Yearly Archives: 2015

Chough report: July 2015

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Jersey’s first wild chough chick in one hundred years made its maiden flight out of the nest on 2nd July. Well at least we assume that is how it made it up to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the quarry. It was a long time before we actually witnessed a ‘flight’ and even then it was best described as a choreographed fall. Or was it pushed?

Dusty with parents on the first day away from the nest building. Photo by Liz Corry.

Chough chicks spend a while walking and jumping around the nest site learning all the basics before actually taking flight. Dusty, named by Ronez quarry staff, did exactly that only in this case Dusty left the busy quarry building his parents had nested in and chose the very tall ‘climbing frame’ next door to play around on.

Dusty’s parents, Green and Blue, stayed very close to their chick for the first few days. The video below shows them training Dusty.

They would fly up and perch next to Dusty then take a short flight around the building and back trying to encourage the chick to do the same. Time after time they tried but Dusty was having none of it, which is why we are a tad suspicious of that first ‘flight’.

Parents feeding their wild born chick in the quarry. Photo by Liz Corry.

Dusty did make a few flights around the top of the building over the next few days, but didn’t have much need to go elsewhere. Why would you when your parents are bringing you food and you have one of the safest play areas a chough could want?

Green and Blue adopted a different approach to encouraging Dusty away from the buildings. Starvation.

I’m not suggesting this is an appropriate, or legal, parenting technique, but in the case of a chough it worked.

Not quite as extreme as it sounds. It simply meant the parents were spending less time with Dusty and more time foraging with the flock. They would still return with food for Dusty from either the aviary or the grazed cliff tops, just not as often. Instead of short demonstration flights around the buildings they would fly across the bay to Sorel Point.

Exactly a week after leaving the nest site, Dusty ‘s hunger to be with mum and dad (in both senses of the word) overcame its insecurities and the first flight to Sorel Point was made. Then they kept flying! All the way around to the grazed fields by the aviary to join the other thirteen choughs.

Dusty and parents coming into land at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry.

It wasn’t long before Dusty went to the aviary. At each supplementary feed when we called the birds to the aviary Dusty would be following eagerly begging for food of mum and dad. However, it took a long time for Dusty to pluck up the courage to actually go in the aviary. Initially it might be fair to say the optical illusion of the netting might have confused the youngster.

Dusty on the outside of the aviary begging to parents inside. Photo by Liz Corry.

Very quickly it was apparent that Dusty was wary about going inside. This was actually really encouraging to observe as it meant the chick wasn’t naïve. Having been raised by captive-bred parents in relatively close proximity to people you might think that this chick would be a little too comfortable around potential threats.

Dusty will now go in the aviary visiting the food dishes on the target boards and has even landed on the weighing scales.

Mum and Dad are still feeding on demand although you can see them trying to encourage Dusty to become more independent.

The general method being deny and ignore. It doesn’t always work and we have witnessed a few scuffles between Dad and chick.

P1610093Update from the free-living flock

The other choughs have accepted Dusty into the flock. There has not been any change in behaviour due to an additional member. Even one as noisy as Dusty.

P1600582P1600897They have started exploring new ground at Sorel looking for insects. The grazed headland is quite hard and compact at this time of year as the sun bakes the soil. The insect larvae available in the soil will be quite hard to get to. The grassy slopes leading down to the sea have looser soils and appear to be more inviting for the choughs right now.

They are still going through their moult, as shown by the chough in the flight in the photo below. They look a bit scruffy, but it isn’t stopping them from putting on their famous acrobatic flights of fancy or maneuvering away from an incoming peregrine. The latter has happened on several occasions this month as the young peregrines are out and about learning their trade.

New arrivals seeking Jersey residency

There has been one change at Sorel which effected the free-living choughs more than Dusty‘s arrival and that was the import of eight parent-reared chicks from Paradise Park. The team at the wildlife sanctuary in Cornwall have had another successful breeding season. They kindly agreed to loan Durrell eight of the eleven chicks that had successfully fledged this year (fully expecting not to see them again unless on holiday in Jersey!). Even better news was finding out that the DNA sexing results show we have four males in the group helping to address the balance out at Sorel.

Three of the parent-reared chicks with their parents at Paradise Park, Cornwall. Photo by Alison Hales.

Three of the parent-reared chicks with their parents at Paradise Park, Cornwall. Photo by Alison Hales.

Once again Lee Durrell and Colin Stephenson eagerly stepped up to offer to fly over and bring back the lucky eight. On the 16th July the three-month old chicks were caught up, crated, and driven to Perranporth airport by Ray Hales and curator David Woolcock. We made it through the very localised Cornish fog and cross winds to land around 1pm. After a brief refuelling of a bacon roll, cup of tea, and a catch up with friends, we loaded the choughs onto the plane and taxied off for our return to Jersey. An hour later we had landed and met by Dennis Moseley, Head of Operations, in the Durrell van to take the choughs on their last leg of the journey to Sorel.

Pilots Lee Durrell and Colin Stephenson alongside Liz Corry at Perranporth airfield. Photo by Ray Hales.

Pilots Lee Durrell and Colin Stephenson alongside Liz Corry at Perranporth airfield to collect the chough chicks. Photo by Ray Hales.

Once at Sorel their ordeal wasn’t over as they then had to go through their vet checks which included blood and faecal samples. The quarantine process began as soon as they entered the aviary and lasts for 30 days providing they all pass their tests. Feacal samples are submitted every seven days and tested at Durrell’s laboratory.

For the first week they were kept in section 1A separated from our hand-reared chick to allow them to settle in. We then gave them access in with our chick so they could socialise together.

Initially the parent-reared chicks were very scared as you can imagine. They quickly learnt to associate the arrival of the free-living group at the aviary with food provided by staff. We don’t know yet if they are responding to the whistle as the logistics of training the group and feeding the other sixteen at the same time is very challenging.

Throughout this the free-living choughs could still enter the aviary poly tunnel, but locked out of the shed sections (1A and 1B). This meant that the eight juveniles who normally roost in section 1 were forced to find alternative roost spots. Once the 2015 chicks have access to the entire aviary the free-living group will not be able to go inside the aviary until we start releases.

Sunset at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry.

Sunset at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry.

A roost check from 19:30 until 21:00 (sunset at 20:50) confirmed that the juveniles were still sleeping at the aviary, but using the external roost boxes next to the parent-reared chicks.

It also highlighted what happens when people get too close to the aviary at the wrong time of day. The birds had already gone to roost by 19:50, spending the rest of the daylight hour to preen and tidy up. A couple approached the field gate and started to open it. This sent the birds out of their roost boxes and off to the other end of the aviary where they watched the couple closely. As the visitors got closer the choughs flight or fight response kicked in and the flew….off to the cliffs out of sight. The birds locked in the aviary started to panic flying around in a confined space.

The couple clearly meant no harm and they have every right to be in the field as there is public access. Once they left the field the birds inside calmed down and half an hour later the juveniles returned.

Whilst very frustrated that my working day had just been extended I do have to thank the mystery couple. If I had not have gone looking for the juveniles on the cliff I would not have seen the small pod of dolphins swimming across the bay!

P1610281Update on our hand-reared chick

The hand-reared chick in the release aviary. Photo by Liz Corry.

Last month we reported on how we moved our hand-reared chick up to the release aviary whilst still a nesting so she can fledge in the aviary and learn from the other choughs.

She had a rocky start overwhelmed by her new surroundings and the very loud gang of choughs that would descend en mass at least twice a day on the aviary. She didn’t have any other clutch mates to look to for support and became very dependent on myself and Harriet hand-feeding her.

She fledged at the start of July and started learning to feed for herself. We began weaning her off the hand-rearing diet and teaching her to fly to the target areas for food.

P1590795However we quickly started to realise we had a problem. She learnt to fly…on to our shoulders. Last year’s hand-reared chicks started doing this at a similar age. We never encouraged it, didn’t reward them with food, and in the nicest possible way shood them off. They quickly stopped and have not attempted it ever since. They have now attained a nice balance of being comfortable around staff for feeding and management purposes but at a safe distance from any ‘predation’ threat.

P1590977This chick has a unique ability to cling to your like some sort of gecko and no matter how hard you try will not leave you. She has imprinted on staff associating them with food and companionship. When the parent-reared chicks arrived she showed no interest in them. When we mixed her with them there was still no interaction. However we did have a problem of the other eight finishing off all the food. Our chick likes to feed when we are present then maybe graze a little throughout the day. When we were not there she had no food.

When we were there she would be frantically begging, following our every move, and throwing herself at the keeper door to get to us. We noticed her body weight going down each day so we increased the daily food allowance and gave extra dishes to reduce competition. When we gave the group access to the poly tunnel they had more time to explore and find food in the grass. Stress levels have been turned down a notch as a consequence. She will feed side by side with the other chicks and there is no aggression. When they react to something she will react and vice versa. There is a level of social cohesion there. Whether it is strong enough for out in the wild is a question we will face closer to the release date. We need to be confident that she will not be completely naïve when faced with a potential threat whether it be falcon, dog, human, etc.

However much her begging down our ear canals might grate and that her clingy nature means it takes at least twice as long to leave the aviary, it is a real privilege to work with a bird like her. She’s made me re-read Corvus: A Life with Birds by Esther Woolfson with greater appreciation.

Durrell display aviary taking shape

If our hand-reared chick is to return to the wildlife park she will get to move into the newly renovated display aviary. There is still a long list of jobs which require ticking off before the choughs can move back in, but the netting at supporting uprights are now in place. Once it is ready Gianna and the other six birds currently off-show to the public can also move back in.

Changing of the guard

Paul Pestana completed his three month placement on the project at the end of June. He extended his time so he could be there when Dusty fledged. Paul is hoping to continue working in conservation, this time in New Zealand a country with lots of experience at re-introductions and restoration work. In the meantime he is off to Kyrgyzstan on holiday! We have set him the challenge of finding a chough and sending back a photo (its not impossible they are resident there).

P1590419Before Paul left he spent a couple of weeks helping our new student Erin O’Brien settle in. Erin is returning to Jersey after completing her degree at the University of Exeter. Like Paul, Erin will spend three months with us and help with the release of this year’s chicks.

Birds On The Edge on Open Country

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helencliffsmileyOn 29th July, Birds On The Edge was again in the spotlight when the team from the BBC’s long-running radio programme Open Country interviewed Harriet and Glyn with the choughs at Sorel. Producer Alasdair Cross and presenter Helen Mark caught up with the team and the chough flock on a beautifully sunny and calm morning.

The Open Country team learned all about Birds On The Edge and its work with local farmers and helping birds through the winter, and the project to bring back the red-billed chough. All 16 free-flying choughs were present and performed perfectly for their starring role. Harriet was even able to point out Dusty’s voice in the flock amid the general chough chatter.

During their stay in the Island, Alasdair and Helen also interviewed BOTE stalwarts, Mike Stentiford and Bob Tompkins as well as people in other walks of life in the countryside including archaeologist Matt Pope.

Open Country will be broadcast on Thursday13th August at 3pm on BBC Radio Four and repeated at 6am on Saturday 15th August. The episode recorded in Jersey, and others in the series, can be heard again on iPlayer here.

Alasdair’s recording of the chough calls at Sorel can be heard on the Sounds Of Our Shores website.

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Storm petrels on Burhou: An update

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By Jenni Godber, Ramsar Officer for the Alderney Wildlife Trust (with a note by Cris Sellarés)

On the weekend of 17-19th July the Channel Island ringers (including Cris and Harriet from Birds On The Edge – see their notes below), led by Chris Mourant, joined forces with our small team from the Alderney Wildlife Trust for a weekend of storm petrel ringing on our small islet of Burhou. Until a few years ago Burhou was thought to home only 20+ breeding pairs of European storm petrel; however, these days the numbers are estimated to be over 1,000 breeding pairs! The European storm petrel is included in Annex 1 of the EU Birds Directive.

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Once we had set up camp, in and around the small hut (which was built by the warden in the late 1980’s), the eight-strong team headed out to the eastern end of the 1km long island to set up the mist-nets. We used four 18m long mist-nets which we set up and furled in the early evening. It wasn’t until it was completely dark that we walked back to the nets to attempt our first catch of birds. Everyone had made ‘guestimates’ of when we would catch out first bird but nobody got it spot on as we landed our first bird at 22.25.

Burhou. 17-19-7-2015. Photo by C. Sellares (2)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe had organised the group into extractors, runners and ringers to make sure there was a fast turnaround of the birds, a system that worked extremely well. As part of the extracting team, and having never seen a storm petrel in the hand, nothing could have prepared me for how tiny they were, especially their webbed feet, which just about covered the area of my index finger nail! Before we all knew it, it was 2am and we had caught close to 200 new birds and over 80 re-traps – most of which were birds caught and ringed last year as adults. This means we can use the re-trap data to confirm that the birds caught last year were most likely breeding adults and not wandering birds that had strayed off course! We all headed back to the hut elated and ready for another stint the following night.

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Burhou. 17-19-7-2015. Photo by C. Sellares (3)After a busy day working our way through the lesser black-backed gull colony looking for rogue chicks missed on the previous weekend’s ringing trip, and after a much needed nap, the group headed out to set up nets for another night of storm petrel ringing. This time the decision was made to try the nets on the north-eastern end of the island, something that hadn’t been attempted since before 2008. The risk was worth taking as the birds started streaming in gradually from about 22.15. It was a lot steadier than the previous night where all the birds seemed to land within the first couple of hours! At 3am we decided to call it a night as we were all beginning to get tired and we wanted to give the birds a chance to get back to their chicks. It wasn’t until the morning and the numbers were calculated that we realised we had caught another 175+ new birds and over 60 re-traps.

Cris and Harriet from Birds On The Edge, and also Channel Island ringers, joined the Burhou expedition this year. Cris says: “We welcomed this opportunity to practice our trapping, extracting and ringing skills, and to see how this kind of seabird research is organized. We eagerly set off to Guernsey to meet with Chris Mourant and his team. A small boat took us to Alderney, where AWT’s boat, Sula, was ready to carry us to Burhou. Once we landed and set camp, we started working under the instructions of Chris, during petrel ringing nights, and Paul Veron during the day on the gull chick colour-ringing project that he manages (see Paul’s project here).”

“As expected, we learnt a great deal that we take back with us, having seen how ringing is organized to study petrel and gull colonies. This will help our work in Jersey as we study our own colonies and carry out night ringing sessions at Plémont, where we often encounter storm petrels and Manx shearwaters.”

“With the puffin colony right next to our basecamp, the seals keeping a vigilant eye on us, and the great company of fellow researchers, it was difficult to think of leaving. At times, we might have even been overcome with enthusiasm, as we had to be dragged out of the bracken during the day, and again at 4am back to the hut, as we couldn’t see the time to stop looking for gull chicks, or to stop catching storm petrels. Apparently, rest is important on such intense operations – good thing the others were looking out for us”!

A huge thanks to the Channel Island ringers involved and to the Channel Island Ringing Scheme for giving permission for us to ring the storm petrels on Burhou. It was an experience the team certainly won’t be forgetting anytime soon!

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Latest Breeding Bird Survey shows some good news for Britain’s birds

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Common cuckoo. Photo by Romano da CostaFrom BirdGuides

The Breeding Bird Survey 2014_Page_01Some stay, some go, but 2013 to 2014 was a good year for many of Britain’s birds. The latest results from the BTO’s Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) brought some short-term, positive news for a number of both migratory and resident species against a backdrop of long-term declines for many, long-distance migrants in particular.

The possible reasons for these short-term increases vary between species. There is no evidence that the 2013 breeding season was a particularly good one, and for some species it was a poor season, probably related to the fact it was the UK’s coldest spring since 1962.

Lesser whitethroat (+ 34%), common whitethroat (+ 18%), tree pipit (+ 31%), willow warbler (+ 6%) and the familiar cuckoo (+ 27%) are among the long-distance species, that travel south of the Sahara for the winter months, to have increased between 2013 and 2014. The survival of migratory species like these is thought to be influenced by rainfall levels in the Sahel, just south of the Sahara. This applies for both species that spend the winter there, such as two whitethroat species, and those that use the region as a stop-over site (to rest and refuel before continuing further south) like the willow warbler and cuckoo. Rainfall levels affect the availability of insect prey on which these species rely. Rainfall in the region during the summer of 2013 was just below the long-term average, so this doesn’t provide a ready explanation for the respite seen in this year’s BBS report, but the three years previous to this included two that were amongst the wettest since the late 1960s, possibly leading to generally better conditions in the area in the winter of 2013/14.

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Despite the favourable short-term trends revealed in the BBS report, the long-term trends for many of ‘our’ migratory species are not so positive. Between 1995 and 2013, cuckoo declined by 46%, spotted flycatcher by 47%, whinchat by 54%, wood warbler by 58%, pied flycatcher by 60% and, as reported here before, turtle dove by 91%, with large decreases also found in several other species.

Whinchat in UK 1995-2013

There are many factors throughout the migration route and on the wintering grounds that could be playing a part in the alarming decline of long-distance migrants. Wetland loss and degradation and the clearance of wooded savannah is likely to be affecting the wintering grounds of long-distance migrants, and the loss of migration stop-over sites, and hunting and trapping along the way, may compound the problem for some species.

The latest BBS results show positive changes in numbers of some partial migrants (species in which some individuals stay in the UK for the winter, while others venture as far south as North Africa). Increases between 2013 and 2014 were found for chiffchaff (+ 21%), blackcap (+ 14%) and meadow pipit (+ 14%).

There was good news too for some resident species which remain in the UK for the winter. There were short-term increases for stonechat (+ 76%), kingfisher (+ 50%), grey wagtail (+ 50%) and wren (+ 34%). Residents are susceptible to harsh weather conditions when life gets tough, both in terms of finding food and expending extra energy just to keep warm.

Kingfisher. Photo by Mick Dryden

Sarah Harris, BBS Organiser at the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “It is refreshing to see some of our resident and migrant birds have had a good year, but this is against a backdrop of long-term declines for many, long-distance migrants in particular. To see turtle dove exceed a 90% decline between 1995 and 2013 is very worrying indeed. We cannot thank the dedicated BBS volunteers enough for all their efforts, monitoring our common and widespread birds, their contributions are invaluable.”

Deborah Procter, Senior Monitoring Ecologist at the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, added: “Long-term data from the BBS give us a window on to the state of UK biodiversity. The annually updated trends at both UK and country level promote investigation to understand the underlying causes of change in our natural capital assets. Many thanks to the several thousand volunteers who gather the evidence that makes this work possible.”

The Channel Islands have submitted dated to BBS since the project started and, for the second year running, 25 squares were covered with 76 species recorded. This is a stable level of coverage and one hoped to continue with the assistance in future of the Alderney Wildlife Trust.

Dr Mark Eaton, RSPB Principal Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, said: “With their travels crossing continents, migratory birds can be affected by many factors on different stages of their amazing journeys. Finding ways of boosting their populations requires international trust and collaboration. A turtle dove in Europe requires the protection of the Birds Directive and when it is in Africa need sufficient habitat to feed to fatten for the return journey to Europe. These birds belong to everyone and everyone along their migration routes needs to play a part in these birds survival.”

Download and read the full report The Breeding Bird Survey 2014: The population trends of the UK’s breeding birds here

Wren 3. Photo by Mick Dryden

Jersey’s Rangers come together to celebrate World Ranger Day

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NE-IM-World Ranger Day 2015 Photo 30.07.2015World Ranger Day 2015

Rangers from both the National Trust for Jersey and the States of Jersey will be getting together on 31st July to remember rangers from around the world who have put their lives on the line to protect the planet’s natural environment and the wildlife that lives there.

World Ranger Day was set up by the International Ranger Federation in 2007 and promoted by their partners, the Thin Green Line Foundation, to celebrate the work rangers do to protect the world’s natural and cultural treasures and commemorate rangers killed or injured in the line of duty.

Rangers in Jersey don’t face the same dangers that some of their counterparts do around the world, but the dedicated rangers from the States of Jersey and the National Trust for Jersey provide a valuable and sometimes forgotten service in keeping Jersey’s countryside beautiful and protecting the Island’s wildlife. So, if you think that the natural places in Jersey, or elsewhere in the world, are looking good, remember the hard-working people who make sure they do so.

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EU bird laws save threatened European species

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White-tailed eagle. Photo by Romano da CostaFrom BirdLife International

The European Union’s Birds Directive – often believed to be one of the world’s most progressive and successful set of nature conservation laws – has had a huge impact in protecting Europe’s most threatened bird species, according to new research published this month.

“We analysed information on all bird species breeding across the European Union”, said Dr Fiona Sanderson, RSPB scientist and lead author of the paper. “Our findings confirm that species with the highest level of protection under the Birds Directive [listed in Annex I]… are more likely to have increasing populations, and that these results are most apparent in countries that have been members of the European Union for longer.”

799px-White-headed_Duck_(Oxyura_leucocephala)_RWD2While this may sound natural, the study, published in the journal Conservation Letters, noted that as a result of stronger conservation measures, a majority of Annex I species (like Dalmatian pelican, common crane, white-tailed eagle and white-headed duck) are now improving their populations more than other threatened species that are not on that list. This could point to a need to better implement protection projects for species across the other annexes as well, whose situation may not originally have been considered as dire.

800px-Pelecanus_crispus_(Dalmatian_Pelican_-_Krauskopfpelikan)_-_Weltvogelpark_Walsrode_2012-01The globally threatened Dalmatian pelican was driven nearly to extinction in Europe in the 20th century due to loss of habitat, degradation, persecution and collision with power lines. However, thanks to the directives, more than 2,500 breeding pairs are now in existence, five times the number of a few decades ago.

White-headed duck was just as threatened. There were only 22 left in 1977 because of wetland destruction and persecution, but thanks to strong protection of their habitat and other conservation measures, there are now more than 2,000 in the wild.

Bird species listed in the other annexes are not as lucky. For example, black-tailed godwit, despite being part of Annex II, continues to see a rapid decline in population and is listed as ‘threatened’ in Europe and ‘Endangered’ in the EU27. In Europe, the population size has decreased by an estimated 30-49% over three generations, while the EU27 has seen a 50-79% decline.

Black-tailed godwit. Photo by Mick Dryden

“Our research proves that, in an era of unprecedented climate change and habitat loss, those threatened birds protected by the Birds Directive are more likely to prosper”, Dr Paul Donald, the RSPB’s principal conservation scientist, said.

The research was published just days after the closure on 26 July of a public consultation on the future of the European Union’s nature laws. The European Commission is currently reviewing the Birds and Habitats Directives, looking into their effectiveness. More than 500,000 people signed and 120 NGOs supported the online campaign against this review in the largest public response to any consultation published by the European Commission.

“At a time when the benefits of EU membership are increasingly questioned, this research shows that, at least for nature, the EU is making a huge positive difference,” said BirdLife Europe’s Head of EU Policy, Ariel Brunner. “It would make no sense for the European Commission to demolish legislation proven to work and which enjoys a massive level of support among citizens.”

Download and read the paper Assessing the performance of EU nature legislation in protecting target bird species in an era of climate change here

Listen to Birds On The Edge on Talking Naturally discussing the project and Dusty the chough

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Dusty with parents. Sorel, Jersey 9-7-2015. Photo by Cris Sellares (7)

IMG_1119This week Liz and Glyn talked to Charlie Moores about Birds On The Edge and the excitement of Dusty joining the chough population at Sorel. Charlie, who hosts Talking Naturally, has long been a keen supporter of Birds On The Edge and recorded our conversation for a podcast which you can listen to as well.

IMG_1117Talking Naturally podcasts can be accessed on the Rare Bird Alert website and you can see that Birds On The Edge is in some pretty illustrious company there. You can listen to the interview directly through the RBA website here, through SoundCloud here or download the podcast through iTunes here. We will add the full interview to our own audio section soon.

Please listen to the full interview, Liz and Glyn are the third conversation on the podcast after the RSPB’s Senior Investigations Officer, Mark Thomas, talks about what goes into protecting some of Britain’s rarest birds from disturbance and wildlife criminals such as egg collectors and Tim Mackrill, Reserve Officer for the Lincolnshire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, talks about the Osprey Project which recently celebrated the hatching of its 100th chick.

Listen to the interview here

 

 

The state of Jersey’s butterflies: Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme 2004 to 2013

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Painted lady. Photo by Mick DrydenJBMSThe Department of the Environment has co-ordinated the Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (JBMS) for the last ten years, depending on a team of unpaid volunteers who count butterflies each week throughout the spring and summer at 38 locations across Jersey. The 10 year butterfly report has now been published online and is available to download here

The scheme is one of the ways Jersey meets its international environmental obligations, butterflies are environmental bellwethers and in line with countries around the world, the Department of the Environment monitors Jersey’s butterfly population to detect changes to the environment.

What happens to Jersey’s butterfly data?

The JBMS raw data are collected and collated by the Department, copies being passed on to the Jersey Biodiversity Centre, Société Jersiaise, the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, Butterfly Conservation and the EU Environment Agency. The Island has 40 monitored sites (which is more than several European countries) and punches well above its weight. JBMS data are used in local, national and international analyses such as the European Grassland Indicator Butterfly Scheme. The results are analysed annually and after 10 years of continuous monitoring the data obtained enough statistical significance to undergo a more thorough analysis, the results of which are presented in the new report.

Red admiral. Photo by Mick Dryden

What does the JBMS tell us about the island’s environment?

The JBMS 10 year results suggest that Jersey’s butterflies respond quickly to changes in the environment so are thus an excellent indicator of changes in the island’s terrestrial habitats and climate. The results suggest that there has been an overall decline in Jersey’s butterflies since 2004, especially on agricultural and urban sites, but that managed semi-natural sites are mostly doing well. Now that these and other issues have been highlighted by the JBMS, it may be possible to help mitigate and reverse any declines in species and habitat quality through government policy and changes in land management practice.

Clouded yellow. Photo by Mick Dryden

In dedication

The butterfly report is dedicated to two of Jersey’s foremost naturalists. Margaret Long and Joan Banks were instrumental in setting up the Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. They had tested a similar scheme in the 1990s and in 2004 used the data from this to establish butterfly transects around the island. They also provided background knowledge on Jersey’s butterflies and continued to support the scheme for many years. Without them the Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme would have been much harder to get off the ground. We remain very grateful for all their help and support. Margaret kindly helped Birds On The Edge with the development of this website.

Wall brown. Photo by Mick Dryden

Download the full report here

Channel Islands birds in 2014

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Great spotted cuckoo. Jersey 2014. Photo by Mick DrydenBirds On The Edge reported last year on the bird species that have been recorded throughout the Channel Islands (Just how many birds are there in the Channel Islands?). Well, each year the full list gets updated by bird groups in each of the islands and is now complete up to the end of 2014.

Storm petrel. Photo by Mick DrydenBesides including new species, we try to update the local status of each one to reflect just how they are faring. This is not always a nice job as so many species are declining so it’s always good to provide positive news. With European storm petrel remaining a rather enigmatic bird in Jersey (do they ever breed, hidden away somewhere?) we received a possible answer as to just where all the birds we see at sea and, occasionally, ring on the north coast might be coming from. In 2006 we said that storm petrels breed on Burhou (Alderney) once in large numbers but now scarce but annual. At the end of 2010 we revised this and added that there may be 150+ pairs. However, in 2012 we further changed this to say that there might only be 40+ pairs on Burhou. Well, now, following an analysis of ringing studies on Burhou we have revised the figure once more – to 1,000 or more pairs! True, this represents a better understanding of the birds rather than a definite increase, but it does give us something better to go on with the support for this bird and increase further the international importance of Burhou!

Caspian tern (2). Photo by Mick Dryden

Paddyfield warbler. Jersey 2014. Photo by Mick DrydenOf new species, Jersey fared best with the only bird new to the Channel Islands, a Caspian tern seen briefly over St Ouen’s Pond on 25th April. Jersey also recorded its very first great spotted cuckoo in March and a paddyfield warbler in September – both species already on Guernsey’s list. A great bustard was a remarkable sight in Alderney in November – this bird, the first recorded in the Channel Islands to leave the islands alive – was from the reintroduction project in England. The bustard stayed for five days giving some great views.

Great bustard Alderney 2 credit Martin Batt

Alderney recorded only its third ever garganey, Guernsey its third subalpine warbler and fourth Kumlien’s gull and Jersey its fifth red-rumped swallow. An unconfirmed report of two spoonbill in April would constitute only Sark’s second record of this increasing bird if accepted. Black-winged stilt were seen in both Jersey and Guernsey, while Guernsey further increased its grip on visits by red-breasted flycatcher and rose-coloured starling while Jersey did likewise with tree sparrow. Another Jersey highlight, of course, was the presence of a free-flying flock of red-billed chough! I must, however, reiterate that although 329 species have now been recorded in Jersey to Guernsey’s 325 there is no competiveness between the islands at all.

Download the full, updated, list here

Stop Press – meet Dusty the chough!

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By Liz Corry

We have an apology to make to our faithful readers. We have not been entirely honest with you over the past month. In May we reported that there were two nests in the quarry and that Mauve and White’s nest had not produced any chicks. What we didn’t tell you is that, in the same week of visiting their nest, we also took a sneak peek into Green and Blue’s nest.

Looking at potential chough nest sites in the quarry. Photo by Liz Corry

Looking at potential chough nest sites in the quarry. Photo by Liz Corry

On 12th May we were taken to the nest site by Matthew Sharpe, (then Assistant Quarry Manager) of Ronez quarry. The position of the nest and its careful concealment meant that there was no way we could see into it.

We knew from the female’s daily routine that she was incubating. Not wanting to disturb her we patiently waited. The incubation period is about 19 days from the last egg being laid. We could only guess a start date for laying and allowed a couple of days error either side. Add to that a few more days post-hatch so we don’t spook mum and risk the nest being abandoned.

We had a long wait.

Accessing the nest required a scissor lift or cherry picker to be brought into the quarry. Site foreman Kevin Gray very kindly and efficiently juggled their work schedule to allow their pre-made plans to hire in the machinery to coinincide with our availability to check the nest.

On the 29th, with hard hat, high vis, safety specs, and a 1001 butterflies in the stomach I went up to find out exactly what Green and Blue had been up to over the past three weeks.

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Green and Blue’s nest. Photo by Liz Corry

The first thing I saw was a very cleverly constructed nest, exactly how you woud expect a wild chough pair to build one.

Watchful parents. Photo by Liz Corry

Watchful parents. Photo by Liz Corry

Very proud of Green and Blue, who were watching on from above, my journey upwards in the cherry picker continued (at a comical pace) until I was level with the top of the nest.

It was a very proud moment as I gingerly peered in and said hello to a little naked chough chick.

The first sighting of Green and Blue's chick. Photo by Liz Corry

The first sighting of Green and Blue’s chick. Photo by Liz Corry

From our experience with the captive choughs at the Wildlife Park we judged the chick to be about 4-5 days old. It is slightly tricky to judge as you are comparing hand-fed to parent-fed chicks housed in different conditions. However, the lack of emerging pin-feathers allowed for fairly accurate dating. All chough chicks hatch with a bit of ‘fluff’ on them, as can be seen in the photo above, but these are not the feathers.

Whilst this might seem like the perfect time to celebrate we had to be cautious. It takes about 42 days from hatch to the point of flying. In the last week or so before that flight the chick will be ‘bouldering’ around. This could be quite a tricky feat in an active quarry building especially when the nest is built on an overhanging steel girdle. There were potential hazards inside not to mention those outside. What if something happened to the parent(s)? Will there be adequate food for a chick?

Harriet with the free-living choughs waiting for their supplementary feed. Photo by Liz Corry

Harriet with the free-living choughs waiting for their supplementary feed. Photo by Liz Corry

The latter was easy to control. Our supplementary feeding at the aviary meant the parents knew when and where to get food for the chick even if wild supplies dried up (quite literally as the weather gets hotter and the ground becomes harder). We can’t control what happens to the parents when they are out and about. We simply monitor their behaviour and look out for any signs of problems. Ronez helped where they could by keeping an eye on the parents and nest in the quarry.

Even lunchtimes became occupied with nest watches. Photo by Liz Corry.

Even lunchtimes became occupied with nest watches. Photo by Liz Corry.

When the chick was approxiately three-weeks old we paid another visit to the nest. This time to give the chick leg rings, take morphometric measurements, and get a blood sample for sexing. This is the best age to do this as the chicks are almost fully grown but not at risk of jumping out of the nest in panic. Licensed ringer Dave Buxton accompanied myself and Harriet into the quarry. This time Ronez had arranged the use of a scissior lift. We knew from the parents’ behaviour that they had still been taking food to the nest and as soon as we were underneath we could hear the chick calling away.

Once again with parents watching, I went up to the nest, this time to remove the chick so we could process it on the ground in a calm and safe environment. It was amazing to see the size difference between our hand-reared chick and this one. This chick was 70g heavier! We felt shamed as surrogate parents, but it is to be expected as chough parents are bound to be better feeders.

Dusty being ringed at Ronez Quarry. 16-6-2015. Photo by Liz Corry (8)

David Buxton rings Dusty at Ronez Quarry. 16-6-2015. Photo by Liz Corry

We will not know the sex until the DNA results come back from the lab, although we have started placing in-house bets based on weight and leg length. Regardless, the team at Ronez have already taken this chick to heart and proudly named it Dusty.

Dusty was returned to the nest as soon as possible and we quickly left the area so the parents could return to see that their chick was fine. Quarry staff fitted a hammock-style tarpauline underneath the nest to act as a safety net in case the chick was to fall out. Each day they would check the site at the start and end of their working day to make sure Dusty was ok.

Dusty being ringed at Ronez Quarry. 16-6-2015. Photo by Liz Corry (11)

Then on 2nd July I received an urgent text message from Harriet to call her as soon as I could. Two days after we lost our foster chick ‘Special K’ on the operating table I naturally feared the worst.

After a quick chat, and strict instructions never to leave me hanging like that again, my fear subsided and I rushed over to Sorel. Dusty was out!

Without us knowing, Dusty had left the nest-building and moved to the tallest building it could find. The parents were the give-away as they flew to feed it and then spent several hours trying to coax Dusty back down so they could roost in the safety and familiar home of the ‘crusher’ (that is the actual working name of the building!).

Like all toddlers Dusty was intent on ignoring its parents and stayed put. It will probably take a week or so of short practice flights before Dusty spreads its wings further. We fully expect Green and Blue to bring Dusty to the aviary and teach it about the supplementary food as well as how to probe for wild insects. We will be there every step of the way and as ever will keep you posted on its progress…we promise.

Thank you to everyone at Ronez whose support throughout the project has helped tremendously. We would also like to thank Paradise Park, all our colleagues in the Birds On The Edge project and all of the students and volunteers over the last two years as without them Green and Blue would not be flying free and have the resources they need to successfully breed in the wild. This is the first successful breeding attempt by choughs in the Channel Islands since the 1920s. With the continued help of the team and the people of Jersey we hope we can truely see the red-billed chough return to its full glory in the years to come.