Updates from our Cuckoos

 We have concerns about both of these Cuckoos. Mungo was last heard of on 2^nd August in the area north of Lake Chad that he arrived in on 26^th July, soon after completing his desert crossing.  The charge on his tag was very low at that time. Lyster has not been heard of since 8^th August, when he was still in sparse desert in Mauritania, having moved just a few kms in the preceding two days. His tag did not appear to be charging even though it was the middle of the day with very little cover in the area and the charge was very low when transmissions ceased. 

Things are quiet at the moment for Cuckoos tagged in England. We have not heard for some time from the tags on Reacher in southern Spain or John in southwest France – we hope this means that the birds are well on the way to finishing preparations for their desert crossings. Chris remains near Lake Chad but unfortunately Lyster is Missing In Action in Mauritania – we fear the worst for him, as outlined in his blog. 

In the early hours of 15 August we received a transmission from David's tag - the first since 20 July - which revealed his new location in Sudan! He is the seventh of our tagged Cuckoos to reach Africa and is the most easterly Cuckoo. He is in west Sudan, close to the border with Chad, where three of the Cuckoos are currently. The series of transmissions received show he moved south around 190km (120 miles) during the tag's on period.

No further transmissions have been received from Iolo in Libya or Lloyd in Italy since the 9 August. Indy also remains in northern Italy and we last heard from him on the 13 August. 

Wallace has flown 55km (35 miles) southwest within Germany and is now close to the village of Lauterbach in the Black Forest near Schramberg.  Mungo’s last transmission on 29 July locates him near Lake Chad but we haven’t received any further signals from him. BB is also in Chad and we last heard from him on 13 August.  

Lyster’s tag failed to transmit on the next 'on' period so we have received no further information about whether he has successfully completed his desert crossing or whether he remains in the desert.  This is a little worrying but, we have gone for long periods without receiving transmissions previously. 

We haven’t received any further signals from Reacher since the unconfirmed locations on 26 July placing him near Malaga. Meanwhile, John has remained in France, but has moved slightly north-east of his last position. He is now close to the town of Garein. Chris continues to transmit from the area north of Lake Chad.

John has actually moved northwards 60km (40 miles) from the Bayonne area and is between Castets and Rion-des-landes. He appears to have been moving around this area, perhaps trying to find some areas with plenty of food to help him fatten up before the next leg of the journey?

From his unconfirmed location in Croatia on 8 August, Roy travelled south, joining David in Montenegro, on the evening of 10 August. Since then he has been travelling around the municpality of Danilovgrad, presumably searching for a good source of food.