Updates from our Cuckoos

Carlton II didn't stop long in France, by 10:20 yesterday morning he had arrived back in England, making him the first of our tagged Cuckoos to arrive back. It looks as if he was enjoying the lockdown quiet in the parks of South London as the data place him close to the Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Golf Club. He then headed west and the last location we received from him last night showed him in Berkshire. If you heard a Cuckoo in the vicinity of Shurlock Row in Berkshire last night, it could well have been Carlton II! 

After many weeks of radio silence we finally received an update from Senan's tag on Friday 16th April, showing him approaching the foot of Italy. However further updates since show him in Egypt, Tunisia and, most recently, north-western Algeria. All but one of the signals have been of low quality and, despite all of the solar charging it will have received during the desert crossing, the tag's battery is very low on charge. Unfortunately this means that although Senan is likely to be migrating as expected, his tag is giving up the ghost and we are on the verge of losing contact with him. We will of course continue to monitor the data closely and will update you if we do receive any further transmissions from Senan's tag. 

Carlton II hasn't hung around since leaving Ivory Coast! In just under seven days he has flown 2,755 miles (4,434 km), leapfrogging PJ and taking the lead as our first Cuckoo to reach France. He is close to Marcilly-sur-Maulne in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. He is now only 350 miles or so from his breeding grounds at Carlton Marshes in Suffolk. Will he be the first of our tagged Cuckoos to make it back this year?   

By yesterday evening, PJ had left Andalusia, flying 245 km (152 miles) north, over the Sierra Morena mountains and into central Spain. He is now close to the city of Talavera de la Reina and very close to an area he visited for a few days in 2019.  

A series of updates from Carlton II last night showed that he is crossing the desert and by 19:15 had reached Algeria, having flown 2,505 km (1,557 miles) from his stop-over location in Ivory Coast. When we receive the next update it'll be interesting to see if he has stopped in north Africa or pressed on to Spain. Last year Carlton II arrived in north Africa on 21st April, had crossed to Spain by 23rd April and arrived in the UK on May 2nd. 

PJ didn't hang around in Morocco, instead he has pressed on, traveling a further 577 km (358 miles) north over the Mediterranean to Spain. He is now in the Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park, close to Retortillo Reservoir in the province of Córdoba, Andalusia. PJ arrived back in the UK between 18 and 30 April in 2017, 2018 & 2019 so we expect him to be on the move again soon. It looks likely that he will be the first of our tagged Cuckoos to arrive back, unless one of the others makes a move very soon.

A series of updates received from PJ's tag early this morning show that over the last 48 hours or so, he has covered another 1,226 km (762 miles) from his last location in Mauritania to his current location in Morocco. In total he has flown 2,840 km (1765 miles) since leaving his stop over location in Ivory Coast. He is now on the southern edge of Barrage Ahmed El Hansali (formerly Barrage Dchar El Oued), a lake on the river Oum Er Rbia at the northern foot of the Middle Atlas mountains near Khenifra. In previous years he has only spent a few days in Morocco before pressing on to Spain.

A series of updates from PJ's tag early this morning show that he has embarked on his desert crossing. Over the last few days he has left Ivory Coast and flown over the southwestern corner of Mali and into Mauritania. The latest update which arrived at 06:22 this morning showed that he has flown 1,825 km (1,134 miles) from Ivory Coast and is now in or over north western Mauritania. PJ was tagged in 2016 and in the three previous spring migrations he has crossed the desert further east, mostly over Mali. In previous years, he has made his desert crossing between 6 and 13 April, so he is right on schedule. The mean arrival data of Cuckoo in the UK is around 20th April and some have already been reported here. We will now keep our fingers crossed that when we receive the next update, PJ will have safely completed his desert crossing. Stay tuned!

Since our last update Carlton II has crossed back into western Ivory Coast and in the last few days has flown 175 km (109 miles) north into northwest Ivory Coast. He is now in the north west corner of the Bafing region of Ivory Coast.