September 2012. BTO have revealed that no further signals have been received from two of the cuckoos and they have had to assume that they have died. A third cuckoo was already believed to have died in August.
Body temperature
Taking a look back at the temperature data, the last few messages from each tag show a lot of variety associated with time of day - i.e. cooler in the early morning and reaching over 30°C in the afternoon. Temperatures prior to that had always been higher than 30°C, even when the Cuckoos were in Britain. This suggests that the birds' body temperature wasn't influencing the tags' temperature and does, unfortunately, support the idea that they may have perished.
Taking a look back at the temperature data, the last few messages from each tag show a lot of variety associated with time of day - i.e. cooler in the early morning and reaching over 30°C in the afternoon. Temperatures prior to that had always been higher than 30°C, even when the Cuckoos were in Britain. This suggests that the birds' body temperature wasn't influencing the tags' temperature and does, unfortunately, support the idea that they may have perished.
Fires in Spain
The wildfires that have spread through Spain have been caused by chronic drought, which will have meant very dry conditions and made feeding more difficult. John behaved very oddly once he got to north-eastern Spain and even made an oblique re-crossing of the Pyrenees, and Reacher disappeared in exactly the area where the recent fires have been reported.
The wildfires that have spread through Spain have been caused by chronic drought, which will have meant very dry conditions and made feeding more difficult. John behaved very oddly once he got to north-eastern Spain and even made an oblique re-crossing of the Pyrenees, and Reacher disappeared in exactly the area where the recent fires have been reported.
Lyster (tagged in 2011)
Lyster, whose tag has also failed to transmit further signals since his position in the Mauritanian desert, took a similar route. He passed through Catalonia (one of the areas where fires have been reported) during late July and stopped off in what appeared to be an area of irrigated farmland, rather than the montane forests he used last year. This area is less likely to have provided such a good feeding opportunity and perhaps he failed to put on enough weight here for the desert crossing in Africa. Sadly, it looks as if we may only have one of the Cuckoos tagged in England left.
Lyster, whose tag has also failed to transmit further signals since his position in the Mauritanian desert, took a similar route. He passed through Catalonia (one of the areas where fires have been reported) during late July and stopped off in what appeared to be an area of irrigated farmland, rather than the montane forests he used last year. This area is less likely to have provided such a good feeding opportunity and perhaps he failed to put on enough weight here for the desert crossing in Africa. Sadly, it looks as if we may only have one of the Cuckoos tagged in England left.
Chris - 2nd year bird
Chris - the only one of the cuckoos tagged in England to have taken the route via Italy - is still on track. He has moved 52km (32 miles) south of his position on 8 September. He remains in Chad but is only around 195km (120 miles) north-west of the border with the Central African Republic (CAR), an area he visited last year, before continuing into the Congo Rainforest. Last year he remained in Chad until early October before travelling into CAR and then quickly on to Congo. It will be interesting to see how closely his activities this year match last year.
Chris - the only one of the cuckoos tagged in England to have taken the route via Italy - is still on track. He has moved 52km (32 miles) south of his position on 8 September. He remains in Chad but is only around 195km (120 miles) north-west of the border with the Central African Republic (CAR), an area he visited last year, before continuing into the Congo Rainforest. Last year he remained in Chad until early October before travelling into CAR and then quickly on to Congo. It will be interesting to see how closely his activities this year match last year.
Cuckoos from Wales & Scotland faring much better
A further 10 cuckoos were tagged in Scotland and Wales, and these appearing to be faring much better than there English cousins. Click here to see how the Welsh and Scottish cuckoos are progressing. If you would to be involved in this tracking, it is possible to sponsor a cuckoo.
A further 10 cuckoos were tagged in Scotland and Wales, and these appearing to be faring much better than there English cousins. Click here to see how the Welsh and Scottish cuckoos are progressing. If you would to be involved in this tracking, it is possible to sponsor a cuckoo.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/bto-2012-cuckoos.html
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