JD

JD's movements

08 Aug 2022 - Saying goodbye to JD

In our previous update, we shared with you that strong winds had carried JD 300 miles (482 km) out to sea, from the coast of Western Sahara towards the Cape Verde archipelago. Against all the odds, he made it back to the African mainland, raising hopes that this Norfolk bird's watery detour had not put an end to his journey to the Congo basin. Sadly, however, it appears that JD has perished as no further updates have been received since the last signal from his tag on 24 July, shortly after he made landfall close to the port of Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second city. Having lost sight of land while out at sea, JD had returned the way he came. Without a ‘mental map’ to follow, he couldn’t have known that flying due East would have meant a considerably shorter journey and perhaps a better chance of survival. As it is, JD’s energy reserves appear to have been exhausted, sadly leaving him unable to find food or, perhaps, at greater risk of predation. No matter how long we are able to follow each Cuckoo, the data they provide contributes to our growing understanding of these remarkable birds and how we can work to protect them – JD and his adventures are no exception.

25 Jul 2022 - JD is all at sea

Since our last update JD has left Morocco and flown approximately 1,872km (1,163 miles) south west to north west Mauritania. However, having reached the city of Nouadhibou it seems that strong easterly winds carried him out to sea. By 19:33 on Saturday evening he was almost 300 miles out over the sea south west of Nouadhibou and heading towards Cape Verde.  He then appears to have done a u-turn and by Sunday morning had flown the 300 miles back to Nouadhibou where he remained for the rest of the day. He is currently approximately 600 miles north west of Cuckoo Bluey who has completed his desert crossing and is in Senegal. Hopefully this detour hasn't depleted all of JD's reserves and he will be able to complete his desert crossing in the next few days.

19 Jul 2022 - JD reaches Africa

Having spent the last few weeks in northern Spain, Norfolk Cuckoo JD has flown 959km (596 miles) south west, crossing the Mediterranean and arriving in north Africa. New updates received between 07:00 and 10:00 this morning showed that he was o some farmland in the northern part of the Sidi Kacem Province, approximately 120km south of Tangier.  

27 Jun 2022 - JD moves north

JD has flown 43km (27 miles) north east from his last location in the hills above Zuera in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon in north eastern Spain to a new location on some farmland 6km north west of the city of Huesca in Aragon. 

23 Jun 2022 - JD crosses into Spain

New updates received at around lunchtime today show that JD has crossed the Pyrenees and is now in northern Spain. He is in the Castejón Mountains in the Cinco Villas comarca, Aragon, Spain, approximately 30 km (19 mi) north of Zaragoza.

Past updates from jd