Updates from our Cuckoos

There was no signal from Martin yesterday (11 April) and we shall be concerned if there is nothing in the transmission period that starts tomorrow. As far as we know he is still in Lorca.

There was a brief message from Kasper over-night but without any location information. The battery charge was about one third full and it's cool and wet at the moment in the uplands of Algeria so this could explain the lack of signals.

As far as we know, Lyster is still in Ghana. The last transmission period should have been yesterday (11 April) and we really would like to see some signs of activity tomorrow. If we do,  he'll be on a much later schedule than other birds, as he was last summer.

Today's transmissions from Chris show that he has not moved far since 10 April. He may need to refuel for a week before the last leg of the journey from  Italy to Norfolk.

We have not heard from Lyster since a transmission on 1 April in Ghana. We have had periods when birds have been 'offline' but we would have hoped to have had a transmission or two in the last 10 days.

Our last point on 7 April put Chris in the middle of the the Mediterranean between Corsica and the French and Italian coasts. We weren't confident of this point as it was a poor quality fix and his tag appeared to be malfunctioning as transmissions continued for more than the scheduled 10 hour. However, it appears to have reset itself and at 9am on 10 April we picked him up in north-western Italy near the town of Sarzana. He appears to be in a mosaic of forest/farmland which looks like ideal staging habitat.

Over the Easter period we had Kasper crossing the Grand Erg Oriental Desert but frustratingly we didn't know if he made it! However on the 9 April we found him in the north-west Atlas mountains in Algeria in the Foret de Charef. This typical Atlas habitat (see http://www.panoramio.com/photo/9456326) looks ideal staging habitat.

Martin made it as far as Lorca in southern Spain, where we last heard from him. At about 2200 his tag temperature dropped from a normal 30-32 degrees Centigrade to 11.7. This is not necessarily a bad thing as tag temperature drops to these levels when birds are migrating at altitude. However it was not a step change and was a gradual change over the course of a night. Due to transmit tonight (10 April), hopefully we'll pick him up somewhere further north.

habitat-lorca-small.jpg

 

Thanks to Helen who sent in this picture of her local area in Lorca in which Martin last transmitted from.  She reported that the it's 'open hilly area with mostly (almond and olive) trees and some small groups of pine trees here and there. The weather has been very cloudy for days with rain and even hail until April 5. On April 6 and 7 there was a strong wind from the north west'.

Chris and Kasper are due to transmit later this afternoon/evening. Chris's tag was malfunctioning on the last transmission and sent messages for more than the allotted 10 hours so we hope it will have reset itself.

No news from Easter Sunday - Martin missed a scheduled transmission and we have not heard from Lyster since 1 April.