Having spent the last few weeks on the border of Chad and Central African Republic, Ashok has made a move of almost 500 km (310 miles) south in recent days and is currently close to the northern border of Republic of the Congo. 

After several weeks hanging around in the Médoc Regional Natural Park region, to the northwest of Bordeaux, Cuckoo Frederic has suddenly leapt, Lazarus-like, into life!  

Yesterday evening he set off south and flew approximately 130 km (80 miles), arriving in a lightly wooded region near the small village of Arengosse.  

Given that he had inexplicably returned to France from Spain back in mid-July and the fact that we were seeing his satellite signal repeatedly coming from a very small area, we were beginning to think that Frederic had perhaps reached the end of his journey.

So, it was quite a thrill to see this latest movement! Fingers crossed he is in good enough shape to continue his onward migration in the coming days!

Since his arrival in Chad in late July, Norman has been spending his time in an area to the east of Lake Chad. In recent days however, he has sprung into action and started to head south. 

Will he continue into Central African Republic or remain in the forests of southern Chad for a while?     

In the last couple of weeks, Arthur has moved around 780 km (485 miles) eastwards through Burkina Faso, and into Benin. 

He is currently on the country’s eastern border, close to Nigeria, and just north of the Kainji Lake Marine Reserve. 

Since our last check in with Cleeve, he has moved approximately 360 km (224 miles) east and is now along the southern Niger / north Nigeria border.  

Since his return to France from Spain back in July, Frederic appears to have been staying fairly loyal to an area near Bordeaux. 

Potentially, this could indicate that he has perished there and that his satellite tag is still sending signals, or it could be that he is simply still preparing to head south – last year Cuach Torc lingered in northern Germany into late September before he finally set off, not making a Saharan crossing until the end of October, so there’s still a chance that Frederic will spring into southbound action!       

Wilfrid has been in no big hurry since he arrived in Senegal in mid-July. However, a couple of weeks ago, he finally left Senegal and headed across southern Mauritania, through Mali, cut across north-eastern Burkina Faso, and into Niger. 

Over the course of just five days he covered approximately 2,100 km (1,300 miles). He is currently close to the Nigerian border, just 17 km (10 miles) north of the River Gagere.

After spending several days in south-east Mali, Cleeve set off across southern Niger and into Nigeria. In the last 24 hours he has covered over 500 km (310  miles) and is currently along the border of the Sokoto and Kebbi states.

After a very protracted stay in the hills west of Barcelona, we were beginning to wonder what was going on with Cleeve. However, in the last few days he has sprung into action.  

He suddenly took off and headed out across the Mediterranean, passing the north-east coast of Ibiza, and by first light on Friday he had made land fall in Algeria, close to the coastal town of Gouraya. Here, he spent the day resting and feeding in the lightly wooded hills just inland, before setting off across the Sahara. 

By Sunday evening (17) he had covered some 2,800 km (1,740 miles) since leaving Spain just days earlier and is now on the northern edge of the Ansongo-Menaka Partial Wildlife Reserve in south-east Mali.

Arthur has continued his leisurely tour of the Sahel region and has moved from Mali into Burkina Faso in the last few days, as we’d anticipated. Currently just 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital Ouagadougou, he is hot on the trail of Cuckoo Jim!