Category Archives: Top News

Chough report: February 2022

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By Liz Corry

Jersey’s annual Great Garden Bird Watch returned some interesting results this year. Held on 5th and 6th February, Islanders were asked to spend an hour in their garden and list all the birds they could see.

For the first time in its twenty-one year history, choughs were recorded. Not only that, they were spotted on a bird feeder filled with peanuts, sunflower hearts,  maize, pinhead oatmeal and millet.

A pair of choughs demonstrating how resourceful corvids can be. Photo by Robert Graiger.

After digging a little deeper, we discovered that some of the choughs have been visiting this garden since 2020. The photos submitted identified breeding pair Trevor and Noirmont, prior to that, we know a young female has also visited with the pair.

Whilst surprising, it is not unheard of for wild choughs to use bird feeders. There are a few of reports from Cornwall and Wales of chough opportunistically feeding from garden bird feeders. In each case including Jersey, the gardens are not your typical urban estate fenced-in garden. Trevor and Noir have been visiting property at Grantez which surrounded by grazed land (sheep, horses, and donkeys). From Grantez’s vantage point, you can see the entire west coast from L’Étacq to Corbière, both areas favoured by choughs.

Donkey-grazed grassland is not your typical garden view. Photo by Liz Corry.

The interesting information from this report is the type of food they are eating. Pinhead oatmeal forms part of the supplementary diet provided to Scottish choughs in Islay. Its not considered as typical wild chough diet, but does suggests there is something in the mix that the birds are looking for. We are hoping to carry out research into diet preferences in the near future. This exciting discovery is certainly food for thought.

Sorry.

Foraging further afield

As mentioned above, the choughs have been visiting Grantez. In addition to the garden report, the National Trust Rangers have seen choughs foraging near the dolmen on Grantez headland. 

Choughs are also visiting Corbière, Les Mielles dunes, and potentially back at Crabbé where a pair roosted in 2020. The gun range, sheep-grazing, and now goat-grazing, provide great habitat for choughs to find food. Farm structures and cliff faces offer ample nesting opportunity for a pair looking to setup a new territory. 

Someone looks very warm out at Crabbé on a cold February morning. Photo by Liz Corry.

We are also keeping our eyes peeled around Trinity again. There is a good chance Pinel might try to set up a territory again this time with his new female. The roost site used in 2021 is surrounded by horse paddocks which provide foraging opportunities and nesting material – choughs sometimes use horse hair!

Choughs have been visiting the dolmen at Grantez. Photo by Liz Corry.

Catch-ups with the choughs

We finally managed to trap the elusive Bo and Flieur in the aviary to replace their leg rings. I say elusive, but I could equally use stubborn/clever/annoying/uncooperative… This is the pair who always fly to the aviary with the others yet refuse to go inside when they know we are trying to catch choughs. Bo in particular keeps both eyes firmly fixed on staff. Flieur might break once in a while and tempt fate, but flees at the first inclination that the hatches might be about to close.

I struck lucky on Monday 7th when all thirty choughs turned up for the feed all showing signs they were hungry. Typically had to be the day I was working alone although maybe that is why Bo’s guard was down.

I replaced Bo’s missing plastic ring and swapped Flieur’s faded pale grey for something more obvious. It felt wrong. No one likes change. Flieur has been grey since she arrived at Sorel. Grey is her identity.

It’s also a really stupid colour to use in the wild in a climate where grey skies prevail. So out with the grey in with the mauve.

Flieur’s new mauve leg ring sets her apart from the other 2014 (blue) hatched birds. Photo by Liz Corry.

Storm damage at Sorel

The Island has seen its fair share of storms this year. February’s Storm Eunice and Franklin delivering devilishly strong winds (55-63 mph or 89-102 km/h). Yet somehow the aviary miraculously remains standing. 

Choughs arriving for the supplemental food. Photo by Liz Corry.

The winds did create new rips in the netting and annoyingly re-opened ones we had sealed last month. Another trip to Sorel with the Henchmen ladder is in the pipeline. We have budgeted for new netting to be fitted later in the year. Hopefully the current net will hold out until then.

What didn’t remain standing was the Birds On The Edge sign at Sorel car park. Cue a phone call on my morning off followed by a spot of coastal ‘carpentry’. I couldn’t unscrew the sign from the posts to fit it in the car so the logical solution…saw off the posts! In my defence, they were rotten at the base, and we reused the wood at the aviary. The sign and fencing will be replaced by the Countryside Rangers in the near future.

It was like that when I got there your honour! Photo by Liz Corry.

Grazing returns to Sorel

Very pleased to see the return of the Manx loaghtans to Sorel this month. Perfect timing for the choughs who will soon need wool to line their nests.

The sheep have returned to graze Sorel and Devil’s Hole. Photo by Liz Corry.

It also means we should hopefully see the return of dung invertebrates (aka chough food) who depend on the sheep faeces. Not sure which made me more excited, the choughs foraging in amongst the sheep or the return of mating dung flies. If you haven’t already, please checkout our article about Dung Beetles for Farmers. 

A pair of yellow dung fly making the most of the fresh dung. Photo by Liz Corry.

Avian influenzas confirmed in Jersey

Two wild buzzards have tested positive for avian influenza: the first confirmed cases in Jersey. This was followed shortly by the death of a red-breasted goose in the Zoo who also tested positive for the strain H5N1. 

Choughs are considered to be at low risk of infection, and we do not foresee any major changes in how we manage the supplementary feeds. To reduce the chance of transmission between field sites and the Zoo, we have set up a disinfectant foot bath at the aviary with dedicated footwear. We continue to maintain high hygiene standards at the aviary and have separate footwear for in the Zoo and out in the field.

We will of course monitor the situation and consult with the States Vet if any changes occur.

March volunteer activity

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Sunday 13th March 2022 –– Gorey Promenade, St Martin 10:20-12.30

From Jersey Conservation Volunteers

Task Perhaps best known for its exotic plantings, the gardens on the Promenade at Gorey have one patch of grass desperate for a pollinator friendly make over.

If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to 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).

Booking You will need to book a place to take part in this task here

The site Meet at Longbeach car park, La Rue a Don, Grouville.

Jersey Phone Directory Map 11 LL16 Google maps here

Time Meet at 10.20 as the site is a five minute walk away and we aim to start at 10.30. We will be finished work by 12.30 to give us the chance for a cuppa.

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

Tools needed Some tools will be provided but if you have a spades, forks, rakes and secateurs please bring them as they will be useful.

Clothing needed Please dress for the weather. We can supply a pair of gardening gloves if you don’t have them.

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*  Kim the Kake will be on hand to reward everyone with a cuppa and cake when the work is done.

See you there!

 

 

 

Dung Beetles for farmers

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By Liz Corry

Mention ‘dung beetle’ to most people and the first thing they picture is a giant ball of dung being rolled around by a seemingly impractical sized beetle. Yet those minuscule muck movers are just the tip of the dung pile. Literally!

There are over 7,000 species of dung beetle (Scarabaeidae) worldwide, 43 of which are native to Jersey. Some roll, some tunnel, others live amongst the faeces. Its all to do with how their life-cycle has evolved and how, in turn, they give back to the natural world. And we don’t just mean as food for choughs!

A dung beetle in South Africa. Photo by Travel Local.

Another feature often overlooked is the dung beetle’s ability to fly.  They can disperse long distances and fly at speeds of 18 miles per hour (which means they could be breaking the law along Jersey’s green lanes!). They have evolved to be either day-time flyers or night-time flyers which in turn means they can be a great food source for birds as well as bats.

Some favour sheep or cattle dung, some have a penchant for deer droppings. The point is they are diverse and in turn require a diverse ecosystem to thrive.

Having a diverse range of ‘faeces farmers’ in an ecosystem provides enormous benefits including reduced greenhouse emissions, reduced parasite levels in pastures, increased soil organic matter, and reduced farming costs.

Dung beetles can be surprisingly colourful. Photo: Dung Beetles for Farmers

Sadly, 52% of the UK’s dung beetles are classed as under threat and it’s largely down to how we humans use (and abuse) the environment. The good news is that we can make a difference and for farmers, it can end up pocketing them a bit of money in the process.

At the recent Oxford Real Farming Conference, dairy farmer Bruce Thompson gave a talk about his beetle-friendly livestock management and how he is seeing tangible benefits. Since 2017, he has been researching and implementing alternative methods to using anthelmintics, drugs used to rid cattle of parasites, the use of which has been found to have detrimental impacts on dung invertebrates and the animals which rely on them such as red-billed choughs.

Bruce Thompson with his beetle-friendly dairy herd. Photo: Irish Dairy Farmer Magazine 2019

Bruce’s hard work has paid off. Literally. The cost of using traditional methods on his herd was an eye-watering €3,857. Bruce’s beetle friendly approach cost €859 and most importantly the dairy herd is performing equally well.

Bruce is a member of Dung Beetles for Farmers along with Sally-Ann Spence, entomologist research fellow and friend of Birds On The Edge. Sally-Ann (see here) and her colleagues from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History visited Jersey in 2015 to survey for beetles and assist the Société with specimen ID.

Bruce’s talk, along with others from Dung Beetles for Farmers, is available on YouTube and linked below. I urge you to watch it as it is very engaging, you will learn a lot, and you may even come away with a newfound passion for dung!

Follow Dung Beetles for Farmers on Facebook Twitter, and Instagram

 

 

Five new species of bat for Guernsey

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First year of a four-year survey discovers five new species of bat for the Bailiwick of Guernsey

From Phil Atkinson and BTO

The most extensive bat survey carried out by citizen scientists in the Bailiwick of Guernsey using remote automated recorders has found several new species of bat and a new species of bush-cricket for the islands of Guernsey, Alderney, Herm and Sark, as well as collecting almost three-quarters of a million sound recordings of bats, small terrestrial mammals, bush-crickets and audible moth species.

Bats are a poorly understood component of the Bailiwick of Guernsey’s fauna, despite making up more than half of the terrestrial mammal species. Guernsey’s Strategy for Nature provides a clear direction to establish baselines for key biodiversity groups to provide government, other policy makers and practitioners the information required for good decision making. Learning more about the numbers and species of bats locally contributes to this, as they are key species for indicating the condition of the islands’ environment.

This research is being carried out through the Bailiwick Bat Survey: a four-year partnership project between the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the States of Guernsey’s Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services (ACLMS) with coordination by La Société for the 2021 survey. Over 200 volunteers signed up to survey one or more of the 360 500 x 500m survey squares and borrow a detector for 4-6 nights from one of our Bat Centres. Working with this network, static acoustic bat detectors were deployed during 2021 over a long survey season (April to October). A total of 2,221 complete nights of recording effort was achieved across 611 different locations, providing the first extensive baseline data for bats for the islands. The Alderney Wildlife Trust and La Société Serquaise organised the surveys in Alderney and Sark, and the Guernsey Biological Records Centre hosted the website and will be the repository of the data.

Over 1.5 million sound recording files were collected by volunteers. These were initially fed into the BTO’s Acoustic Pipeline, where they were automatically identified to species using machine learning. Following an additional process of manual verification, these were found to include 710,260 bat recordings, and 8,211 small terrestrial mammal recordings. In addition, several species of bush-crickets and audible moth species were recorded, revealing the presence of 11 bat, five small mammal, six bush-cricket and two audible moth species.

Five of the 11 species of bat had not been recorded previously in Guernsey, and included serotine, whiskered or Brandt’s bat, Leisler’s bat, common noctule and lesser horseshoe bat. Serotine was also new for Alderney and Sark. A new species of bush-cricket, large conehead, was also found on Guernsey, Alderney and Lihou, which is the first record of this species in the Channel Islands.

Sarah Allez, the Bailiwick Bat Survey Coordinator at La Société said, “Undertaking such a large survey of the islands was only possible because of the large numbers of volunteers who put out detectors for us. The enthusiasm shown by volunteers has been amazing and the survey has really highlighted how some species rely on buildings for safe roosting areas and natural habitats for feeding.”

Julia Henney, Biodiversity Officer at ACLMS said, “Such a widescale survey has given us an insight into how this often overlooked group of nocturnal mammals uses Guernsey’s built and natural environment. With three more years to go we will have a comprehensive understanding of the habitats that are important for all the bat species that occur in the islands.”

Dr Phil Atkinson, lead scientist on the project, said, “The current dataset of 710,260 bat recordings has been very valuable in adding to our understanding of patterns of occurrence and activity of bats across the Bailiwick of Guernsey, but it also adds to our understanding of some other species groups that were recorded as ‘by-catch’ during bat surveys, and shows the power of citizen science. My thanks go to the 200+ volunteers who dedicatedly deployed the detectors, without which this project would be extremely difficult to carry out. I look forward to seeing what we might discover next year.”

Download the report Bailiwick Bat Survey: 2021 season report here 

Sheep on Les Blanches Banques

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Plans to return sheep to the sand dunes of Les Blanches Banques and grazing to revitalise the grasslands

By Tim Liddiard

Les Blanches Banques

The sand dunes of Les Blanches Banques, set in and around St Ouen’s Bay in St Brelade and at the heart of the Jersey National Park is recognised biologically as being one the richest sites of its kind in the Island and has been described as ‘undoubtedly one of the premier dune systems in Europe for its scientific interest’. As the most extensive area of sandy soils in Jersey, the dunes support good populations of many animals and plants on the Island that are not found elsewhere.

During the Medieval period, the dune grasslands were used for sheep grazing and stacking sea weed to dry, the latter was used as fertiliser, or was burnt on the dunes to produce potash.

In the absence of a grazing regime on the sand dunes in recent years, due to the processes of seral succession it is evident that the important grasslands habitats are being subsumed by the spread of mixed scrub.

Currently an amount of grazing is being provided by rabbits but not at a level sufficient to halt or reverse the loss of the important dune grasslands, a key habitat in the Biodiversity Strategy for Jersey 2000 and home to a number of notable plants and a host of other wildlife.

A total of over 400 plant species have been recorded on Les Blanches Banques, many being unique or special to our shores.

Some of the plants found on the sand dunes which are recognised as being of scientific interest include the lizard orchid, with its flower resembling its reptile namesake; the dwarf pansy, in Great Britain only found on the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands, the heath dog violet which is Near Threatened in the UK and the sand crocus with its diminutive mauve flower.

Amphibians and reptiles enjoy life on the sand dunes, which harbours five of Jersey’s seven species. Palmate newt and slow worm are present but a visitor from mainland Britain will perhaps be more excited by the exotic looking green lizard with its emerald and aquamarine colouring. Also the western toad is found here rather than the common toad of Britain and northern Europe. The grass snake can be seen here on occasion, they are one of Jersey’s rarest animals and the sand dunes remains one of their few strongholds.

The blue winged grasshopper, the firebug, the Queen of Spain fritillary butterfly, the lesser bloody-nosed beetle, exuding a minute drop of blood when alarmed and the sand bear wolf spider which ambushes its prey from the entrance of its burrow are all invertebrates of particular interest to Jersey and our sand dunes.

 

The skylark, a ground nesting bird with an enchanting song is in decline across Europe and is a local Action Plan species, as is the stonechat, a bird whose call resembles the sound of two pebbles being knocked together. The chough, one of the great successes of the Birds On The Edge partnership is known to forage on the sand dunes and the conservation of the grasslands along with the addition of dung and its associated invertebrates will help provide these wonderful birds with an ongoing food source.

Grazing Plans

It is accepted best conservation practice to graze stabilised dune systems with livestock and the purpose of this project is to trial the grazing of Manx loaghtan sheep in scrub habitats and adjacent grasslands. These habitats have an abundance of burnet rose and other plant species which are becoming dominant over the more desirable dune vegetation which includes orchids, dwarf pansies, sand crocus and much more.

The area selected for initial grazing trials is on the escarpment north of La Moye Golf Club in an area known as Le Carriere. A combination of winter and summer grazing is the ideal, providing the chance to control holm oaks and other evergreens during the winter months and stripping foliage from other target plants (including privet, blackthorn and burnet rose) during the summer. Throughout the project the sheep’s food preferences will be constantly monitored with the hope that they will target the more undesirable plant species.

The sheep are planned to be on site from late February until May 2022.

Importantly, this area currently attracts a low level of public access and will not have a large impact on where people are able to walk.

Our thanks are extended to La Moye Golf Club for allowing the fenceline to tie into their existing fence which allows for a larger area to be grazed.

Benefits to habitats

• To prevent and reverse grassland succession towards mixed scrub within areas being grazed
• To maintain and increase plant species diversity within these areas and encourage some bare ground
• To introduce and maintain age mosaics throughout gorse and scrub dominated communities
• To encourage the reinstatement of species rich grassland especially in grassland ‘islands’ which are contained within the scrub area which are being lost to scrub
• To trial which plant species the Manx loaghtans forage on the most, thereby identifying their effectiveness in the control of scrub intrusion onto dune grassland habitats.

Benefits to species

• To provide bare ground for seed germination of dune grassland associated herbs and grasses
• To provide bare ground for associated invertebrate species
• To identify the effects of Manx loaghtan foraging behaviour on particular plant species , notably burnet rose, bracken, privet and blackthorn
• This area is recognised as being important for grass snakes and the creation of grass glades amongst the scrub will provide welcome basking areas for them
• There is a strong association and reliance between foraging choughs and short grassland, especially when grazing livestock and their dunging encourage the presence of dung beetles.

Chough report: January 2022

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Winter sun at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry.

By Liz Corry

New year new start. At least for Vicq our breeding female who was ditched by her partner for the ‘other woman’. We have seen Vicq allopreening Pinel a wild-hatched male from 2020. This could mean a new pairing for the 2022 breeding season. She has lost the nest site in the quarry, and we are not clear on where she roosts. In 2019, her first nest attempt was out on the cliffs at Sorel. She might try again if she can hold on to Pinel.

Another new pairing is emerging between two wild-hatched birds Danny and Jaune. The female will be coming into breeding age and looking for a suitable site to lay. We will be eagerly following the progress of this pair.

We have only received a few public sightings this month, all from known foraging sites. Maybe the flock are thinking it’s time to knuckle down and work on getting through winter. There is not much point in them investigating new sites at the moment considering how waterlogged it has been. 

Several fields in Grouville become flooded at this time of year. Photo by Liz Corry.

Aviary maintenance

With the assistance of Neil, Government Countryside Ranger, we transported the Henchmen ladder to Sorel to repair the netting. The work took a couple of days to due to a lot of faffing around adjusting all four legs each time the ladder was repositioned. The joys of working at height on uneven surfaces. We also had to deal with the interchangeable weather. From sun, to fog, to rain, and back to sun. 

A feeding stand temporarily turned into a Henchmen workstation. Photo by Liz Corry.

The fog actually increased the visibility of the rips in the netting. Photo by Liz Corry.

We started replacing the rotten steps to reach the hatches. Next month’s job looks set to be replacing the hatches themselves as the wood is giving way. One has already had a quick patch-up job as we have been trying to shut in a couple of birds to replace leg rings.

The first attempt failed when the hatch broke and scared off the flock. The second attempt the following week failed because we had lost their trust…and it started raining.

Nest monitoring

We still need to replace a couple of nest boxes in the quarry. Ronez have been experiencing technical difficulties and staff levels impacted by contact tracing. It has somewhat worked in our favour, as two data loggers arrived in the post this month for monitoring temperature and humidity levels in nest boxes.

Blue Maestro Tempo disc records temperature and humidity. Photo by Liz Corry.

The Blue Maestro Tempo disc stores data and sends it via Bluetooth to a smartphone app. Battery life should last the duration of the nesting season. We can fit them in the boxes now before installing the boxes. There are no glowing lights to distract the birds so hopefully they will not interfere. 

‘Extra-curricular’ activity

I decided January wasn’t challenging enough so ramped things up by attending a Data Analysis with R course and threw in a BIAZA-IUCN workshop on native species conservation to the same week.

I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to anyone who tried to have a conversation or ask me a question that week. Head to any R forum chat site to appreciate why I had the appearance of a recently lobotomized patient each time I emerged from the office.

That being said, I highly recommend the online course run by Eco-Explore.co.uk for anyone who needs to use R. They make it less painful than it sounds.

Excerpt from Thomas, R., et al. (2017) Data Analysis with R Statistical Software.

The overall aim of the BIAZA-IUCN workshop overall aim was to help inform a new framework for a more collaborative and holistic approach to UK native species conservation, linking stakeholders and identifying priority gaps.

There is already a lot of work going by zoos and aquaria in the UK to support native species. Just take a look at the incredible pine hoverfly breeding and restoration work by the RZSS. And of course, our very own chough and agile frog work featured in the Top 10 BIAZA list.

We could achieve a lot more, with greater success, if we work together as institutions and more closely with stakeholders.

A way of assisting this is to document what you have done, both the successes and the lessons learnt. We recently published online at PANORAMA, a partnership initiative to document and promote examples of inspiring, replicable solutions across a range of conservation and sustainable development topics, enabling cross-sectoral learning and inspiration (I copied that bit). It is led by IUCN and a German organisation called GIZ. Other partners include Rare, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank.

Click here to read the case study for Jersey’s choughs.

 

February volunteer activity

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Sunday 13th February 2022 – Mourier Valley, St John 10.00 – 12.30

From Jersey Conservation Volunteers

Task Join the National Trust for Jersey’s Lands team on Sunday 13th February to help maintain some of the many trees planted over the last two years, with the opportunity to plant some more. The activity involves tree planting and maintenance at Mourier Valley. This scenic area overlooks the valley with views of the northern coastline. https://jerseytreesforlife.org/

If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to 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).

COVID 19 You will need to book a place to join this task Jersey Conservation Volunteers Event Tickets, Sun 13 Feb 2022 at 10:00 | Eventbrite

Please follow the latest guidance on www.gov.je and to help keep us all safe we ask that you perform a Lateral Flow Test before joining the task.

The site Meet in the car park on La Rue de Sorel. Jersey Phone Directory Map 3 R2 Google maps here 

Time 10:00. It will be a short walk to the planting site. We will finish work at approximately 12:30 to give us the chance for a cuppa.

Parking There is parking close at Sorel Point.

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. We can supply a pair of gardening gloves if you don’t have them.

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) A welcoming mug of tea and cake will be available to all who join us for the morning, which are kindly provided by Kim.

See you there!

Jersey’s Great Garden Bird Watch is 21 this year!

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Jersey Great Garden Bird Watch – 5th & 6th February 2022

Jersey’s very own garden birdwatch, the Action for Wildlife and Birds On The Edge Great Garden Bird Watch in association with the Jersey Evening Post will be 21 this year! Which bird species will be the most recorded across the Island’s gardens this year? Will it still be the house sparrow, they have had their ups and downs over the years?

House sparrows in Jersey gardens 2002-2021

The full list of last year’s most frequently recoded birds and squirrels is (with mean number of birds per recording household):

1. House sparrow 6.6
2. Goldfinch 2.4
3. Great tit 2.1
4. Starling 2.0
5. Blue tit 1.8
6. Wood pigeon 1.6
7. Chaffinch 1.4
8. Magpie 1.42
9. Robin 1.36
10. Blackbird 1.2
11. Collared dove 1.0
12. Greenfinch 0.5
13. Pheasant 0.2
14. Blackcap 0.15
15. Song thrush 0.18
16. Great spotted woodpecker 0.19
Red squirrel 0.6 (equivalent of 12th)

Method for recording

The method of the count is very straight forward. Basically you just need to choose one of the two weekend dates (5th or 6th February), look out into the garden for a few minutes, or as long as you like (I just look out the kitchen window) and write down what birds you see and the maximum number of each species. And, of course, red squirrels count again as birds this year. Just for one weekend!

Once you’ve counted the birds (and squirrels) on your chosen day please fill out the form online here, in the JEP or, alternatively, you can download a form here and email to birdsote@gmail.com. 

Your observations are of great importance in our understanding of the situation with the birds that we live closest to. Don’t forget, how these birds are fairing in the 21st century says a lot about our own lives and our own environment. You can read previous results of our survey in the Jersey Garden Birdwatch Report 2002-2020 here

Keep a look out for coal tits this winter. You never know! Photo by Mick Dryden

Les Landes footpath closures

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By Liz Corry

There are changes afoot, or should I say under your foot, at Les Landes this month! The Government of Jersey has closed some of the footpaths around Les Landes to help protect Jersey’s rare Crapaud.

Jersey’s crapaud aka the western toad. Photo by John Wilkinson

For those not in the know, the crapaud is not a mythical beast but the Jèrriais name given to the western toad (Bufo spinosus). Les Landes is a very important breeding site for the toad. Seasonal ponds and puddles scattered around the site, often across public footpaths, are used for spawning. With adult toads on the move to reach these water bodies it is important we remove as many threats as possible and protect spawn, hence the closures.

Seasonal water bodies like this one at Les Landes are spawning sites for toads.

The toad is one of Jersey’s most abundant amphibian species and possibly most surveyed. However, there is still a lot we don’t know, especially when it comes to urban environments and coastal heathland. Particularly the importance of connectivity between sites. There is little point in protecting a spawning site if the adults get squished before reaching it. “Build it and they will come” isn’t always applicable!

If you find yourself out and about at Les Landes, please respect the area, follow the rules sign-posted on the footpaths…and report any choughs you see (ok so the last bit is not mandatory).  Click here to see the public countryside access map and learn about the codes of conduct.

If you want to know more or way you can help Jersey’s crapaud and other amphibian islanders, then head to PondwatchJE. There will also be an in-person training event on the 12th of February at the Frances Le Sueur Centre, St. Ouen. Islanders can register via Eventbrite using the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pondwatch-je-training-2022-tickets-239982924387.

Chough report: December 2021

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By Liz Corry

Sorel in the bleak midwinter. Photo by Liz Corry.

December was wet and wild, but that didn’t stop the choughs from making the most of Jersey. We had several sightings covering the north and south of the Island.

Jersey choughs have been foraging in the fields along le Canibut. Photo by Liz Corry.

The fields around Le Canibut lane in St John provided daily sustenance for a bit. Corbière became an early morning jaunt for several birds. Eight were spotted one morning searching for insects amongst the stony ground around the headland. We were able to identify the birds as a mix of this year’s juveniles and non-breeding sub-adults.

Monvie and Jaune searching for invertebrates on the south coast. Photo by Mick Dryden.

Historically, choughs in Jersey were known to nest along the stretch of coast running from Corbière to Beauport. The coastline clearly still holds it appeal for the species although not enough to support a chough independently from Sorel and the supplemental feed.

The south west corner of Jersey was historically home to breeding pairs of chough. Image taken from Google Earth 2022.

December catch-ups

An ‘epic’ event happened this month at Sorel. I finally managed to outsmart the choughs and trap them in the aviary on the first attempt. Ok, so it’s not climbing Kilimanjaro or turning rainwater into wine. But in our books, it’s pretty impressive. Especially given the fact myself and the student shut in 14 of the 24 choughs present, hand-netted and weighed seven, replaced missing rings on three, and solved a medical mystery for one. All within an hour and time to spare before sunset. 

No, before you ask, there was no pear tree and/or partridge in sight.

Student Charlotte Dean got the rare opportunity to hold a wild chough whilst learning about ringing. Photo by Liz Corry.

Minty, our Plémont male, now has brand new green and red rings. It should make him more obvious when he is flying between Grosnez and Plémont during the breeding season. In the process of replacing Lee’s missing white ring we noticed wear along the top edge of his metal ring. This was only fitted six years ago.

 

Lee’s metal ring fitted in 2015 is showing wear and tear. Photo by Liz Corry.

The medical mystery concerned Minty who was observed limping one afternoon at Sorel. There also looked to be swelling on one of his feet. Once in the hand, it was clear to see his hind digit on the left foot was swollen. In consultation with the vet, it was decided that it was likely to be fibrous scar tissue or a cold abscess. The limping seen the week before was unrelated and has not been observed since. We will continue to monitor him as closely as we can as with all the choughs. We will take him to the vet to be X-rayed if his condition worsens.

Swelling on the hind digit looks to be scar tissue or a cold abscess. Phot by Liz Corry.

Essential Maintenance

Ever since that catch-up on the 22nd, the choughs have been on the defensive, reluctant to enter the aviary if we are present. They might hate us even more when we set up the Henchman ladder to repair the tears in the netting.

Tears in the netting are appearing once again along the metal support pole. Photo by Charlotte Dean.

We tried to do the work on 9th December with the assistance of the Government Countryside Rangers. The ladders are too big for our Dacia and the condition of the farm track called for the Rangers’ high clearance Land Rover.

After our best Chuckle Brothers impression getting the ladder into the aviary whilst being pelted with hail, the Henchman was too tall to stand upright inside. We had borrowed Site Services’ Henchman because the Bird Department’s one was in use, not realising it was a different model until it arrived at Sorel car park.

We rescheduled for the New Year and set to work repairing the holes we could reach unaided.

We also had to reschedule installing new nest boxes in Ronez Quarry. Emergencies at Ronez postponed the two planned visits in December. I’m hoping it will be a case of third time lucky in January.

We kept ourselves busy in the meantime. The student created Christmas themed enrichment for the choughs using reclaimed wood, old perching, and non-toxic paints. A well-deserved Blue Peter badge is winging its way to her.

December in Jersey…must be time for a visit to Hawai’i

I participated in two online planning workshops this month to discuss ideas for the ‘Alalā reintroduction plans (aka the Hawaiian crow). The ‘Alalā Project team and the Jersey chough team have had on and off contact over the last ten years sharing a common goal and using similar practices we can both learn from.

Hawaiian crows are tool users. Photo by Ken Bohn/San Diego Global

Release efforts between 2016 and 2019 saw captive bred ‘alalā living free in Puʻ u Makaʻ ala Natural Area Reserve on Hawai’i Island. Sadly, after several losses, the team decided to re-capture the surviving birds and return them to the safety of captivity whilst they set to work on Plan B.

‘Alalā face a very complicated situation which is why the team are looking for help and ideas from far and wide including the Mariana crow, Puerto Rican parrot projects, and the Jersey chough project. Getting all four teams in one virtual room was a challenge in itself given the time zones. The first meeting was at 10pm (GMT) the second a more respectable 6pm.

It was very motivational to hear people sharing experiences that resonated across species and countries. Often when helping others you end up learning something yourself. And it reminded me just how lucky Jersey has been to have had success so early on with a species recovery project.

               

Blue Islands flight JECH0U9H

The four juvenile choughs bred at the Zoo this year were exported on the 16th to Paradise Park via Blue Islands. It was a true team effort requiring all Bird Department staff in that day to help catch the four out of the aviary in the afternoon of the 15th. They were then held in a quarantine aviary overnight ready for a 6am wake up call. The birds were caught and crated ready for a 7am departure in the dark heading to the airport. Blue Islands flew them to Exeter where they were met by Paradise Park staff and driven on to Hayle, Cornwall.

And finally…

As we bring December and 2021 to a close, we would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the project this year and all our supporters for their generosity and enthusiasm. It’s been another hard year for choughs dodging peregrines and humans dodging COVID, but we made it. Happy New Year! Here’s to a year full of leatherjackets, dung beetles, larvae and whatever else makes you choughing happy.

Sunsetting on another year at Sorel. Photo by Charlotte Dean.