And they’re off…
This year’s chicks have started to fledge and make their way over to Sorel. First out, and no surprise, were Dusty and Chickay’s chicks on the 9th. The only surprise was the number. Four! This is our largest brood recorded having made it from nest to supplemental feed.
Kevin and Wally with one of their chicks. Photo by Liz Corry.
Ronez staff reported seeing a chick bouldering next to Lee and Caûvette’s nest and at least one still in the nest. Sadly, on the 15th they recovered a body which we assume was one of these two chicks. We have not seen Lee or Caûvette feed chicks out at Sorel and can only assume the brood failed. This is unusual for the pair. The post mortem on the recovered body was inconclusive.
Lee and Caûvette’s chicks perished; at least they have each other. Photo by Liz Corry.
Bo and Flieur were caring for two chicks at the supplemental feeds. This is Bo’s first-time parenting. He seems up for the challenge. I wonder if he realises he is set for at least a month of earache post-nest?
One of Chickay’s four chicks demanding to be fed. Photo by Liz Corry.
Other first timers are Percy and Icho. Last year their first clutch failed. This year they have three youngsters. Two arrived at the aviary with them on the 23rd then a third was noticed on the 26th.
Our regular breeding pairs had varying success. I’ve already mentioned Dusty. His father, Green, and partner Pyrrho tended to a nest, yet nothing made it across to Sorel.
Red, one of the original release birds, and Dingle raised two chicks that we know of. Ronez staff reported hearing chick noises coming from the nest box. Then on the 25th they had to intervene when one chick, having left the box, found himself with his first life choice: a) face imminent death from construction vehicles b) face imminent death from tons of molten ash pouring on him or c) let the kind hi-viz human pick him up and move him to a safer area. He (we) went for Option C.
Kevin and Wally fledged two chicks. Straight forward. No drama there. Trevor and Noirmont also fledged two chicks. I saw them bouldering around their nest site mid-June. What happened next is a bit of a mystery. Throughout June, no one observed Trevor or Noirmont feeding chicks at the aviary. They failed then right? Wrong! Although I can’t tell you until July’s report. The power of hindsight. Insert dramatic pause here.
A chick arriving at the supplemental feed. Photo by Liz Corry.
Awkward: the aviary takes a bit of getting used to for new arrivals. Photo by Liz Corry
Embarrassing but we got there. Photo by Liz Corry.
New pairings
June revealed two new pairings. That of Bee and Mac and Honeydew and Minty. All relatively young (≤3 years old) and no known nests. However, back in March Minty was seen carrying nesting material. At the time we reported him having a ‘blossoming’ relationship with a different female. Does this mean he was building a nest with her and it failed? He switched females and started building a nest with Honeydew way back in March? Either way we have no current evidence of Honeydew and Minty caring for a nest at Sorel.
Plémont
Without wanting to sound like a broken record, the Plémont update is much the same. No confirmed sign of Xaviour. Beanie Baby and Beaker are roosting at Plémont. No sign of chicks although monitoring of this site has been minimal. I think I have discovered their nest. It is too late in the year for them to be using it for definitive proof and I can only reach it at low tide. For monitoring purposes, due to Jersey’s amazing tidal range, it needs to be a low, low tide if that makes sense.
High tide mark black) on the cliffs give you an idea where choughs can and cannot nest. Photo by Liz Corry.
Corbière choughs
The Corbière mystery has been solved. Early June I managed to get a partial ID on one of the pair. Annoyingly this was on a day I had not planned to go looking and had no scope or long lens camera in the car. I did manage to clock a green ring on the left leg. This narrowed it down to one of six options.
La Rosiere, Corbière, provides foraging and potential nesting habitat for choughs. Photo by Liz Corry
I returned on the 23rd in unforgiving heat this time armed with equipment. Turns out I didn’t need it as they were right there in front of me. The heat must have made them complacent splitting their time between foraging on open ground for a spell and sheltering in the old quarry ruins.
Honeydew and Minty sheltering in the ruins from the intense heat. Photo by Liz Corry.
Quarry ruins used by the choughs as shelter. Photo by Liz Corry.
With an air of smug triumph, I said hello to Minty and Honeydew, cracked a culturally inappropriate joke about them being at the Jehovah Witness hall, then decided I had been in the sun for too long.
The Corbière pair arriving at the Kingdom Hall foraging site. Photo by Liz Corry.
Actually, what I did next was run around Gorselands and la Moye as I thought I heard a second pair calling not far away. When I returned to Minty and Honeydew one of them called out…and it echoed! I had just spent half an hour chasing an echo. I packed up and went off for an ice cream.
The desalination plant next to the Kingdom Hall may explain the echoing bird calls. Photo by Liz Corry.
From my collective observations and the few public records, it does look like this pair could be roosting in the south west corner of Jersey. They like to use the abandoned Highlands Hotel during the day. It acts as a safe rest stop overlooking the land. They head to the roof then disappear out of sight for several minutes before heading off again to forage. The structure looks to have potential for a roost. The building has apparently been empty for 12-18 months. I would like to get in contact with the owner to see if we can investigate the possibility of roost or nest. If any readers can help with this please do get in contact elizabeth.corry@durrell.org or 860 059.
Highlands Hotel is a prominent feature of the cliff tops in Jersey’s southwest. Photo by Liz Corry.
Icho
After the feed one Sunday, Icho was sat in the dead hawthorn tree by the aviary looking out of sorts. Percy was off somewhere else. She was very quiet and her feathers were out of place. There looked to be bald patches under her eyes and top of head. It was very easy for me to shut her in the aviary (another cause for concern).
Icho shut in the aviary to be caught up for a health check. Photo by Liz Corry.
Thankfully it was just a case of damp feathers mixing with rock dust. She must have bathed before arriving at the aviary. The right ratio of dust to water acting like ‘hair gel’ on the feathers.
Her subdued nature? Probably the same any mother has who had spent the past seven weeks feeding three hungry mouths?
Zoo chicks
A short yet sweet update. Penny continued to look after her three surviving chicks in the Zoo. We didn’t have to intervene just make sure she continued to get a regular supply of food. We ringed the chicks on the 16th and took DNA samples to send off for sexing. All looked fit and well.
Three very healthy chicks visible on the Zoo nest-cam. Photo by Liz Corry.
The Malagasy A-Team
I have been making the most of June’s daylight hours to keep on top of maintenance jobs. Well trying to at least. There is the ever-growing grass and surrounding bracken to keep on top off. The rats are still making a meal of the netting in quite an extraordinary way. A substantial sized rectangle had been gnawed out of one piece. I’m not sure which I was more alarmed at – the size or the shape.
For one memorable day in June, I had help from a very special volunteer group. Five staff members from Durrell’s Madagascar team have been over here in Jersey since February. They were attending the three-month DESMAN course at our Academy and became ‘stranded on the rock’ thanks to the pandemic.
Mamy and Henri cut the grass and created enrichment areas inside the aviary. Photo by Liz Corry.
Students from the other countries had managed to make it home. Getting back to Madagascar was a little trickier. To alleviate lockdown boredom, they offered their assistance around the Zoo where feasible and out at Sorel. They powered through the jobs which helped me immensely.
Mirana meeting the Manx loaghtans. Photo by Liz Corry.
One task included re-vamping the signage at the aviary. Photo by Liz Corry.
They managed to get flights home a few days later. They were ecstatic. I wasn’t. I had just lost my best team! I jest. We love our colleagues and lament over not spending more time face to face…unless it is in times of a pandemic.
Mamy showed off his carpentry skills. Photo by Liz Corry.
From left to right: Mirana, Lova, Helen hiding) and Ny set to work removing the bracken before fixing holes in the netting. Photo by Liz Corry.
Sorel surprise
As well as an unexpected volunteer team, I was in for another treat at Sorel this month. One evening, as I drove away from the aviary, I noticed a bird of prey sat on the field gate. Not unusual. Kestrel, buzzard, harrier, barn owl all hangout up there. This beauty caught my eye. It looked falcon-esque. Yet as I drove closer, eventually stopping mere metres away, managing to get my camera out of the boot, AND take a photo, I knew this wasn’t your average falcon. Of course the jesses were an early give away.
Cyrus taking in the scenery on an excursion from St Johns Manor Falconry. Photo by Liz Corry.
With no falconer in sight, I fired off a few social media messages to see who was missing their bird. Within minutes St John’s Manor contacted me to say it was probably their beloved Cyrus. Turns out she had been missing for a day and her GPS tag had failed. I know what it feels like when our choughs go missing so I stayed nearby to keep an eye on her until they arrived. I’d love to tell you there was a happy ending. I don’t know if there was. As soon as the falconer arrived, she flew off. Not far and it was approaching roost time so I would like to think she opted for rabbit in the falconer’s hand rather than the ones running around Sorel.
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