Chough report – June 2023

By Charlotte Dean

Our sincere apologies for the delays in circulating monthly reports. We hope to start catching up.

Wild weather
It’s that season again when the chough team make arrangements with Ronez Quarry to access the chough nests for the first nest checks and chick ringing. Unfortunately, the weather this year was not in our favour. As the quarry is an unsheltered area along the north coast, there is no easy or safe way to access high nests in winds above F4. Most of June had this level of wind so the team and quarry staff agreed it wasn’t worth the risk. However, we could at least access some of the nests on foot. The pairs we managed to access this way were those of Kevin & Wally, which had three very noisy chicks inside, and Bo & Flieur whose nest surprised us with four chicks! The chicks were ringed with our year colour for 2023 which was Pink and will be accompanied with another coloured ring for easy identification in the field. The chicks were also blood sexed, weighed and measured before being placed back into their respective nests. Without access to the other nests the team can at least acknowledge that there are currently seven chicks in two nests so far; but as there is plenty of activity in other well-known nests, we’re sure we’ll have more chicks.

Quarry updates
The quarry also witnessed a few unsuccessful fledging events this year due to the adverse weather; practically a whole month of high winds. One chick was found dead beneath a nest site for pair Green & Pyrrho. We believe that it could have died from the impact after falling from the nest, it was not, however, of fledging age and, therefore, we assume it’s death may have been caused by some sibling rivalry for space in the nest. Later, fledglings emerging from Kevin & Wally’s nest were also found on the ground near their nest site. Both were initially going to be collected by quarry staff to be assessed for cause of death by the Durrell veterinary team. However, one chick had already been predated by then. We were thankful to know that at least one chick from Kevin & Wally had also been seen by quarry staff wing-begging at its parents from the staircase just outside their nest site, looking active and healthy. Since Kevin & Wally’s chick emerged from their nest, the quarry staff have contacted us about other chicks that have been seen around the quarry as well; we can safely say that the quarry is starting to get more noisy than usual!

Plémont pair
The Plémont pair, Minty & Rey had been seen feeding chicks in their cave nest at a few days old at the end of May, which was very exciting news for our truly wild pair. Both Minty & Rey had both been seen at the Sorel Aviary every day since then. To the team, this seemed like a big issue. This could indicate that Minty & Rey were not finding enough food from foraging around their nesting area and, therefore, were coming to the aviary for food. When spending long periods of time at the aviary as a pair, they were leaving their newly hatched chicks in a nest unprotected. The chough team visited their nest the week after and were faced with silence. It was assumed that while they were still coming to the aviary for food, their chicks were predated in their absence. It has been a great shame to witness the silence from within their nest again this year. We are hopeful that they will find a new and successful place next breeding season. 

First choughlet at the aviary
The wait is finally over, the team finally heard the calls of a hungry chick at the aviary. The first pair whose fledged chicks came to the aviary this year were, perhaps unsurprisingly, Kevin & Wally on 15th June. And it wasn’t long before the other pairs started to bring their chicks too. Green & Pyrrho and Percy & Icho both brought two chicks a few days later. Dusty & Chickay, Bo & Flieur and Lee & Caûvette brought chicks at the very end of the month. Dusty & Chickay and Bo & Flieur both brought two chicks and Lee & Caûvette brought the one. Trevor & Noirmont’s nest was looked at in our Ronez Quarry visit but their chicks were a lot younger than the other breeding pairs’ – we expect them to arrive early next month.

 

Chough report – May 2023

By Charlotte Dean

Brand new hatches

The chough team have been racing against the (breeding) season, trying to repair the aviary. The large holes that were in the tops of the aviary’s netting are now fixed; there are only a few little holes left to sew up. In the meantime, the team has been preparing and replacing the release hatches on the front of the aviary. The aviary itself is always left with two release hatches open, so that the visiting choughs can be identified more quickly and with more ease as they fly in than if 43 choughs flew through all four entry points at the same time! The hatches are also an essential for the team to capture the choughs inside if they need to be health-checked or ringed. As the breeding season was well underway, the team needed to ensure that the front release hatches were fully functional. This would ensure that when the ‘choughlets’ had fledged, left their nests and eventually showed up at the aviary, they could be caught and receive their identifying rings. This is, however, if the choughs don’t outsmart the team – which they can do, very often!

Are there chicks among us?

Over the course of early May, it became clear that the pairs’ females had been sitting tight, incubating in their nests. This became obvious to the keepers by the lack of female presence from the known breeding pairs with only the males turning up for food, typically filling up and quickly flying off. To the end of May, we began to notice the females starting to visit the aviary again. Many of the females were wing-begging at the keepers while awaiting the feed. This, combined with the breeding pairs arriving at the aviary in staggered intervals, suggests to us that chicks had hatched and, therefore, the pairs were co-parenting again, each retrieving enough food to feed themselves as well as their hungry chicks at the nest.

Ronez Quarry visit

The team visited Ronez Quarry to renew their health and safety permission with the site and for our new chough student, Grace, to experience the grand tour of the quarry. While visiting, we had the opportunity to see how some of the chough pairs were getting on at their nests. Red & Dingle had built a very nice nest in their usual spot, but unfortunately, much like last year, they had not laid any eggs, but we remain hopeful that they will do later. Dusty & Chickay looked as though they had at least one chick in their nest this year while Bo & Flieur had two if not three little beaks shouting for food in their nest. Kevin & Wally had three chicks in their nest. Four other nests were occupied by Trevor & Noirmont, Lee & Caûvette, Percy & Icho and Green & Pyrrho: these nests were inaccessible without specialized equipment – but there were plenty of chick-related noises and pair visitations that would suggest that these other nests were very active as well!

Plémont pair update

Minty & Rey had a lot of obstacles to overcome this breeding season; they built a nest in a new location at a local stables, but the nest and the choughs were deterred from the area. The team had been monitoring their usual nesting spot in Plémont in the hope that they would return and produce some wild ‘choughlets’. The pair had both been seen visiting the nest, but we didn’t know if they had already laid in their previous nest. While visiting Plémont, it was clear that Rey was incubating on the nest as she flew out on Minty’s arrival to be fed by him on the cliffs above the nest. At the very end of the month, we celebrated the sounds of tiny chick noises and the pair both returning to the nest to feed their chick(s). The chicks were not visible, and we assumed they were only a few days old.

 

Jersey’s 22nd annual Great Garden Birdwatch – 4th and 5th February 2023

Counting birds in the garden for a good cause, as well as for fun

By Andrew Koester, Survey coordinator and Glyn Young

The Action for Wildlife Jersey and Birds On The Edge annual Great Garden Birdwatch returns this year for its 22nd year in succession and it is hoped that as many people as possible will help to build up a picture of the health of the Island’s bird population. 

This year, the Great Garden Birdwatch will be held over the weekend of 4th and 5th February. The method of the count is very straight forward. Basically, you just need to grab a coffee, a comfy seat a handy garden bird guide and then look out into the garden for an hour on either Saturday or Sunday morning and write down what birds you see and the maximum number of each species at any one time.

Oh, and for one weekend a year, red squirrels are birds. We’re not sure what they think about that, we’ve tried asking but they are too busy – maybe they accept that it’s an honour.

Everyone who takes part in the count is a citizen scientist and doing their own small bit to help us understand our garden birds that bit better. Most of all though, it’s fun and will remind you how important our birds are to us and how much we need them to help us feel alive and well. And they’ll take your mind off things. So, please complete either an online form or download a copy (below) and email it on one day over the weekend and help us see how our birds are doing.

If you do see an red-billed chough, don’t be surprised and don’t forget – squirrels are birds!

Please use the online survey form Great Garden Birdwatch Survey Form 2023 or download from this website here and then return the form to us by any of the following methods: By Email: afw.jersey@outlook.com or birdsote@gmail.com by Message to Action for Wildlife Jersey on Facebook

Thank you for your participation in this year’s survey.

Andrew Koester, Survey coordinator and Glyn Young, Birds On The Edge