By the 28 December, Skinner had travelled a short distance south but stayed in that location only briefly, heading north-west 130km (80 miles) towards the coast, and by 30 December was in Quiçama National Park. Due to war and poaching much of the wildlife, including the Elephant population, in this park was decimated but a rehabilitation programme during 2000 and 2001 saw two successful relocations of elephant from over populated parks in Botswana. 

The next signals received were on 6 January and revealed he had again moved on, 110km (65km) north. His new location means that he is now just 65km (40 miles) west of Chris, another of our East Anglian Cuckoos.  

Chris and Skinner look set to spend Christmas in Angola, having spent several weeks in the area. Skinner first transmitted from Angola on 18 November, while Chris joined him at the beginning of December. 

Angola is a new country for the project, visited by the Cuckoos for the first time this year. In the past two years of the project, Chris has spent Christmas in the Congolian swamp forests but has opted for a change this year. We aren't entirely sure why, but it is likely conditions weren't as good this year, as other Cuckoos using this area have also moved away.

When we first started the tracking project it was estimated that the satellite-tags fitted to the Cuckoos would last for between 2-3 years. So far we have 2.5 years of data for Chris on his migration and, fingers crossed, we are really hoping to complete a third year to see whether this different wintering location has any affect on his return migration to the UK.   It will also be interesting to see whether Angola is a place that Skinner may return to, as this is the first year we have tracked his migration and so do not have data to indicate this may be different from previous years. 

Low quality transmissions received from Skinner's tag show that he has moved 85km (53 miles) further south within Angola, to the Cuanza Norte region. 

Skinner was still in Congo on 14 November but his new location, received yesterday, really surprised us! Skinner had moved 550km, heading even further south, and as of yesterday afternoon he was in Angola.

Not only is this a brand new country for any of our tagged Cuckoos since the project began, it is also the furthest south, by several 100 kilometres, that any of our Cuckoos have ever ventured. If you are surprised by this – take a look at what the Cuckoos from Belarus have done here. 

The last signal from Skinner's tag in Gabon was on the 1 November. A couple of days afterwards he popped up in the Reserve de chasse de la Lefini in the Pool region of Congo, 340km further south-east from his previous location. This location is about 120km (75 miles) north of Kinshasa. He is now one of two of our most southerly Cuckoos, David being the other, who is 480km (300 miles) to the east.