Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map. If you enjoy these updates, please consider sponsoring a Cuckoo. Sponsors receive special updates about their chosen Cuckoo in the Cuckoo e-newsletter.
BB and Chance remain close
BB's tag transmitted on the 29 January while Chance's tag sent locations in the early hours of this morning which show that they remain just a few miles apart - possibly as few as two miles.
Chris content in Congo
Roughly 385km (240 miles) north of Lloyd's position, signals were received on the evening of 29 January from Chris' tag, but he has not moved from his previous location. Last year, his tag was still transmitting from Congo on the 19 February. The next signal received after that wasn't until the 6 March when he turned up in Togo.
Lloyd settled for now
Lloyd’s tag transmitted on the afternoon of the 31 January. He is still settled in the same area he has been in since around 7 December, but with David's new movement, could Lloyd be the next to head north?
Period of silence from David's tag
Transmissions received from Welsh Cuckoos
Transmissions were received from both our Welsh Cuckoos' tags on the evening of the 16 January but there have been no significant movements from David and Lloyd to report.
Chris remains close
Transmissions from Chris’s tag were received yesterday evening, he is currently 100km (62 miles) to the northeast of Chance and BB.
Just two and a half miles in it!
Further signals in the last couple of days reveal that BB and Chance are now only 4km (2.5 miles) apart from each other – that’s closer than when they were first tagged at either end of Loch Katrine in The Trosssachs National Park in Scotland! From transmissions received yesterday, BB appears to have travelled 2km (just over a mile) to the west, while transmissions today show Chance has moved 2km north and then 1km east of his previous location. They are so close now that you have to really zoom in on the map to be able to see both markers.
BB heads north
A transmission on the evening of 10 January confirmed BB’s location as still being close to the river. A transmission in the early hours of 13 January showed he had moved 119 km (74 miles) almost directly north. He is now in the Cuvette-Ouest region. Chance is about 7.5km (5 miles) from this new position, his tag transmitting from this location a matter of hours after BB did so. Chance and BB have moved to the first block of continuous forest to the north of the grassland - gallery forest mosaics of the Teke Plateau and are now only 100km (62 miles) from Chris to their north-east.
Chance leaves Gabon
Transmissions on 11 January show that Chance was in Gabon but a new position from the afternoon of 13 January revealed that he had moved 130km (80 miles) NE and had hopped over the border to join BB, our other Scottish-tagged Cuckoo and Chris, our remaining English-tagged Cuckoo, in Congo.
BB had recently moved north of his previous position and with Chance’s new movement, this has brought them very close together, no further than 20km (12 miles) but possibly within 7.5km (5 miles) or even closer - unfortunately the accuracy of the locations wasn't great enough to know for sure.
Chance has travelled about 131km (81 miles) to the north-east of his location in Gabon. He is now on the border between the the Cuvette-Ouest and Cuvette regions of Congo. Chance and BB have moved to the first block of continuous forest to the north of the grassland - gallery forest mosaics of the Teke Plateau and are now only 100km (62 miles) from Chris to their north-east.
BB resumes transmissions
There have been some small sighs of relief as BB’s tag starting transmitting again yesterday, after a silence of 11 days, confirming that all was ok. He had probably emerged from dense cover where the tag had not able to charge or transmit. The transmissions at around 10pm show that his new location is about 30km (19 miles) north-east from the previous location, and that he has remained roughly 8km west of the winding river. It is good to be receiving signals from him again!