161322

161322's movements

24 Aug 2016 - 161322 lost

We haven't heard from 161322 since the 6 August when he was in the middle of his desert crossing. The last locations received showed him in southern Western Sahara, 24km (15 miles) northwest of the desert town of Aousserd and we have to assume that he has perished.

11 Aug 2016 - Cuckoo 161322 not hanging around

After spending two days on the edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains, 161322 headed south across the Alboran Sea and into Morocco. After a brief stop in the High Atlas he continued south and west and is currently in Western Sahara, following in the footsteps of Cuckoo 161323 who successfully crossed the desert via this route a week ago.

02 Aug 2016 - 161322 on the move again

Data received from 161322's tag at 4 am this morning showed that he had flown 200 miles south and was on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain. 

20 Jul 2016 - Cuckoo 161322's incredible journey

During the late evening on 13 July, locations received from Cuckoo 161322 showed that he had left Italy and was heading out across the Mediterranean. As the night and early morning of the next day unfolded it became clear that he had embarked on an incredible journey. At 10.30pm he was 15km (9 miles) from the French coast close to the Illes de Hyeres and heading south.

The next location we received was at 7.30am on the morning of the 15 July. At this time he was over the sea, 45km (28 miles) north of Algiers and the North African coast. An hour later he was 65km (40 miles) to the west and flying parallel to the coast, albeit 30 miles out. At 8.40am he had turned north and was heading back out into the Mediterranean sea, only to turn west again and head in the direction of mainland Spain. By 10.30am he was midway between Algiers on the North African coast and Guardamar del Segura, near Murcia on the Spanish coast. He maintained this course and by noon was 54km (33 miles) from the Spanish coast.

He made landfall at 3.30pm just north of Guardamar del Segura but this isn't the end of this incredible journey. On the 18 June he had headed north and was just west of Madrid at a stopover site that several of our tagged Cuckoos have used in the past. It seems that this was where he intended to fly to when he left the French coast, but had possibly drifted off course. As soon as he could he corrected this and eventually made it there three days later, presumably much lighter than when he set off.

08 Jul 2016 - Cuckoo 161322 in Italy

On the 28 June we received locations from Cuckoo 161322 that showed he had left Norfolk and was in France close to Troyes. The next day he had moved further south, crossed the border into Switzerland and was on the northern shore of Lake Neuchatel. He didn't stay here long and by the morning of 30 June he was back in France on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, before moving back into Switzerland and finally stopping in the late evening of the same day on the mountain slopes just north of Martigny. He remained here for six days before heading south into Italy. He is currently close to the French border just north of Montoso.

Past updates from 161322

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