag suddenly began transmitting on the afternoon of 6 March, we have received several locations that placed him in northern Ghana - although there was some uncertainty (and hence the locations are not shown on the map) we think the last locations received late that afternoon placed him in Mole National Park where the BTO/RSPB/GWS/Naturama 'Migrants in Africa' project worked during 2009-11. This makes him the most northerly Cuckoo of our five at about 9.5 degrees north.

We have received no recent signals from Clement. His last position in Cameroon was further south and east than any of the other Cuckoos currently are - we expect him to move off in a north-westerly direction soon, when his tag should spring to life....

Positions for Kasper received overnight 6/7 March showed that he remains near Lake Volta. Lyster is also now in Ghana, just 30km (18 miles) to the SSW - this is the closest any of the Cuckoos have been to each other since leaving the UK.

Locations for Chris received yesterday (7 March) showed that Chris had moved 80km (50 miles) south-west and is currently in southernTogo, about 30km north of the coast and 10km from the border with Ghana.

A series of locations received for Lyster yesterday afternoon (7 March) showed that he had continued moving rapidly west and is now just north of Digya National Park in Ghana. He is currently 30km (18 miles) SSW of Kasper's latest location.