Updates from our Cuckoos

KP has flown 405km (252 miles) south from his last location in Central African Republic to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is now in north-west DRC.  

After more than a month in southern Chad, Irish Cuckoo KP is on the move again.

New updates received this morning (Monday 23 October), show that he has flown 464km (288 miles) south and is now in Central African Republic (CAR). He is in the northern part of the Ouaka region of CAR, approximately 200km north of the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Sussex Cuckoo Sayaan also passed through CAR a few days ago and is now in the Congo Basin.  

After keeping us waiting for a week, KP is finally on the move again and has flown 71 km (44 miles) south in Sudan. He is now in the Meidob volcanic field, an area of 100 km x 50 km of lava flows in northern Darfur.

This is largely a barren area but there are mountain springs, wadis and a lake which support the growth of trees and shrubs. Hopefully KP is finding sufficient food here to keep him going as he nears the southern edge of the Sahara. 

We have been waiting anxiously for further updates on KP's progress across the desert, willing him on during his epic journey. Since our last update he has battled on south, flying a further 920 km (572 miles) from Egypt into Sudan.

The most recent updates received between 3 pm and 10 pm yesterday showed him in the desert some 50 km north of the Meidob volcanic field in Darfur, Sudan.

Although he is still in the desert, he appears to be in a seasonal river bed and with heavy thunderstorms yesterday, he may well be able to find some food here.

We'll keep our fingers crossed that the next time we receive an update from KP's tag he will have completed his desert crossing. 

KP has been rather dormant of late, but he's now on the move again. He's finally left northern Italy, departing on Saturday night at around 10pm and progressing south-east through Italy.

By 6:45 on Sunday morning he had reached the foot of Italy but pressed on across the Mediterranean and by 16:25 yesterday afternoon he had reached Tobruk on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt.

He has since progressed onwards south into the Sahara and by the time the last update reached us at 09:17 this morning he had flown 772 km (480 miles) from Tobruk. At that time he was over the desert, straddling the border between Libya and Egypt, approximately 215 km (134 miles) north-east of the Libyan town of Al Jawf.  

KP has flown 2,750 km (1,708 miles) since leaving Northern Italy on Saturday night. Hopefully he has enough energy reserves to take him the rest of the way across the desert, despite the long journey he has already undertaken. 

By early Wednesday morning (28 June), KP had crossed the Alps and arrived in northern Italy. He passed over San Pellegrino Terme and moved on south-east towards Lake Garda.

The latest updates from his tag arrived early this morning. They show him in the hills to the east of the town of Nave, in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy.

KP is on the move! He left his breeding grounds yesterday afternoon and flew 86 km (53 miles) east. He spent the rest of the day in or around Castleblagh Forest, close to the village of Ballyhooly in County Cork.

A couple of further updates received late last night suggest that he may since have moved on, in a south-easterly direction towards Youghal. Will he stop again before crossing the sea, or is he aiming for Cornwall – or even France?

Cuckoo KP was tagged at Incheens in Killarney National Park, one of several male Cuckoos caught by our team on the morning of 17 May. He is one of four Cuckoos tagged in Ireland this year.

Since being tagged, KP has remained in the same area.