Chance to west of Teke Plateau - 25 Nov 2013

Chance has moved roughly 150 km (95 miles) south-west from his first location in Gabon, away from the Teke Plateau area and is now to the west of this. Recent movements from other Cuckoos arriving in this area suggest that conditions may not be so good in the area this year as in previous years and this may explain Skinner's southerly movement to Angola.

Chance leaves Nigeria - 04 Nov 2013

Over the weekend, Chance has moved south from Nigeria to Gabon, covering a total of about 1320km (820 miles), as he crossed over Cameroon and ventured further south-east. Signals late last night and early this morning show he is now in the Haut-Ogooue region of east Gabon and is now in the Congo Rainforest, where he will spend the winter. 

BB & Chance yet to move further south - 28 Oct 2013

Two of our Scottish-tagged Cuckoos, BB and Chance, from 2012 are currently in the most northerly locations of those we are following this year. BB remains in Chad, while Chance is still in Nigeria.

Chance did make a move south, almost reaching Nigeria's border with Cameroon, but for some reason retreated in a north-westerly direction again. He is currently just south of Gombe. By mid-October last year, he was further south, in Cameroon, but didn't move again until the beginning of November, when he journeyed to the Téké Plateau – the area of savanna and gallery forest in central Congo.. Will we see him do the same again in the next couple of weeks?  

As for BB, last winter he spent from 17 September to 4 December in the same area as his current locaion in Chad, before then moving south to theTéké Plateau. If he does the same again this year, it may be a while before we see any further movements.

In addition to BB and Chance, this wintering area was also used by four of the Cuckoos tagged in East Anglia in the first year of the project , who spent winter of 2011/12 in the Téké Plateau, with the exception being Chris who each year has wintered in the Likouala-aux-herbes area, where he is currently. Last year, our English Cuckoos fared badly on their southward migration and Chris was the only East Anglian Cuckoo to make it to his wintering grounds. It will be interesting to see how many move south to winter in the Téké Plateau this year.

Chance leaves Lake Chad - 08 Oct 2013

From the shores of Lake Chad on 2 October, Chance moved south-west and by 7 October was 330km (200 miles) from the lake. He is 90km (55 miles) from the city of Maiduguri which is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. 

Chance on shores of Lake Chad - 11 Sep 2013

By the early hours of 10 September Chance had travelled the final 70km (45 miles) or so and was on the shores of Lake Chad. About 80km (50 miles) separate him and fellow Scottish-tagged Cuckoo, Patch, who is on the other side of the lake. 

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