Updates from our Cuckoos

Signals received today show that David has now crossed into the Central African Republic, after a further journey of 420km (260 miles), and is clear of the block of more or less continuous closed canopy forest of the Congo Rainforest.

He is on a very similar schedule to last year, when he arrived at this location around the 28 January. He then spent almost 2 months moving along the edge of the forest block line before making a huge jump, at the end of March and into early April, to the western part of West Africa. This was quite unusual compared to the other Cuckoos who stopped over in one or two countries as they made their way west rather than apparently attempting it in one jump.

The last signal we received from David was on 16 December so we were relieved to see that he was once again on the move and that his tag was still transmitting. From his last position within the Salong National park, he had moved 375km (230 miles) north and was close to the equator. By the 27 January he had continued a further 160km (100 miles) north. This new move means he is one of the most northerly Cuckoos currently.

We last heard from David seventeen days ago from the Congo Rainforest. Whilst we are a little anxious about him the last transmission showed that the tag temperature was as expected. His battery charge was extremely low and his tag will have stopped transmitting soon afterwards. We are hoping that if he moves into some sunshine that his tag will begin transmitting again.

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. 

David has moved from the south area of Salonga National Park north-east to the north section of the park, a journey of 130km (80 miles). The park is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserveand is largely accessible only via river.

David is still in the area of the Salonga National Park from which his tag transmitted from on 5 October. On 24 October last year he was slightly further south, en route to his most southerly location a further 100miles south, where he spent December 2012.  

Currently David, Tor and Patch are all at a similar latitude and our the most southerly of the tagged Cuckoos. 

From his position on the 28 September, David had travelled 735km (450 miles) south by the afternoon of the 5 October and was in the Salong National Park. He was roughly 160km (100 miles) north of the area he arrived in on 24 October 2012 and spent the winter in last year.  This wintering location is one of the furthest south we have seen from our Cuckoos since the beginning of the project. Only Kasper from the first year of the project and Lloyd from last year have also travelled as far south as David to overwinter. 

David is now 749km (465 miles) south west of his last position in South Sudan. Having moved east of the Chaine Des Mongos mountains as he did last year, David has now over-flown the Central African Republic and he is now 100km south of its border in the Orientale region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is on a very similar path to last year and we would expect him to continue another 800km (500 miles) south-west to spend the mid-winter period in the same general area that he did then. 

On the 3 September, David was still in northern Central African Republic but by late afternoon on 5 September, he had travelled eastwards 470km (290 miles) to Sudan. This mirrors his movement last year when he moved from his position which was slightly further north, in Chad, and was in Sudan by 16 September. This surprised us as, at the time, as he was already much further east than many of the other Cuckoos. It’s really interesting that he has once again moved further east and to an area very close to that he used last year. 

Signals show that from his position in Sudan, David changed course and began to head in a south-westerly direction. By yesterday lunch time he was in the very north of the Central African Republic, having successfully completed his desert crossing. He is about 100km (60 miles) north of the Aouk Aoukale Faunal Reserve.