Grove 2

Named after an area near the sponsor's home which has been a reliable place to hear a Cuckoo over recent years.

Status : Active
Tagged : Tue, May 17, 2022 - 06:00
Age when found : Adult
Tagging Location : Wildgoose, Worcestershire

Satellite Tag No. : 232674
Wing Length (mm) : 229
Sex : Male

Grove 2's journey from 17th May 2022 to 6th January 2023

Updates on Grove 2 's movements

No news from Grove II

24 Mar 2023

There have been no updates from Grove II’s tag since 6^th January, so, sadly, it is increasingly likely that we have heard the last from him but there is still a glimmer of hope that he will yet reappear.

Grove II still in Gabon?

30 Jan 2023

Grove II arrived in Gabon in early October and although he moved a few hundred km east in mid December he has remained in Gabon. We last received an update from Grove II's tag on 6 January when he was in dense rainforest in eastern Gabon. Assuming he has remained here he is currently close to the border with the Republic of the Congo, approximately 50km north of the Gabon town of Okondja. Hopefully the radio silence has been caused by the dense rainforest canopy and we will receive further updates when he emerges. This is the first year of winter tracking for Grove II.

Grove II powers on to Gabon

06 Oct 2022

New updates received this morning show that Grove II has flown 557km (346 miles) south from his last location in Cameroon to Gabon. He is now close to Ivindo National Park in Central Gabon, a 300,000 hectare UNESCO World Heritage Site which is home to Western Lowland Gorilla, Chimpanzee, forest Elephants, and African Golden Cat. On the western edge of the Congo Basin, more than 430 bird species have been recorded at this site.

Grove II reaches Cameroon

29 Sep 2022

Grove II has flown 570km (354 miles) south east from Nigeria into Cameroon. He is now in the Littoral region of western Cameroon, approximately 95km (59 miles) north east of the capital Yaoundé.

Grove II moves to central Nigeria

27 Sep 2022

Over the last couple of days Grove II has flown 367km (228 miles) south east within Nigeria to his new location in Nasarawa state in north central Nigeria. He is now some 100km (62 miles) south east of the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Grove II moves east to Burkina Faso

28 Jul 2022

Having spent the last couple of weeks in Mali, Grove II has set off on his journey east across Africa to the Congo Basin. Updates received last night showed that he was moving through southern Mali towards the eastern border and the latest update which arrived at around 4am this morning showed that he was approaching the Tui Forest in south west Burkina Faso.

Grove II takes on the Sahara

11 Jul 2022

Since our last update Grove II has departed from Spain and flown approximately 2,500km (1,553 miles) south, crossing the Mediterannean and entering Africa. By 22:50 last night he had reached central Mauritania and was approximately 136km (85 miles) north east of the town of Tidjikja - famous for its Palm trees and dates. He is now passing through the Tagant Plateau, a stony part of the Sahar desert.

Grove II visits Spain

07 Jul 2022

Having crossed the Channel to northern France, Grove II has flown 913km (568 miles) south to north central Spain. A series of updates received early yesterday morning showed that he spent most of the morning in the area around the village of Retiendas in the province of Guadalajar, 68km (42 miles) north of Madrid.

Grove II arrives in France

04 Jul 2022

New updates from Grove II's tag received early this morning show that he is now in northern France. At 8:38am this morning he was in some woodland just south of the town of Les Monts d'Aunay in Calvados, north western France.

Introducing Grove II

13 Jun 2022

Grove II is one of two birds tagged in Worcestershire in the spring of 2022, along with Ripple. They join our third Worcs Cuckoo Calypso, tagged in 2021. Like Calypso, Grove II was tagged at Wild Goose Nature Reserve in Worcestershire. We set the nets in the exact same configuration that we used for Calypso. It was at the end of the day, with showers abating and when the conditions were right we turned on the MP3 system. Very little happened but we could hear a Cuckoo on the other side of the reserve... but he couldn't hear the MP3. I took a spare system half way between him and our nets. On playing he flew from his perch towards the nets and then heard the calls and flew straight into the net. He was then tagged in the comfort of a Wild Goose training area room and released over the fields with rare breed sheep, during a lovely sunset. It’ll be interesting to see how similar Calypso and Grove II’s travels are. Grove II’s tag was generously funded by an anonymous donor after the area near their home where they reliably hear a Cuckoo each year.