Updates from our Cuckoos

This is one feisty Cuckoo! The last of our tagged birds to leave the UK, Nick II has really ploughed on and is now the second of our birds to tackle the Sahara.

He is currently on the coast of Mauritania, having left Suffolk just 11 days ago! Since our last update, he has flown south through Spain, and cut across north-west Morocco before passing through Western Sahara, and arriving just to the north of Nouakchott, Mauritania’s sprawling and densely-populated capital.  

His next move should see him moving south through Senegal or Mali, before heading to his wintering grounds.

After a lengthy rest in central Italy, Sayaan has clearly felt the urge to get a move on in recent days.

He has now crossed the Mediterranean and is currently in northeastern Libya, in the Al Wahat District in the Jalo oasis, and about to commence his epic Sahara crossing.

When, and where, will he arrive on the other side?

After leaving the Basque region a few days ago, Cuthbert flew 380 km (236 miles) south, to an area just west of Madrid, in the province of Ávila, Castile and León.

Curiously, he then headed north again, covering another 380 km (236 miles) before arriving near the coast in the province of Asturias! He then headed a further 230 km (142 miles) south-west, and is now on the Atlantic coast close to the Portuguese border.

After a few days feeding up around the Spanish town of Tordesillas, Wilfrid headed in a south-westerly direction on the evening of 19 July.

In just three days he covered a distance of around 520 km (323 miles), passing Salamanca and Badajoz en route. Now in Portugal, he arrived in a fairly remote region just south-west of the Guadiana Valley Natural Park at 5.23am today (22 July).  

Our latest data received from Hafren, at 7.54 this morning, shows that he is presently following the Malachel River, a tributary of the Guadiana River in Extremadura, Spain.  

Currently midway between the cities of Cordoba and Badajoz, he has covered some 570 km (354 miles) since leaving the Soria province two days ago.

George II has now left France and is making steady progress through central Spain.

He has spent the last few days in the Soria region, and was in very close proximity to Cuckoo Hafren for a couple of days!  

He may have been the last of our tagged Cuckoos to leave UK shores, but Nick II has made steady progress in recent days.

Since our last update, he has flown a further 700 km (434 miles), crossing the western Pyrenees and into central Spain. He is currently in an area close to the River Tagus, just south-east of Madrid. This puts him well ahead of many of the other Cuckoos!

Sadly, it seems very unlikely that we will hear from Highland Cuckoo MacSporran again.

We are unlikely to ever know what happened to him as there are no clues in the data we received from his tag as to his fate. There were no signs of any issues with his tag until transmissions suddenly stopped mid-transmission cycle. This could be due to a sudden event such as predation, or it could be due to tag failure. 

There is a very slim chance of course that he is re-caught alive or that his ring or tags are recovered. 

Joe set off across the Mediterranean from Sardinia on Saturday night (13), covering 240 km (150 miles) of open water before arriving in North Africa close to Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia.

From here he carried on southward and commenced his non-stop flight across the Sahara. Our last signal, received yesterday evening (16), saw him some 2,800 km (1,740 miles) from his point of entry on the Tunisian coast. He is now in south-eastern Niger, close to the Nigerian and Chad borders.

Joe was the first our tagged Cuckoos to cross the Sahara last year too – he doesn’t hang about!    

The latest of our tagged Cuckoos to set off, Nick II left Suffolk on 11 July. He headed south, cutting across open water at Orford Ness National Nature Reserve, before skirting the Kent coast and heading out across the Channel from Dover.

From here he continued down past Rouen, bypassed Tours and is now close to Angoulême, a small city by the confluence of the Charante and La Touvre rivers.