Updates from our Cuckoos

No recent news from Kidman or Nicholas, whose tags last transmitted in Italy, or Carlton, last known to have been in the UK.

Victor is still in Nigeria but has moved 170km (100 miles) south west to the Old Oyo National Park.

Selborne moved to Burkina Faso at the end of July but a recent signal on 21 Aug shows a further eastwards movement of 370km (230 miles).  He is north of Tenkodogo and to the east of the Nakambe Forest. 

Signals received early on the morning of 23 August show that Larry is now crossing the desert! His location was western Egypt, close to the border with Libya, and was 2080km (1300 miles) south east of his last position in Montenegro. His location in Egypt is very far east compared to many of the routes taken by our Cuckoos since the project began with only Lloyd (in 2012) and Viator (in 2015) having ventured this far east. Lloyd went on to winter in the heart of the Congo rainforest while Viator perished a little further south, in Sudan, and did not complete his desert crossing. We wondered at the time whether this was possibly due to the wet summer which may have impacted on his migration preparation. We hope that the next signals we receive from Larry's tag show that he has successfully completed his desert crossing! 

A poor signal on 21 August placed Boris in southern Mauritania, roughly 1140km (700 miles) further south than his previous position in Algeria and not far from completing his Sahara crossing. We would have expected him to continue at least as far as Mali where conditions will likely be better for feeding up after his long journey but so far no further locations have been received to reveal that he has moved on and completed his desert crossing.  We are a little concerned about this but will have to wait for more information. 

On 16 August Larry was still transmitting from Poland but by the morning of the 18 August he was 700km (430 miles) to the south in eastern Croatia. A good signal on the afternoon of 20 put him further south still, this time in Montenegro, 265km (165 miles) on from this location in Croatia.  He is just north of the Biogradska Gora National Park, a mountainous region with many lakes.  

Peckham has left the UK and headed 290km (180 miles) to Belgium. This is his second attempt to leave, the first of which was thwarted by heavy rain. In previous years his first transmission outside of the UK have come from Switzerland and The Netherlands. He is currently moving around the area between Lummen and Diest. Having spent longer than usual in the UK we may see him move on quite speedily.

By the 11 August Victor had moved 345km (214 miles) southeast to northern Ghana before continuing on a further 630km (390 miles) east to Nigeria over the next couple of days. The last signals show him to the south east of the Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River, formed by the Kainji Dam. 

A transmission on the morning of the 14 August revealed that Mr Conkers had left Morocco and sucessfully crossed the desert. He covered 1660km (1030 miles) south to reach the Ferlo Nord Wildlife Reserve in Senegal. He has taken a more westerly route than any of the other Cuckoos this year.