The last signal shown on the map was transmitted on 24 February but over the weekend we received a further poor quality signal which shows it's likely he has remained in the same area. Zooming in on the map you can see he appears to be in the depths of the Sankuru Nature Reserve. This is the world’s largest continuous protected area for great apes at 11,800 square miles and is the first large-scale reserve in the Congo to be managed by the indigenous people. None of the Cuckoos tracked last year wintered as far east as Lloyd, so we are waiting to see whether he will follow the other Cuckoos to Cameroon or whether he will do something different.
Updates from our Cuckoos
Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
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Lloyd still in DRC
Chance remains near Lake Volta
We have received several locations for Chance dotted around the north of Lake Volta in Ghana, the most recent of which was on 2 March. Last year Kasper spent around 3 weeks in this area while Lyster spent just over a week. Both left the area around mid-March 2012.
BB continues north
BB’s previous transmission in Cameroon showed he was on the border between the East and South Regions of Cameroon but from here he continued 100km (60 miles) in a more northerly direction, transmitting from his new location on 3 March. David and Chris are similar distances away from his new location, 124km (77 miles) and 141km (88 miles) respectively, although in different directions.
Chris preparing to move?
Chris is now the only Cuckoo not to have started his northward movement and remains in Congo. His last transmission was on 25 February - could he be feeding up in preparation or already on the move? Last year Chris moved to Cameroon on 2 March and took a slower route to Ghana than any of the other Cuckoos, stopping in Togo on 6 March and transmitting from Ghana on 13 March. How closely will this year’s movements mirror those of 2012?
BB leaves Congo
BB is the latest of the Cuckoos to have started moving north-west! He has left Congo and transmissions received yesterday afternoon show that he is now in Cameroon. He is on the border between the East and South regions and has covered 417 km (260 miles) since his previous position. David, who is also in Cameroon, is 197 km (123 miles) to the north of BB.
Chance arrives in Ghana
Having been in Cameroon for 2 weeks, new locations received for Chance in the early hours of this morning (25 February) showed he was in Ghana! The best location placed him 67km (41 miles) E of Yegi, a major crossing point on the Volta, although subsequent locations and sensor data suggest that he was probably still moving westwards at that time. This is a movement of more than 1500km (935 miles) almost due west and makes Chance the first of the tagged cuckoos to have arrived in the Ghana/ Ivory Coast region, which all remaining cuckoos used as a pre-Sahara crossing stop-over last spring.
David continues towards Chance
A new position received on the evening of 20 February shows that David has made another move northwards. He is still currently in Cameroon but has travelled 97km (60 miles) slightly west of north, and appears to be heading in the direction of Chance’s last transmitted location. This latest move means that there is 175km (109 miles) separating them now.
Chris and BB in Congo
Both Chris and BB remain in Congo, at the north end of the Téké Plateau and have shown no sign of moving north yet. We last received a location for BB’s tag this morning and for Chris's yesterday morning. Currently just 85km (53 miles) separates the two of them.
Lloyd on the move too?
A series of locations received early this morning for Lloyd’s tag showed he is on the move too! He has travelled 210km (130 miles) north-west within Democratic Republic of Congo since Saturday 16 February. This appears to be the beginning of his northwards movements and, although it’s only a short movement, suggests that he may well be heading to West Africa like last year’s cuckoos, despite wintering so far east.
Chance is joined in Cameroon
Chance, whose tag last transmitted on the 12 February, is still in the central region of Cameroon. Chance and David are now both in Cameroon, separated by 280km (174 miles).
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