Updates from our Cuckoos

We received a good location for Martin on the 16th but this is the only message we have received from his tag in the past ten days. Despite the recent sunshine, the tags aren't charging to very high levels suggesting they are spending time under the forest canopy or in other dense vegetation.

After some weak signals we received a stronger  transmission from Martin at 01.07 on 16 January which showed him in the same place as previously, close to the town of Oko, Congo. 
 

We heard from Martin today but this, and the previous three transmissions, have been very weak and so it is hard to say accurately where he is. Hopefully we will get a stronger signal from him soon.

 Martin too is still on the Teke Plateau, transmitting from just west of the village of Oko on 1 January at 18.28.

During the week preceding 16 December Martin moved south from his previous position in southern Central African Republic and settled on the Teke Plateau in Congo, about 90 and 120km from Lyster and Martin respectively. Like them, he is using forest patches with lots of edges in this forest-savannah mosaic.

A message from Martin at 03.13 on 16 December shows that he is now 635km (395miles) south of his previous position. He is now around 80km (50miles) south-east of Lyster, and the fifth of our cuckoos to arrive in Congo.

We received a weak transmission from Martin at 14.49 on Tuesday 6 December that placed him still in the northern Savannah, on the northern edge of the Congo Rainforest.

A transmission received at 04.11 on Sunday 27 November shows Martin still in Central African Republic close to the edge of the Congo rainforest. He has been in this area since the 27 August. It will be interesting to see if he follows the other cuckoos and moves further south during the next few weeks.

We last heard from Martin on the 10 November and transmissions show that he is still in the same location in CAR. We should hear from him in the next couple of days. Will he have moved to join the others in Congo?

Early this afternoon, we received a transmission that showed Martin was still in CAR and is making short flights in the area.