Updates from our Cuckoos

A little later than usual, but Peckham has made it to Africa! On the 23 October transmissions showed that Peckham was on his way south again, and by late afternoon was 505k (315 miles) further than his last position near Milan, and just a little further south than Rome. From here he flew 1210km (750 miles) across the Mediterranean Sea to reach the coast of Libya by the early afternoon of 24 October.

This is a very similar route to previous years, where he has left Italy for Libya and then headed onwards to Chad. In 2015, when he embarked on this same trip, he made it to Libya by early August, in 2016 it was early September and this year he is later again - in fact the latest arrival to Africa of any Cuckoos we have tracked! We are really pleased to see him have made it this far so late but he is not out of danger yet. He still has quite a way to travel to make it across the desert and find a suitable stop where there will be the necessary resources he needs to rest and refuel after such a long and strenuous journey. If he was in good condition when he left he will have more chance of making this successfully.

PJ has headed south and is now in the lowland forests of the Congo Basin, within Congo. He has covered around 590km (366 miles) from his previous location in the Central African Republic. 

From Nigeria, Selborne has headed 1450km (900 miles)  to Gabon, across the Gulf of Guinea - possibly stopping for a brief time on the island of Bioko- and then over Equatorial Guinea. Signals received yesterday show he was in the south of Gabon, close to the Monts Birougou National Park. This new location makes him the most southerly of all the tagged Cuckoos currently. 

Larry has remained in Chad since he arrived there at the end of August, moving only a short distance further south at the beginning of September. 

From northern Gabon, Victor has moved to eastern Gabon, travelling 270km (170 miles). He is now close to Mbay and the Mwagne National Park. Last year at this time he was in Cameroon where he remained until 26 October. He then went on to Angola, where we saw him spend last winter. 

PJ has continued quickly onwards flying 290km (180 miles) in an easterly direction which has taken him into the Central African Republic. He is still just north of the Congo Basin area. 

By the 8 October, Peckham had traveled to a location 32km(20 miles) south-east of Milan, Italy, having flown around 245km (150 miles) from his previous location in Switzerland. If he makes it to Africa from here, he will be the latest arrival to Africa of all the tracked Cuckoos since the project began. The previous record was 3 October. Hopefully he is not too late to complete his journey successfully and become a record breaker for the project. 

From Niger, PJ has traveled 1390km (860 miles) south east to Cameroon! He is just south of the Mbam et Djerem National Park and almost in the Congo Basin area, which covers the southern half of Cameroon and spans across six countries - Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. We expect him to move south into the Congo Basin over the next few weeks. 
 

A signal on 22 September shows Peckham continued on his way south from his last locations in Belgium and then France to reach Switzerland where he has remained for at least a couple of days. He is north-west of Stockholm, on the southern edge of the Gantrisch Nature Park, a mountainous area which includes many lakes. He also visited Switzerland in 2015, although was further to the north-east. He's still got a way to go to reach his wintering grounds but at least he is on his way!