Updates from our Cuckoos

Selborne has been in his current location for around a month and doesn't seem to be moving far. He is moving around an area no more than a kilometer square. 

Locations received from Robinson's tag during the last few days show that he is still settled in the area of dense rainforest that he has been in for over a month. This may well prove to be his winter location. Robinson is one of four tagged Cuckoos currently in Gabon and, he is only 9km (6 miles) from Victor. Both are forest Cuckoos here in the UK, Victor was tagged in Thetford Forest and Robinson in Sherwood Forest.

During the last few days we have received a series of locations from Raymond's tag that show he has crossed the border from Gabon and is in Congo, on the Teke Plateau. During the project we have seen a few of our Cuckoos spend the mid-winter on the plateau, however, this year Raymond is currently the only one. The weather on the plateau is a pleasant 28 degrees with light showers. It will be interesting to see if Raymond remains here or joins our other Cuckoos in Angola.

During the last week PJ has moved a little further south in Angola. He is currently on the northern edge of the Coutada do Ambriz Reserve, and further south than any of our other tagged cuckoos. As the crow flies he is almost 7,000km (just over 4,000 miles) from his East Anglian breeding site. This is the third time since he was fitted with his tag that he has wintered in Angola. 

For the fourth time since his tag was fitted, Larry has made it to his winter location in Angola. He is currently just under 200km (just over 100 miles) northeast of Luanda and in an area of forest he has used several times before. He is one of five of our tagged Cuckoos that are currently in Angola. During his time wearing a tag he has travelled in excess of 56,000km (35,000 miles).

Lambert has moves south from the very northeast corner of Angola and is now in an area of forest 130km (81 miles) southeast of Santo Antonio do Zaire.

Carlton II seems settled in the area of rainforest he has been in for just over a month now. He might move further south, or equally he could remain in this location for the rest of his winter stopover, only time will tell.

As far as we can tell Cameron was alive when the most recent positions were received in early October, when he had just moved from Nigeria to southern Chad, adjacent to the border with CAR. His battery was very low then and it had been declining gradually over a period of months. We think that something is preventing it from charging well - it could be feathers or dirt. This could ultimately damage his tag's battery but equally, we might see him pop up again if the problem is resolved (rain washing off dirt or feathers moulting).

Since arriving in northern Angola in early November, Bowie hasn't moved much. He is moving around the area of forest he arrived in and we are recieving locations from his tag quite frequently but it seems like he won't move very far now until he begins to head north again, probably some time in late January or early February. He is just over 6,500km (4,000 miles) from his New Forest breeding site.