Clement continued his south-westerly flight into Mauritania on Friday afternoon (15 July), advancing his position by 340km (210 miles) during the course of the day. This provides evidence that at least some Cuckoos migrate across the Sahara by day and night - previously we had thought they would rest in any shade that could be found by day to avoid dehydration. Perhaps by flying at altitude Clement was able to avoid the searing desert heat?
On Sunday evening (17 July) new locations placed him in northern Senegal, on the Ferlo River 140km (88 miles) ESE from St Louis – he had safely crossed the desert! Although towards the southern edge of the arid Sahel region, the area will be green by now having received the first rains of the wet season. Over the coming month, the Ferlo will swell under heavy rainfall – the outline of seasonal pools at Clement’s current location can clearly be seen on the google earth map. He has arrived at just the right time to take advantage of the pulse of productivity the rains will bring.
Clement has moved 3,100km (1,940 miles) SSW from his stopover in Valencia to his current position in Senegal in a maximum of seven days. From the Algerian coast, he took a constant south-westerly heading all the way to Senegal. This is the first information we have demonstrating a south-westerly migration into Africa for a UK Cuckoo – we were expecting them to migrate east of south given the information we had from ringing recoveries.
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