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Senan

Named by sponsor Marie Claire Kazmierczak for a local (Co Clare Ireland) saint who was known to be an exceptional traveller - he travelled across Europe in the 510-520 ad period. Let’s hope this cuckoo is also an exceptional traveller.

Senan the Cuckoo
Status:
Inactive
Tagged:
Thursday, June 6, 2019 - 09:00
Tagging Location:
BTO Nunnery Lakes Reserve, Norfolk, England
Sex:
Male
Age when found:
Second-year
Satellite Tag No.:
179106
Wing Length (mm):
224

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Senan's journey from 06 June 2019 to 15 July 2020

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Senan's movements

26 May 2020 - Tennyson and Senan likely to be lost to us

We've previously reported that Senan's tag battery has been low for a while and not charging properly. After a long period of silence, we were pleased to receive the locations from Algeria, and later from Spain, to show he was migrating. However, with no further signals since the 5 May, it looks like we may finally have lost contact with him. Similarly, Tennyson's battery has also experienced charging issues and we had hoped we would receive signals at some point during his northward movements, when the solar panel was exposed to longer periods of sunshine. However, we've not heard from his tag since early April. In both these cases it appears we have lost the tag signal rather than the bird and we hope both these Cuckoos return to the UK safely - even if it's unlikely we'll be able to update you. Do keep your eyes peeled if you are on the Norfolk/Suffolk border though!

04 May 2020 - Senan in Spain

A series of new updates received from Senan's tag over the weekend show that he has crossed the Mediterranean, flying 610 km (380 miles) north from Algeria to Spain. He is now in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, in eastern central Spain. As we have reported before, we think Senan's tag may stop transmitting any day so we are delighted to receive another update and will be keeping our fingers crossed that he will check in again over the next few days. 

24 Apr 2020 - Senan in Algeria

We've had several more updates from Senan now, all showing him in the Tlemcen province of north-western Algeria, close to the border with Morocco. He is currently approximately 10 km (6.25 miles) south west of the town of Sidi Djillali.

20 Apr 2020 - Senan checks in before checking out?

After many weeks of radio silence we finally received an update from Senan's tag on Friday 16th April, showing him approaching the foot of Italy. However further updates since show him in Egypt, Tunisia and, most recently, north-western Algeria. All but one of the signals have been of low quality and, despite all of the solar charging it will have received during the desert crossing, the tag's battery is very low on charge. Unfortunately this means that although Senan is likely to be migrating as expected, his tag is giving up the ghost and we are on the verge of losing contact with him. We will of course continue to monitor the data closely and will update you if we do receive any further transmissions from Senan's tag. 

16 Mar 2020 - No news from Senan

We haven't received any further updates from Senan since 20th Feb when he was in Congo, close to the border with Gabon. Hopefully we will hear from Senan when he starts to move north again.

Past updates from Senan

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