Updates from our Cuckoos

Over the last few days Trent has flown 1,340 km (832 miles) east, taking him from his original position in Burkina Faso via Togo and Benin into Nigeria. He is now in central Nigeria, approximately 105 km (65 miles) east of the capital city of Abuja. 

Since our last update Trent has flown 162 km (100 miles) east, taking him out of Mali and into Burkina Faso. He is now in western Burkina Faso, approximately 100 km (64 miles) north west of the city of Bobo-Dioulasso.

Over the last few days Trent has flown 460 km (286 miles) south east in Mali. He is close to the Bagoe River, 58 km (36 miles) south east of the town of Diolila in the Koulikoro Region of south-western Mali. 

Since our last update Trent has been moving steadily east along the border between southern Mauritania and south western Mali.

He has so far flown 128 km (80 miles) east from his last location and is now 27 km (18 miles) west of the town of Niorro du Sahel in the Kayes region of western Mali.  

Trent has left Senegal and flown 320 km (199 miles) north-east into Mali. He is now approximately 22 km (14 miles) north-west of the town of Diongaga in the Kayes Region of south western Mali, just south of the border with Mauritania.

This area has seen some heavy rain over the last couple of days which should help ensure a good supply of invertebrate food for Trent. 

Trent has continued his journey south through Senegal. He has flown a further 60 km (37 miles) south and is now at the south-eastern corner of the Diambour Forest Reserve in south-eastern Senegal. Clement, one of the very first Cuckoos we tagged, spent some time here on his way south in 2011.

He is also now at the northern edge of the 9,000 sq km Niokolo-Koba National Park.  This vast area of woodland savannah, wet woodlands and seasonal wetlands should provide rich pickings for a Cuckoo like Trent.

Over the last couple of days Trent has flown 370 km (230 miles) south from southern Mauritania into Senegal.

He is now in a sparsely populated part of the sahelian plains of eastern Senegal, approximately 27 km (17 miles) east of the city of Tambacounda.

It is the height of the rainy season here so there should be abundant invertebrate life for Trent to feast on. 

After several weeks in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Cuckoo Trent has finally embarked on the next stage of his journey south, taking on the mighty Sahara.

He set off on Sunday evening (30 July) and 24 hours later he had covered 1,150 km (714 miles) and was over the desert of Western Mauritania.

He pressed on and appears to have stopped for 36 hours or so in the desert on the eastern edge of the Banc d'Arguin National Park. I must confess to having been a little worried about him during this stop but thankfully, further updates received this morning show that he has flown a further 400 km (248 miles) south, towards Mauritania's border with Senegal. 

Since departing his last location in Morocco on Sunday evening, Trent has flown a total of around 1,960 km (1,218 miles) across some of the most remote and desolate terrain on the planet.

He is now some 40 km (24 miles) east of the town of Aleg and 20 km (12.4 miles) north of a large lake, in south-western Mauritania. Hopefully he is able to find some food here to help him on the rest of his journey south into Senegal or Mali. 

Trent has flown 420 km (261 miles) south through Morocco and is now 41 km (25 miles) south–east of Marrakesh. 

He is on the lower slopes of Jebel Yagour, a mountain and high plateau in the High Atlases with a peak at 2,700 m (8,900 ft).  

Over the last few days Trent has moved south through Spain, crossed the Mediterranean and arrived in Morocco. Having made landfall in northern Morocco last night (Sunday 16 July) he then moved west then south west and by midnight was close to the Ouergha River, approximately 8 km (5 miles) west of Lake Al Wahda.