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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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Martin near Lorca, Spain

10 Apr 2012

Martin made it as far as Lorca in southern Spain, where we last heard from him. At about 2200 his tag temperature dropped from a normal 30-32 degrees Centigrade to 11.7. This is not necessarily a bad thing as tag temperature drops to these levels when birds are migrating at altitude. However it was not a step change and was a gradual change over the course of a night. Due to transmit tonight (10 April), hopefully we'll pick him up somewhere further north.

Thanks to Helen who sent in this picture of her local area in Lorca in which Martin last transmitted from.  She reported that the it's 'open hilly area with mostly (almond and olive) trees and some small groups of pine trees here and there. The weather has been very cloudy for days with rain and even hail until April 5. On April 6 and 7 there was a strong wind from the north west'.

Chris due to transmit

09 Apr 2012

Chris and Kasper are due to transmit later this afternoon/evening. Chris's tag was malfunctioning on the last transmission and sent messages for more than the allotted 10 hours so we hope it will have reset itself.

No news from Lyster

09 Apr 2012

No news from Easter Sunday - Martin missed a scheduled transmission and we have not heard from Lyster since 1 April.

No news today

09 Apr 2012

No news from Easter Sunday - Martin missed a scheduled transmission and we have not heard from Lyster since 1 April.

Chris over sea

07 Apr 2012

A poor quality fix put Chris over the sea in between Corsica and the Italian and French coasts.

Kasper pops up in Algeria!

07 Apr 2012

After 12 days with no messages from Kasper’s tag, positions received in the morning of 7 April showed he was in northern Algeria, having almost completed his desert crossing. He was moving north across the Grand Erg Occidental Desert, taking a path midway between those taken by Martin and Chris, heading more or less straight towards Algiers. Later today he should become the third of the Cuckoos to complete the northwards desert crossing.

Martin reaches Europe!

06 Apr 2012

Locations received last night showed that Martin had crossed over from Algeria into Spain. At 0325hrs he was situated in a well-wooded landscape about 18km (11 miles) west of Lorca in Murcia region. Although we can’t tell exactly where he crossed the Mediterranean, he appears to have taken a very similar route to that taken by Clement on his southward passage last July. This makes Martin the first of the Cuckoos to make it into Europe - will he be the first to reach Britain?

Chris covers the Sahara

05 Apr 2012

Our last record of Chris was from Ivory Coast on the 2 April at 11:09 BST. We next heard from him approximately 2,500 km away at 2100 on the 4 April on the southern edge of the Grand Erg Oriental Desert, a large field of sand dunes within the Sahara desert.

We tracked his desert crossing for 6 hours and he travelled about 350km. He should have finished his Saharan crossing by about breakfast time 5 April.  If he stays on the same track he should end up in north-east Algeria, approximately half way between Algiers and Tunis. We look forward to seeing which way he is coming back to the UK - to Spain or through Sardinia or Sicily through to mainland Italy... make sure you check back soon to find out!

Sahara crossing complete!

04 Apr 2012

Martin has successfully completed his desert crossing – by the evening of 3 April he was settled in woodland high in the Atlas Mountains of the Sidi-bel-Abbes region of Algeria. He is presumably taking a well-earned rest and undertaking a period of recuperation before heading north to Britain.

Fascinatingly, he is 37km (22 miles) south of the location that Clement stopped at before crossing the desert in a southwards direction, having crossed the Mediteranean from Cabo de Gata in southern Spain to the Algerian coast near Oran. We are excited to see whether he will re-trace Clement’s steps in reverse, thus taking a direct route back to Britain and forming a loop in his migration route.

Chris still in Côte d’Ivoire

02 Apr 2012

On 31 March, Chris remained just west of the Ghanaian border in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

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