Update on Valentine.

 The latest bulletin from the BTO on migrant Cuckoos has arrived with news of the one I sponsor, Valentine.

Since our last update our Cuckoos have been making steady progress towards their wintering grounds. Valentine is leading the way, having passed through Cameroon, Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo, he is now in northern Angola. He is now only approximately 130 km (80 miles) north of his wintering location in 2019. Last year he arrived here on December 5 so he is a little ahead of schedule this year. If conditions are good, he may well stay in this area until late February/early March. 

Nearer home the Horse Chestnut outside my bedroom window has produced a record crop, the best in the last forty years, despite the extensive damage to the foliage from the Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner and a fungus infection.  

 

Bird Migration Goes On.

BTO have just posted news of their three tagged Cuckoos which have just started to move north from their winter quarters in the rain forests of Central Africa. My Cuckoo, Valentine, is number three in the queue. "A low quality location received from Valentine's tag suggests that he may also be on the move from Angola towards Democratic Republic of Congo. Hopefully he will emerge from the forest canopy soon and his tag will receive enough sunlight to send us a more reliable location." The birds will be feeding and fattening up in preparatiom for their Sahara crossings.