Covid-19 Lockdown meant many people became more aware of their local natural surroundings. They want everyone to celebrate the love for nature and birds across the world in their own local areas or “patch”.
Part of the weekend event will include eBird’s October Big Day when it is aimed to create a world record for the largest number of birds seen by the greatest number of people on this peak migration weekend.
It is hoped that at least 25,000 participants will go out birdwatching on Saturday 17 October 2020 and report what they see using eBird. The goal is to record more than 6,000 bird species!
How do I take part?
Global Birding are working in association with eBird, which is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the USA.
On Saturday 17 October 2020, go out birdwatching and enjoy what you see – with family, friends, groups or just take time out on your own (register here).
Enter what you see and/or here on eBird
Watch the sightings roll in on eBird’s Global Bird Weekend October Big Day page
Keep posting your photos and videos during the day on our social media pages #globalbirdweekend #globalbirding
On Sunday 18 October 2020, add your own photos, videos, field sketches and messages to share your experiences with the global audience. Keep up to date on Global Birding’s social media pages over the weekend and beyond #globalbirdweekend #globalbirding,
This year, Global Birding is supporting BirdLife International’s vital conservation project to stop the illegal trade in birds. Did you know there are now more birds in cages in Java than in the country’s natural habitat?
****Please note that due to Covid-19, you will need to book a place to attend this task through Eventbrite (here) and numbers will be restricted to a total of 35.
It is also advised that you bring your own tools, work gloves and a mug for refreshments****
Task Following on from last February’s task of tree planting at Mourier Valley, we’re asking the JCV to assist again this year, by helping us cut and clear the bracken covered valley edges ahead of this season’s tree planting. We will also be piling the bracken litter to be used as mulch when the trees are planted
Please meet at the car park at 10am to allow us to walk over to the site and start work for 10.30am. We will finish for 1pm.
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to the Jersey Conservation Volunteers 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 at Sorel Point top public car park (Jersey phone directory Map 3, R2) and Google maps here
Parking Sorel Point top public car park
Tools needed Due to Covid restrictions we are discouraging the sharing of tools and ensuring that any borrowed tools are disinfected before and after the event. With this in mind, if you have your own sickles, rakes, forks or gardening gloves, please bring them along.
Clothing needed Please dress for the weather and bear in mind how exposed the site is on the North Coast. Sturdy boots are recommended as we will be working on some sloped gradients.
Children All are welcome, young or old although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are directly supervised by a parent or guardian.
Refreshments Kim will be setting up her pop up café to treat you all when work finishes at about 12.30.
Due to travel restrictions to Guernsey, this year’s IIEM will be held via Zoom.
It is a special year as 2020 marks; the 20th Anniversary of the IIEMs, the end of the UN’s Decade of Biodiversity and the beginning of the UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We do hope you can join us to help celebrate these landmarks.
The meeting will be held over two days: Thursday 17th 09:40-14:30 and Friday 18th September from 10:00-14:30.
There will be series of short talks in the morning and a workshop in the afternoon.
For full details, timetables, and to register for the event, please visit the Eventbrite links below:
In order to attend the meeting you are required to register to both days using the above links. Please note – you are still required to register through Eventbrite even if you have already emailed to request a place at the IIEM.
****Please note that due to Covid-19 restrictions you will need to book a place to attend this task through Eventbright (here) and numbers will be restricted to a total of 20.
You will also be required to bring your own tools, work gloves and a mug for refreshments****
Task.Pollinator patch creation We are delighted to welcome you back to the first task of the autumn! We have been asked by some of the residents at First Tower to help prepare and sow some pollinator patches where currently there is just mown grass. We will mark out and prepare a seed bed by hand and finally sow with wild flower seed.
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to the Jersey Conservation Volunteers email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
The site Please meet at the entrance to First Tower Carpark, La Route es Nouaux, St Helier: Jersey phone directory map reference 14 V16 and Google maps here
Parking Close by
Tools needed We are following Government guidelines regarding Covid-19 so please bring your own gardening gloves, spades, forks and rakes to avoid sharing tools. As ever please dress for the weather.
Clothing needed Please dress for the weather, coats, sturdy boots/wellies and waterproofs may well be needed!
Children All are welcome, young or old although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age directly supervised by a parent or guardian. And everyone must book through Eventbright!
Refreshments We will meet at 10.30 and aim to finish at 12.30 for a cuppa (please bring your own mug) and piece of Kim’s Kake (missed you Kim!).
If you head to the north-west of the Island today, and you stop by Grève de Lecq, you might want to pop in to Colleens Cafe, where a familiar face is waiting to greet you. Not a human face mind you, but that of one of our local puffins in fact.
The puffin in question is one of Jersey’s breeding birds, a population of only four pairs, and its photo, featured in a new information board, was taken by a local photographer just around the corner from the cafe. The board, produced by Birds On The Edge as a part of our seabird conservation campaign, is really the brainchild of puffin enthusiast and owner of Colleens Cafe, Emma Machon. When we heard that Emma was thinking of having a board about puffins at the cafe, we approached her to offer our input, which she graciously accepted (to our delight!).
The board provides global and local insights about puffins and other seabirds breeding in the area, with information on their ecology, populations and present threats, as well as measures to stop their declines (you can look at the sign here). We have used photos taken locally in most cases, so you’re looking at our actual birds from Jersey, and in the settings and behaviours we are most likely to observe: flying, standing on the rocks or bobbing on the water. In Jersey we are not likely to see puffins perched on the rocks or walking about on the slopes and burrows, like we might in the large colonies of the north. The slopes in Jersey are too accessible to potential predators, such as rats and ferrets, so our puffins only breed in rock crevices on the cliffs, below the slopes.
On the board you will also find a small map of the Seabird Protection Zone, which is the area to avoid between March and July in order to keep puffins and other endangered birds safe from disturbance; and the Seabird Trail (coming soon!), which is the route to follow in order to observe the puffins in a safe and unobtrusive way.
Map showing Seabird Protection Zone (red) and Seabird Trail (green line)
At the other end of the trail you will find another copy of the board, just outside Plémont Cafe. As it happened, only a few weeks ago we were approached by the cafe’s owner Paul McDermott , who was wondering if we had any nice puffin pictures or posters that he could put up, and as you can guess, now there are two boards, one at either end of the forthcoming Seabird Trail.
So here’s a little plan for you: pick a sunny day, grab your binoculars and head to Plémont. Have a nice breakfast at the cafe, whilst admiring the beach from the bar. Take a quick look at the seabird board (it’s behind you…!). Once you’ve brushed up on identifying puffins and other birds, find your way up to the top car park and start on the Seabird Trail, following the public footpath to Grève. Keep your eyes on the sea below for puffins, razorbills, gulls and fulmars, and see how many you can identify of each. Once you arrive at Grève de Lecq, you deserve a good lunch, so treat yourself at Colleens, where you can check on their seabird board how many birds you got right. After enjoying the food and the views, and maybe even the beach too, make your way back to Plémont, noticing the other side of the cliffs and the changing views, and don’t forget to keep scanning the water with your binoculars, as seals or dolphins are a common sight in this area too.
Now that you’ve made it back to Plémont, having learnt about our seabirds and tested your skills, you deserve an ice cream, slice of cake or a cool drink. What better way to celebrate some time well spent with our beautiful seabirds.
Thanks go to: Emma from Colleens Café for her initial idea, and for allowing the Birds On The Edge takeover of the seabird board; Paul from Plémont Cafe for jumping on the board bandwagon; graphic artists at Durrell (Will and Rich) for their inspired design; and the photographers Romano da Costa and Mick Dryden for letting us use their beautiful photos.
The dates have been set for the 2020 training sessions and survey period!
The Jersey Bat Survey 2020 (JBats) is a pilot study for an island-wide citizen science scheme. Each volunteer will get a detector to record bat echolocation calls throughout the survey period. Using the latest automated call recognition systems, data is extracted from these recordings which provides information towards the long-term monitoring of bats in Jersey. This scheme is still in a pilot phase as we develop the scheme and links with the British Bat survey.
JBatS 2020 survey period: 1st -31st July
JBatS Training: Tuesday 23rd June 7pm
This year training will take place in your own home via Zoom !!
We will be providing some background to the project and an update on the progress we’ve made so far. We’ll also let you know how you can be involved with the 2020 fieldwork should you be interested. Even if you participated in the 2019 JBats surveys, we encourage you to join the training session.
This year we can’t get together for a more traditional training event and practical field session but there will be a chance for volunteers to familiarise themselves with the equipment when they collect their kit pack. We will be arranging kit collections that meet Covid-19 guidance and physical distancing measures. So if you can’t make the training session online but would still like to get involved please do let us know.
In 2020, the survey period is the month of July. We are asking volunteers to deploy an audiomoth detector at three different locations during the survey period. Deploying the detectors is quick and easy to do, and provides a great chance to explore the island!
This year we are collaborating with the Bat Conservation Trust’s BBats project. The BCT BBats project will process a sample of the data we record this season to test a new system of providing feedback to volunteers.
If you are interested please contact WildAboutJersey on wildaboutjersey@gov.je You will receive a follow up email with more details of the event.
Please join the Jersey Bat Group for the second Great Garden Bat Watch!
This event combines the joy of (hopefully!) watching bats with citizen science-based research that can help us better understand bats across Jersey.
The Group are particularly keen to receive sightings of bats from St Helier and other urban areas around the Island to help with their research into Jersey’s urban bat populations.
We are asking if you could look for bats on the 6th and 7th June, but please do feel free to use the form (below) to submit your bat sightings throughout the summer.
However: if you are submitting sightings on dates other than 6th and 7th June then, to get the right timings, please go to sunset times here and ensure that you are outside looking for bats at least 15 minutes before sunset. That way you will ensure you spot the first bats…though it may mean you wait up to 30 minutes before seeing your first one.
The Great Garden Bat Watch
We are asking you to go into your garden, or to an open space near your house or really anywhere in the Island to look for bats.
We ask that you do this whilst maintaining social distancing and by following any other requirements of the Government of Jersey’s safe exit framework.
Main event: Saturday 6th or Sunday 7th June (or both!)
Where: Any outside space (garden, park, lane, beach)
What time: From 20:55 until 22.00
You do not need a bat detector as we are not asking you to identify bat species, all you need to note down is:
The time you saw the first bat
The direction the bat flew from
Details of the recorder, date and location
Great Garden Bat Watch data entry form
We are working in conjunction with the Jersey Biodiversity Centre who have designed a bespoke data entry form for you to enter your sightings – through the form here.
If you manage to take any photos or videos of bats in flight during the Great Garden Bat Watch then please post them in the comments box for this event on the Jersey Bat Group Facebook page or email them to the Jersey Bat Group
We look forward to receiving news of your local bats!
For any further details about the bat watch or to submit your data by email then please email the Jersey Bat Group
The theme for this year’s meeting will be Review & Restore
Day 1: The UN Decade of Biodiversity is coming to an end in 2020 and Day 1 of the meeting will look back at the projects that have taken place over the last decade. This is an opportunity for speakers to review what has been learnt about our islands biodiversity and assess the progress made in the last 10 years. The afternoon of Day 1 will include a choice of three workshops; two around the Lihou Ramsar site looking at either the intertidal zone or the nearby species-rich grasslands, and the third will be in St Peter Port looking at urban biodiversity. There will be an informal dinner in the evening for those who wish to attend.
Day 2: 2020 is also the start of the UN’s Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and Day 2 will be themed around planning for the future. We would like to hear from speakers advising ways to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems within our islands.
We will also be holding a public talk on the evening of Wednesday 17th, the speaker for which will be announced at a later date.
Cost: At this stage we are looking to cover the cost of IIEM2020 with sponsorship. However, we may need to make a small charge per ticket to cover the costs of food & refreshments. This would be no more than £40 per ticket including Thursday evening meal (£30 meeting only).
Please note– we are continuing with plans to stage the event but we will monitor the advice regarding COVID-19. Cancellation is regarded as a last resort and we are looking into options for remote conferencing should the situation require it.
To book your place, please email IIEM2020@gov.gg specifying:
how many tickets you will need
what days you will be attending
if you would like to attend the evening meal on Thursday please also advise of any dietary requirements
If you would like to present at the meeting, please reply to this email by 30th April with a brief outline of your proposed talk. Talks will either be 10 or 20 minutes so please include your preference.
Accommodation
Finding accommodation is the responsibility of attendees; however, rooms have been set aside at the following hotels (room availability and costs may change). To book a room please contact the hotel directly and quote IIEM 2020.
Wild about Jersey volunteer monitoring and survey activities are suspended until review at the end of April
This includes participation in our monitoring schemes and surveys (e.g. Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, PondWatch JE and Reptilewatch JE, National Plant Monitoring Scheme, Jersey Bat Survey).
In the current challenging situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic we hope that everyone is coping and keeping well. In these difficult times the health and well-being of our wild volunteers is our priority. It is vital that we follow the latest government instructions ‘Stay at Home’: Advice for Islanders. All islanders are instructed to ‘stay at home’ this means, everyone in Jersey is ordered to stay at home at all times except for a limited number of reasons. Doing this will, protect our health workers and save lives.
We appreciate and value all those who expressed an interest in helping with surveys and counts and we hope that all who expressed a desire to take part will, in time, get to do that. Please be reassured that reduced survey coverage in any one year is not detrimental to the long-term value of the surveys you participate in. Thank you for your continued commitment.
During this time why not consider what you can do in your garden, yard, balcony or window boxes. Use this time to encourage appreciate the wildlife there and please don’t forget at any point you can still record any wildlife encounters you have using iRecord or the Jersey Biodiversity Centre website.
Wild about Jersey will have information about online training support and surveys you can do in your garden later this month. Any questions please get in contact.
Please stay safe.
Best Wishes
Wild about Jersey
Natural Environment
T: 01534 441600
Government of Jersey
Growth, Housing and Environment | Natural Environment
Howard Davis Farm | La Route de la Trinite | Trinity | JE3 5JP
The Jersey Bat Group are holding an open evening 1st April to welcome anyone who would like to know more about the work they do. The group invites anyone with an interest in conservation, wildlife volunteering, public engagement or arts and crafts to come along to find out about the volunteering opportunities and training they have to offer.
PLEASE NOTE there may be disruption to planned events through concerns over Covid-19 so watch out for any changes to plans.
Over the last few years, the Jersey Bat Group has been busy. They have discovered new records of bat species in the Island, learnt more about the roost sites of different bat species, increased public awareness by providing talks and walks for schools, building professionals and other organisations. Members have learnt new skills including identifying different species of bats from sounds and appearance, rope access skills to check for roosts in trees, advanced survey skills to carefully trap bats for analysis in the hand and release. Members have also assisted with the ringing of bats as part of licenced projects studying the movement and migration of bats and help track radio-tagged bats to find out where they live and forage.
As the hibernation season draws to a close, the group are gearing up for another busy season of public engagement and research. There are lots of activities that you can get involved in even if you haven’t got any previous experience. For the seasoned bat enthusiasts there are plenty of opportunities for you to develop and grow your skills with the advanced surveys.
The April meeting will give an overview of some of the activities volunteers can get involved in and you will be able to sign up on the spot! Activities include:
Public engagement – including stalls, public walks and talks. This year’s focus is on light pollution and the effect this has on humans as well as nocturnal wildlife
Fund raising – e.g. pub quizzes, stalls, cake sales, bat themed merchandise and any other great ideas volunteers may have
Transect surveys – walking a set route after sunset with a bat detector to record bat activity
Passive acoustic surveys – assisting with the collection of data from bat detectors left at sites to record activity at a specific site (great for those who prefer to volunteer during daylight hours!)
Sound analysis – learn to analyse the recordings from the surveys above to identify the species of bat present and see if the bats are feeding or socialising as well as echolocating to find their way around
Members’ activity walks – informal walks, usually monthly, where members can learn to use bat detectors and chat to others about all things batty
Roost monitoring –
counting bats as they emerge from known roosts. This helps us to see how bats are doing year on year and if populations are increasing or declining
Checking bat boxes
Advanced bat surveys – trapping bats so we can find out more about the breeding status of different bat species within the Island and learn more about the cryptic species of bat in Jersey (these sound similar on the acoustic survey, so the way we find out more is by looking closely at the bats to identify the specific species)
Arts ‘n’ crafts – we are keen to recruit artistic or creative volunteers to make batty themed products for the stall and liven up our website and social media.
Amy Hall, Chair of the Jersey Bat Group, said “Bats are fascinating and often misunderstood mammals. We are hoping that this open meeting and volunteer drive will help both dispel the negative myths about bats and also to enthuse members of the public to help us with bat conservation and research.
You don’t need to be a member of the group to attend but there will be some membership forms available on the night for anyone wanting to become more involved, or just to support the work we do.”
From Global Birding
