Monthly Archives: September 2022

Chough report – August 2022

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By Charlotte Dean

Heatwaves and water supplies

This summer is proving to be a particularly hot one; one which we probably shouldn’t complain about! With rising temperatures and further limited rainfall though, the struggle for water supplies up at the Sorel aviary are beginning to show. At Sorel, it is clear how little rain we’ve received over the past month or so as the water butt, which is usually filled by Jersey’s plentiful rainwater, has been getting topped up by keepers. It may be physically challenging lugging water containers to the aviary in the recent heat but at least the choughs have clean water, and the keepers are becoming that little bit fitter! But, with rainwater being in short supply, lack of water wasn’t the only worry as the ground became hard and compact, potentially making foraging spots for choughs a little sparse; not an ideal start for the choughlets. Our Plémont pair Minty & Rey are normally rarely seen at the aviary but have been very frequent as of late; making us worry more about the state of foraging across the Island.        

Bird flu, captive and wild bird devastation

The other worry on the Island is bird flu. So, what is bird flu? Bird flu is a type of influenza virus which is mainly spread amongst birds. The virus itself can be spread in two ways; directly (through contact) or indirectly (through faecal matter). It can affect mammals, but the risk is very low compared to the transmission between bird species. Bird flu was found on the Island in February this year and has caused quite a stir. This month, the number of cases seen across the Island has increased and the coasts are becoming scattered with many suspected avian flu fatalities, mostly seabirds. It is very important for us to state that the public must help prevent further spread by following the Government of Jersey Natural Environment guidelines and not picking up, touching or going near wild sick or dead birds. However, it is useful for the public to notify Natural Environment about any dead birds; especially if several dead birds are found in close proximity of each other. The most susceptible wild birds seem to be birds of prey, owls, wildfowl and seabirds. Notifying of dead birds will allow Natural Environment to test and confirm any new cases on the Island and set quarantine protocols. Although the photos below show herring gull fatalities across the cliffs at Devil’s Hole (which is very close to Sorel); we’re thankful to announce that the wild chough population is currently stable/unchanged.

Praising mother nature

The keepers couldn’t have been happier to see some much-needed rainfall and accompanying thunderstorms when they came, to clear away some of those high temperatures. We finally had a significant amount of rainfall. The ground around the aviary is still feeling pretty tough but at least it’s gained some form of hydration this month. Once we’d had a few days of rainfall, the grass in the aviary was looking a healthy green again after many months of looking very dried out and brown. But with rainfall comes plant growth, and it is truly amazing how much grass grows after a bit of rain! The keepers are now back into their routine of regularly mowing and strimming the grass inside and outside the aviary – hopefully giving the choughs another great foraging spot for tasty insects.

Choughlet update

As we came closer to the end of August, the aviary became less ‘noisy’ as the youngest chicks belonging to breeding pair Bo & Flieur were becoming independent feeders. Less ‘choughlet’ begging behaviour at their parents and more wing-begging behaviours directed at the keepers! The young choughs are now arriving in their own little flock for the supplementary feed; it’s quite fantastic to see how they’ve learnt, grown and thrive, especially with all this hot weather. Although the feeds may have become quieter in regard to chick begging behaviour, there were still plenty of social hierarchy challenges amongst the young choughs and the adults. Plenty of scrabbles between siblings, young choughs of different parents as well as between some young choughs and adult pairs – the young choughs will soon find their place within the flock’s social structure.

Chough adults

Now that the young choughs are more independent; the parents are becoming less attentive. When the chicks started to feed for themselves the parent pairs would land on a food stand, allow their chicks to join and then move themselves to another stand; almost as if to give the young birds a fighting chance of a free meal before another more dominant pair took over the stand. However, now, the parent pairs will bat away any chicks, including their own! Since the aviary has become quieter, more pairs and other adults that have rarely been seen over the breeding and fledgling season became more frequent visitors such as Corbière pair Danny & Jaune. These two, along with other adults, have been known to avoid the aviary in fledgling season; and I don’t blame them, the choughlets are very noisy and demanding from anyone who will feed them!

                                   

                                                                                          

5 reasons why cormorants don’t need to be “managed”

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From BirdLife International

In October, the European Parliament will vote on a report calling for an “EU cormorant management plan”. In plain text this means, controlling their population through lethal measures. Here are five reasons why this plan is not a good solution.

Seabirds are going to… eat fish. The aquaculture industry is mad at seabirds for foraging fish. Meanwhile, almost all our waters are overfished by humans, who are also wiping out fish habitats while they are at it. The cormorant diet consists of fish. It’s as simple as that. Just like bees feed on pollen and nectar. So, it’s obvious that, when they are out foraging, cormorants will be attracted to bodies of water where fish are abundant and easy to catch. Does that mean that some of them will be attracted to aquaculture facilities? Yes. Should they be killed because of this? Absolutely not.  Science suggests that reducing the overall population of cormorants will not reduce conflicts at a local scale (i.e. aquaculture facility) – unless you put an enormous destructive effort on it. If a site is popular, whatever cormorants that are left, will continue to come back – no matter how well the population is “managed”.

Cormorants (great cormorant) almost went extinct in the 1970s due to human persecution and habitat loss primarily caused by humans. Thanks to the EU Birds Directive, as of 1979 it became illegal to disturb, capture, or kill them, as well as destroying their nests or robbing their nests. That, coupled with the reduction of water pollution and a ban on some dangerous pesticides has helped the great cormorant population bounce back across Europe in the past 30 years. Surely it would be a pity to undo all this great work just because cormorants like eating fish?

We’re ignoring the real problems. It is easy for industries to blame cormorants for the decline of fish population, but the reality is much more complex. The INTERCAFE research project showed that when cormorants are identified as a problem for fisheries there’s actually a whole range of reasons why fish production is in decline, including: invasive species, climate change, impoverished water quality, pollution, or the increase of algae in waters (aka eutrophication). In short, to produce fish, the restoration of natural habitats is key. Killing off cormorants won’t change anything – restoring the natural habitats of cormorants and fish, and sustainably managing wetlands, however, can provide part of the solution to these problems.

There are other solutions! The INTERCAFE project developed a toolbox with a wide range of management actions to reduce the vulnerability of fish to predation and deter cormorants from specific sites. This includes solutions to make sites less attractive to cormorants for nesting or feeding and measures to protect the fish (e.g. artificial refuges for fish, audible and visual deterrents for cormorants, nets and overhead wires, etc.) While there is no perfect measure that will work in every situation, all these techniques have been proven useful to reduce “conflicts” and deserve additional resources, such as from the new European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Funds (EMFAF), to explore, develop and test them.

It’s really not so difficult. Just listen to the science. The ongoing discussion in the European Parliament on the “necessary management” of great cormorants is not based on the latest scientific consensus. The CormoDist project (endorsed by the Commission) clearly concluded that population management does not have an effect on specific site interactions. And it is not possible to know where the reduction of the population will have an impact.

In Jersey, cormorant is considered to be threatened and is RED on the local bird redlist. Despite seeming to be common, cormorants only nest in a very small number of sites and are vulnerable to disturbance and persecution. The rapid decline of the closely related shag, once a very common bird in Jersey, should serve as a salutary reminder of how fast a bird species’ fortune can change.  

Disease drives decline of another familiar garden bird

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From Rare Bird Alert

A parasitic disease is responsible for the severe declines seen in both UK greenfinch and chaffinch populations, say scientists in a new study undertaken by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s Institute of Zoology (IoZ).

Chaffinch numbers dropped by 29% in the UK between 2008 and 2018, with a loss of 67% of the country’s greenfinches over the same period. As a result, greenfinch was moved on to the UK Red List in the most recent Birds of Conservation Concern assessment, published last year.

This new study used large-scale citizen science data and reveals that both species have declined in ways consistent with the impact of trichomonosis, a disease that was first detected in UK finches in 2005. Earlier work by the same organisations demonstrated that the disease had driven the decline in greenfinch populations – but the cause of the chaffinch’s decline, which began several years later, was unknown before now.

Scientists looked at patterns of change in greenfinch and chaffinch populations since the emergence of trichomonosis. They found that the declines were driven by a reduction in the survival of adult birds, a pattern that corresponds with the high levels of disease observed. A shift in recent years has seen trichomonosis diagnosed most often in chaffinches – previously it was diagnosed most often in greenfinches. This led the researchers to conclude that it was probably behind that species’ decline, too.

The joint BTO/IoZ study showed that survival rates of greenfinches and chaffinches were lowest in human-associated habitats. Disease transmission may be higher in these environments, where birds congregate at garden feeders. Trichomonosis makes swallowing difficult and can cause birds to regurgitate food, contaminating shared sources of food and water with their saliva.

Following best practice advice for feeding garden birds is recommended as a way to reduce the spread of disease. This includes regularly cleaning feeders and bird baths and, if possible, rotating the position of feeders around the garden to avoid build-up of food waste in one area. If sick birds are seen, temporarily suspending feeding will allow birds to disperse and may reduce the risk of transmission.

Other UK Red- and Amber-listed species, including house sparrow and bullfinch, are also susceptible to trichomonosis. Understanding the potential for the disease to spread to other species at bird feeding stations and working out how we can feed birds more safely are also priorities.
Anyone can help us learn more about the diseases that affect garden birds by reporting sightings of sick or dead birds to the Garden Wildlife Health project, where you can also find best practice advice on feeding garden birds to help safeguard their health and welfare.

Dr Hugh Hanmer, BTO Research Ecologist and lead author on the paper, said: ‘Information derived from organised citizen science surveys has been vital to understanding what is happening to the populations of these two common bird species.

The results from our study put a spotlight on the use of supplementary bird feeding, both in gardens and as a conservation management tool, highlighting the importance of balancing the trade-offs between the positive conservation and engagement benefits of feeding with potential negatives of disease transmission that need to be better addressed.’

Dr Becki Lawson, ZSL IoZ co-author on the paper, said: ‘The emergence of trichomonosis in 2005 and dramatic declines of finches that have since occurred highlight the importance of understanding threats that affect the health of our garden birds and how disease can negatively affect biodiversity. We appeal to the public to continue to help us learn more about the conditions that affect garden birds, by reporting signs of ill health in garden wildlife to www.gardenwildlifehealth.org.’

Paper Habitat-use influences severe disease-mediated population declines in two of the most common garden bird species in Great Britain here

September volunteer activity

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Sunday 11th September 2022 – Les Creux, St Brelade 10:30-13.00

From Jersey Conservation Volunteers

We’re back!!

Task Join us for the first task of this season to get stuck into some habitat management work at Les Creux. Help rake and clear bracken which has become overly dominant and remove an amount of brambles from dry stone walls

If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added (or removed) to/from the Wild About Jersey email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).

The site Meet in Beauport car park, St Brelade

Jersey Phone Directory Map 12, H19 Google maps here

Time: Meet ready to start work at 10:30. We will finish work at approximately 12:30 to give us the chance for a catch up over a cuppa.

Parking There is parking at the Longbeach car park, La Rue a Don, Grouville.

Tools needed We will provide some tools and gloves but if you have any of your own then feel free to bring them along.

Clothing needed Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy footwear.

Children All are welcome, although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are accompanied by an adult. Due to the uneven ground, a reasonable level of fitness is required.

Refreshments

*Please make sure you bring your own mug or reusable cup* We are delighted to welcome back our very own Kim the Kake, who will be on hand to reward the workers with her homemade cake and a drink.

See you there!