BB & Chance yet to move further south
28 Oct 2013Two of our Scottish-tagged Cuckoos, BB and Chance, from 2012 are currently in the most northerly locations of those we are following this year. BB remains in Chad, while Chance is still in Nigeria.
Chance did make a move south, almost reaching Nigeria's border with Cameroon, but for some reason retreated in a north-westerly direction again. He is currently just south of Gombe. By mid-October last year, he was further south, in Cameroon, but didn't move again until the beginning of November, when he journeyed to the Téké Plateau – the area of savanna and gallery forest in central Congo.. Will we see him do the same again in the next couple of weeks?
As for BB, last winter he spent from 17 September to 4 December in the same area as his current locaion in Chad, before then moving south to theTéké Plateau. If he does the same again this year, it may be a while before we see any further movements.
In addition to BB and Chance, this wintering area was also used by four of the Cuckoos tagged in East Anglia in the first year of the project , who spent winter of 2011/12 in the Téké Plateau, with the exception being Chris who each year has wintered in the Likouala-aux-herbes area, where he is currently. Last year, our English Cuckoos fared badly on their southward migration and Chris was the only East Anglian Cuckoo to make it to his wintering grounds. It will be interesting to see how many move south to winter in the Téké Plateau this year.
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