Updates from our Cuckoos

Over the course of the 1 March, Waller headed further west from his position just north of Lake Volta, travelling 465km (290 miles) and flying across the middle of Ghana. He arrived in Ivory Coast in the late afternoon and was 90km (55 miles) inside its border with Ghana.  At the moment he is 1300km (810 miles) further west than any of the other Cuckoos. Ken moved over the weekend and is officially in West Africa now. 

Waller has become the first of our tagged Cuckoos to move to West Africa!  The last signal placing him in Cameroon was received on 20 February and by the 27 February he had travelled a huge 1445km (900 miles), flying over Nigeria, Benin and Togo to reach Ghana. The latest signals reveal he is in eastern Ghana, 85km (52 miles) north of the northern edge of Lake Volta. 

This is the first return migration that we have followed for Scottish Cuckoo Waller but it's interesting to note that last year the first Cuckoo to move west was Chance, another of our Scottish Cuckoos. He also spent a few weeks in Cameroon before moving to Lake Volta in Ghana around the 25 February - very similar timing to Waller!  This timing does raise fresh concern that something has happened to either Chance, or his tag, as we have not received signals since 4 December and, given his timings last year, he should be on the move. 

Waller is still in the location in Cameroon , where he has been since early February. We last heard from him around lunch-time on 20 February. He is currently still one of the most northerly Cuckoos, along with David and Chris, who has recently moved north. 

We've received transmissions from Waller's tag which reveal that he is now in Cameroon, 390km (245 miles) further northwest than his last known location in Congo. He is moving closer to the edge of the block of the Congo Rainforest but still has a little way to go before he gets there. Only David is further north than Waller now. 

Since his stop in the Likuoala Aux Herbes area, he has continued another 88km (55 miles) north-west, and as of 12 January was just 9km (6 miles) from Norfolk Cuckoo, Derek.

Poor quality signals received from Waller's tag show that he remained in the area near the lake until at least the 21 December but by the evening of the 27 December he had travelled 240km (150 miles) north-west, leaving the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is now in Congo, just south of the edge of the Likouala Aux Herbes National Park, in which Chris has previously wintered in. Signals in the early morning of 30 December show that Waller he is still in the area.

Whortle and Patch have also both moved small distances from the lake, although in different directions.    

David, Patch, Waller and Whortle are all still in the Democratic Republic of Congo and all the tags have transmitted within the last few weeks. Patch and Waller are still close to the shores of Lake Mai while Whortle is a little further north,  

David, our one remaining Welsh tagged Cuckoo, has gone the longest without transmitting, with the last signal received just over a week ago on 16 December. This year David is a little ahead of schedule, having spent Christmas further north in the swamp forests in 2012 and moving a few days after to the area he is now in, just north of the Salonga National Park and close to a tributary of the Congo River. 

Waller moved from his location in the swamp forests on 30 November and signals on 2 December reveal that he is now to the west of the shores of Lake Mai and just 25km (15 miles) from fellow Scottish Cuckoo, Patch.  

Of the Cuckoos tagged in Scotland this year, Livingstone is still on the edge of the Téké Plateau, whilst Patch is in an area of closed canopy forest with seasonally flooded grassland west of Lac Mai in DRC. Waller is in the swamp forests about 120km (75 miles) ESE of Chris and Derek. All three of these birds could be in their final mid-winter locations, although we might well see Waller at least move further south towards the gallery forest / savannah mosaics.

Waller has now spent a month in this area. He arrived here at around the same time as Chris, who is slightly further west and who has over-wintered there for the last two years, and has shown no signs of moving on since. Time will tell whether this is his final wintering destination or not. This year, Derek has also joined Chris and is even closer to his location than Waller. This is the first year that we have seen other Cuckoos in addition to Chris using this area.