Updates from our Cuckoos

Lyster has travelled an amazing 1350km (800 miles) in two days, leapfrogging Chris to take the lead in the race back to the UK!

Lyster first arrived in Algeria on the 13th April, and data transmissions received on the 25th of April showed he had made a move from the date plantation in the desert northwards into the Atlas mountains. A location received late on the 27th showed that Lyster was in France about 115km (70 miles) south of Paris! He took two days to cross the Mediterranean and make it as far as central France, a journey of just over 800 miles.

We are due to receive further news from Lyster today. Could he be the first tagged Cuckoo to return to the UK?

 No further transmissions have been received from Kasper, who was last heard from in Algeria. We have heard from Lyster, who has remained in Algeria for a number of days after his Sahara crossing, so hopefully Kasper is doing the same and we will hear from him soon.

Despite being the first of our Cuckoos to safely cross the Sahara and the Mediterranean, we have received no further data from Martin since 6th April. There has been some bad weather across the Mediterranean in recent days, proving a challenge for all migratory birds, but we are increasingly concerned. 

 Lyster remains in Algeria, but over the weekend he made a move nearer to the coast. We received further data from him yesterday (23rd April) showing that he is still on the north African coast. If weather conditions are suitable we may find that the next transmission from Lyster sees him safely back on mainland Europe.

We hoped Chris would have made the big jump over the weekend but persistent bad weather has kept him in Italy. We have received lots of data from him, on Saturday and again this morning, so we know that he is making small movements around northern Italy. There is a band of bad weather running directly across Chris' route to Norfolk, hopefully this will clear soon enabling Chris to complete the final leg of his journey. The adverse weather conditions seem to be a major factor in this year's migration, with many migratory species appearing in lower numbers than we might otherwise expect for the end of April. 

Locations received for Lyster early on the 16 April showed that he was 260km (160 miles) NE of his previous position and only 80km (50 miles) from the Tunisian border. He appears to have settled in a date plantation and has not yet finished his desert crossing. Could bad weather be responsible for this early stop? His tag should transmit again tomorrow morning (18 April) and as the wind is due to drop overnight, he may have moved on by then.

We have had no further transmissions from Kasper's tag since the last 8 days ago but he has now been joined by Lyster in Algeria. There is around 350km ( 225 miles) between them.

Martin was the first of our Cuckoos to return to Europe, but we have not received a signal from him since his last movement in Spain on 6 April. The weather may have had something to do with him staying put for a few days with thunderstorms, hail and strong northerly winds.

We heard from Chris's tag on the evening of the 14 April but there has been no further movement from his previous position in Italy. He is poised for his return to the UK and could arrive anytime.

During the afternoon and early evening of 13 April, we received a series of locations for Lyster - the first since 1 April.  They showed that he had emerged from Ghana and had almost completed his desert crossing! As with the three Cuckoos that had preceded him across the desert he was located in northern Algeria, his route having taken him between the paths taken by Chris and Kasper. He was between the Grand Erg Oriental and Occidental deserts and during the eight hour period that the locations spanned, he did not appear to be moving. His tag is due to start transmitting again this evening (Sunday) when we hope to find out how he has fared during the remainder of his mammoth journey across the desert.