Updates from our Cuckoos

Locations received yesterday early morning (10 August) revealed that Clement had left his residency in Senegal and was heading ESE over the south-western corner of Mali! He was still actively migrating when transmissions began at 0200hrs and appeared to have been migrating throughout the night. He had stopped by 0600hrs when had travelled 450km ESE from Foret Diambour. Although just inside the north-eastern tip of Guinea, Clement is only 200km (122 miles) form Bamako, the capital of Mali.

Clement appears to be skirting the closed forested zone to the south, and the area he is in is still just inside the semi-arid zone. It is, however, criss-crossed with watercourses which drain water from the high rainfall zone to the south and south-west. Many of these flow into the headwaters of the River Niger, which flows north-eastwards through Mali and into the southern Sahara Desert before turning east then back south in a huge arc into Nigeria. This massive flow of water from the humid south-western corner of West Africa forms a verdant strip in the otherwise barren desert, and is vital both for the humans who farm the Inner Niger Delta and other seasonally-flooded parts of Mali, and the millions of migrating birds who either winter there or use it on passage. For an account of the area and its importance to migratory birds, check out ‘Living on the Edge – Wetlands and birds in a changing Sahel’ by Leo Swarts, Rob Bijlsma, Jan van der Kamp and Eddy Wymenga.
 

Although his tag is not charging well and we are receiving very few good quality locations (as was the case with the other Cuckoos whilst they were at their stop-overs in southern Europe), on Saturday (6 August) Lyster was still in the Parque Naturel del Alto Tajo area. He had been there for just over a week at that time – his tag is due to transmit again this evening when we may get an update if it is charged sufficiently. He is experiencing a pleasant 22°C and bright sunshine.

Stop press! Three signals recieved last night, before his tags charge was depleted, showed Lyster on the move. He has headed off from the Madrid area in a SSW direction, apparently heading towards Gibraltar, by Thursday morning, when his tag is due to transmit again, he could be in Africa. Watch this space!

Having moved 100km to the south on Wednesday evening (3 August), Chris had returned north to his previous position by Saturday morning! We received several good quality locations spanning several hours soon after his arrival at the more southerly temporary location but we don’t know how long he spent there, other than that it was less than 2 days. Presumably conditions there were not to his liking so he returned to the previous location, knowing that this was a better bet…. He is experiencing pretty much the same weather as Kasper, 25°C, scattered cloud with the chance of thunderstorms.

On Sunday morning (7 August) Kasper was still in northern Nigeria about 40km (25 miles) from the border with Niger. He appears to be settled in the Bayan Dutsin Forest Reserve, where he has been for at least a week, hopefully having found good foraging conditions. The temperature today is 25°C with scattered cloud and the possibility of thunderstorms.

On Saturday evening (6 August) Martin was still on the edge of the Chari River floodplain. The Chari River provides most of the water flowing into Lake Chad and much of Chad’s population is concentrated around it. The weather today is a balmy 26°C with scattered cloud, however, thunderstorms are expected.

Yesterday evening (8 August) Clement was still in the Foret de Diambour, Senegal. Today’s weather should suit him, it is 25° C, dry and overcast.