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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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Concerns for Bill in Morocco

27 Apr 2017
A series of poor locations on the evening of 22 April show that Bill was in Morocco, having completed his desert crossing. Signals place him in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco again on 27 April and we are concerned that he hasn't moved on northwards during that time as we would expect the Cuckoos to do. The temperature on the tag appears low but we will have to wait for further information to draw any conclusions. The location will only update and show on the map if a good quality signal is received. At the moment it doesn't look too good for Bill.

PJ in northern France

26 Apr 2017
PJ has flown from southern Spain to northern France, covering 1,300km (805 miles). Signals received on 21 April showed PJ crossing the Bay of Biscay and by the afternoon of 22 April he was 35km (20 miles) west of Le Mans.

Larry heads to northern Spain

26 Apr 2017
From the Sierra Morenna Mountains Larry has traveled 460km (286 miles) northwards within Spain and is just north of Aras, a town in the Navarre region. Victor, the latest Cuckoo to have crossed the desert, is slightly further north than Larry and is in France. Who will be the next Cuckoo to make it back to their breeding grounds? 

Victor in France!

26 Apr 2017
Victor had been in Ghana since 11 April but transmissions on the 22nd April showed that he was in the Atlas Mountains in northern Algeria. He had completed his desert crossing having travelled over 3113 km (1935 miles).  We received a further series of signals throughout the evening which showed he didn't stop but continued onwards. We were able to follow him mid-way over his crossing of the Channel before the tag turned off. When the tag next sent signals it was around 48 hours later and Victor was a further 1000km north of his previous location in Algeria and was just 50km south west of Marmande in France! He is the fourth of our tagged Cuckoos to cross the desert and is curently further north than Larry, who crossed the desert a few days earlier. 

Larry completes desert crossing

20 Apr 2017
Signals on the 19 April showed that Larry had successfully completed his desert crossing and was north of the Sienna Morena Mountain range in the Castile-La Mancha region of Spain. He has travelled 2713km (1685 miles) since the last poor transmissions on 17 April in Mauritania. He is the third of our tagged Cuckoos to successfully cross the desert this spring.

Selborne is back

18 Apr 2017
During the early evening of Easter Sunday, Selborne arrived back in the New Forest. Since his arrival he has mostly been in the area of forest just to the north and west of Beaulieu, between Pig Bush and Beaulieu Road Station.

Peckham moving west

18 Apr 2017
During the last few days Peckham has been heading west. Around lunchtime on 16 April his tag gave a series of locations from Ghana. He is currently in an area of fairly open forest midway between Chiranda and Saronoase in western Ghana. 

Larry crossing the desert

18 Apr 2017
A series of poor locations received from Larry's tag during the early evening of 17 April show that he had embarked on his desert crossing, and was heading north through central Mauritania. We will have to wait until the evening of 19 April (the time when his tag should give locations again) to see if he has been successful. Right now this part of the desert is enjoying light southerly winds, which should help Larry on his way.

Selborne is the first to return to the UK!

13 Apr 2017
A series of poor locations show that Selborne has made it back to the UK and become the first of our tagged Cuckoos to arrive back! We await good signals to confirm his location, and when these are received the map will update to show this. When his tag powered back on during the early eve of 11 April he was still in Brittany but it was only a couple of hours before he then started heading north over Normandy and the English Channel to reach the Isle of Wight in the early hours of the morning. He has only a short distance to go before he is back on his breeding grounds in the New Forest. Perhaps he will make this short trip over the Easter holidays?

PJ in Spain

13 Apr 2017
Not to be outdone, PJ has also continued onwards, and from the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco he has traveled 650km (400 miles) to Spain. Poor quality locations indicate that he is currently south west of Seville. Once we receive further good quality locations his position will update on the map. Having just crossed the desert, PJ isn’t likely to move too far at the moment but you never know! Will he be the next Cuckoo back? 

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