As a result of the birds moulting, an opportunity to release all seven birds has now arisen. This has also meant that there is no longer a need to keep the two ‘non-radio tagged’ birds isolated from the others. When they were remixed, the young pair, Orange and Red, reunited straight away in a mad flurry of preening.
As the days went by it started to become evident that the two pairs in the flock had each claimed an area of the aviary. Neither pair particularly defends this territory, but they do show dominance over food during the training sessions. For example, Green and Mauve will push the others off the tables in the poly-tunnel when food is put down. Yet they will hesitate when flying on command into the ‘shed’ area where Orange and Red have been carrying nesting material.
This pairing behaviour makes it problematic for the keepers as the birds are not being rewarded for carrying out the correct behaviour, i.e. flying to the target area on whistle. It also means that the scales need to be moved around the aviary in order to try and get body weights on all seven of the birds.
By the end of the month all seven choughs had, through moulting, dropped their radio transmitters. The transmitters have now been sent back to Biotrack in the UK to have new batteries fitted to permit at least six months tracking time after the birds are released.
Choughs at Durrell
The 2013 breeding season has now come to a close as both breeding pairs have started moulting. The pairs will be moved back up to the display aviary next month and mix with the non-breeding birds.
The egg recovered from this year’ failed clutch was ‘blown’ by keepers. This is a technique whereby the contents are carefully removed and the shell sterilised using a hyper-dermic needle and syringe. The egg will be kept for educational purposes.
Gianna’s prima donna tendencies shone through this month when keepers moved George into the display aviary. At first Gianna was wary of him and sulked when keepers paid George attention and, since he was still being medicated, this happened quite a bit. George himself was visibly happier to be out of the Vet Centre. He was washing, sunbathing, and flying around all within the first few hours of being in the aviary.
For a while Gianna decided to take the approach of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. It seemed the perfect pairing. She then opted very quickly for the ‘beat them’ approach and ferociously attacked George. Thankfully members of the public witnessed this and quickly reported it to a member of staff. The keepers were then able to intervene and separate the two. George was visibly shaken but luckily only suffered some bruising. George, once again on his own, will be moved to one of the breeding aviaries once the pairs have been moved out.
As we wait patiently for the trial release, and our seven choughs get ready in their north coast aviary, one chough has been seen out and about in Jersey recently. Arthur the Chough recently spent some quality time on our coasts. First he looked in on the 2013 Itex walk on 22nd June. Not a natural walker, Arthur opted for the shorter Lieutenant-Governor’s Walk (a mere 13 miles) encouraging walkers from near Devil’s Hole before flying down to the end of this walk at La Braye in St Ouen’s Bay. This component of the annual walk took walkers, and indeed Arthur, through chough habitat and very close to the aviary. I hope the walkers enjoyed the stunning coastline and considered how it may be further enhanced in the future thanks to Birds On The Edge. The weather, sadly, early in the morning, was actually not too conducive to enjoying the countryside but Arthur was able to cheer up the hardy and even met the Lieutenant-Governor, General Sir John McColl.
Arthur made a further guest appearance at the National Trust’s Sunset Concerts on 28th June. On this lovely evening, Arthur helped out during the performance by our friends Badlabecques. As last year’s concert raised the money needed for the release aviary it was only fair that Arthur should be on hand to thank everyone and spread the message about Birds On The Edge and his friends up at Sorel. Arthur was doubly proud to be there to hear Badlabecques sing the project’s ‘own’ song “Ma Bouaîs’sie” for the first time in public.
Arthur will be visiting the Island’s primary schools during the year, he has visited four so far and will be at another this week. He will be in the Wildlife Park for Durrell Days (13-14 July) and is also headlining at Jersey Live this year (31st August-1st September). Look out for Arthur, but please don’t confuse him with other corvids (look here for hints), and carry some cranefly larvae as a handful might make him a friend for life! He now has an egg to look after and carries a lunch box containing ants!
We recently relayed dramatic goings on in the lives of Cornwall’s choughs. Well, Cornish Choughs report that there have been further dramas from the Lizard:
“After reporting a few weeks ago that the male of the Lizard pair of choughs had gone, we are sad to say that his mate has also disappeared. For just over a week the female continued to feed her two chicks with the help of the ‘usurper’ male, but she then vanished and we can only surmise she pined for her lost mate and died. It is not unheard of for this to happen where there has been such a strong and long bond between two birds. She safely fledged 44 chicks over her lifetime, and some of those birds have gone on to raise families of their own. Quite an achievement in the bird world and her place in Cornish history alongside her mate is assured.
There is a happier side to this story though as the incoming male is continuing to feed her two chicks. They are doing well and are due to fledge next week.”
Updated 3rd July. From Cornish Choughs: “After a bewildering breeding season on Southerly Point with the original pioneering pair vanishing, we are pleased to announce their two chicks have fledged! This has been made possible by the other male chough who continued to feed the young. Amazing! Chough watcher Paul Gillard made a video of one of the new chough families in West Cornwall”.
Birds On The Edge needs your help. We will be releasing the small group of young choughs to the north coast of Jersey very soon now. This is a trial release and each of the birds will be radio-tracked and monitored closely for a period of six months (see our monthly reports here).
The position
We require the support of keen volunteers to work alongside our Field Manager to carry out this radio-tracking and monitoring. So, we are looking for people who are able to commit to up to six months starting in early August 2013 and ending no later than 31st January 2013, although the end date depends a little on the birds themselves.
Volunteer activities will be focused around intensively tracking and, if necessary, searching for released choughs and recording basic behavioural data in the field. Training will be given in radio-tracking, habitat assessment and understanding chough behaviour. Volunteers will also be responsible for entering some of the data collected into the field database.
Requirements
Applicants will need to:
Have a background in biological sciences
Be happy to work outdoors and have some previous birdwatching experience
Have flexibility, commitment and determination to work, under sometimes uncomfortable or frustrating conditions, combined with good physical fitness
Provide careful attention to data recording
Be able to commit 18 hours per week for 6 months
Be resident in Jersey
Have transport within Jersey, personal equipment and insurance but the project will assist with money for petrol used if the birds need following.
This is the ideal opportunity for someone looking for practical conservation experience working with this very exciting re-introduction project for such a highly charismatic bird.
One year after clearing an area of coastline of Hottentot fig in Alderney, look at this display of native flowers coming into their own! This site now has kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, cat’s ear Hypochaeris radicata, stemless (dwarf) thistle Cirsium acaule and bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata all coming back into their own!
This change of fortunes has been brought about by the hard work of the local conservation volunteers. If you are visiting Alderney, you can join in too, there’s no need to attend regularly or even be a resident on the Island, just go along to one of the Wednesday or Saturday afternoon sessions (contact info@alderneywildlife.org). But don’t fear if you are not planning to visit the northern island in the near future, there are plenty of opportunities on the other islands to get after those figs and other invasive plants. A few hours here or there can make a huge difference and who needs a gym when you can keep fit and help our biodiversity! In Jersey, look out for the activities of our own Jersey Conservation Volunteers
This month saw the further extension of our Farmland Bird Monitoring programme. Four new sites, relatively close to each other in St Martin, were brought in to the overall scheme. Birds recorded at each of the sites will be entered into the project database but will also be used for farmland management trials aimed for 2014 as part of a joint project by the Department of the Environment and Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. These four farmland sites join two woodland sites (at Rozel Manor and Le Saie) in the trial.
The four new sites are at Ville es Nouaux/La Fosse (a single 1,037m transect), Rozel Mill (1,203m transect), Gibraltar/St Catherine’s (1,027m transect) and at La Coupe/Fliquet (1,170m transect).
The new sites bring the total number of monitored sites in this programme to 20 with two of those having two separate transects (22 transects in total). We count all the birds along 25,439 metres of transect every fortnight. That’s 15.8 miles birdwatching at least twice a month in all weathers!
During this month we have also recorded two new bird species on the transects. On 2nd June, Harriet Clark recorded a very rare common quail on the new transect at Gibraltar/St Catherine’s. Quail are a migrant species breeding in Europe and wintering in Africa. Sadly, quail are becoming rarer through hunting and loss of suitable breeding and wintering habitat. We record single birds in most years in the Channel Islands but they are still a very good sighting. Harriet’s quail became the 159th bird species recorded during the monitoring project.
The 159th species was very quickly followed by the 160th. We finally found an oystercatcher! Oystercatchers can be heard at some sites during every single visit, but, as they are typically either at the base of the cliffs or flying at sea (they are very, very noisy and their voices carry) but, as they aren’t really using the site we are monitoring, they haven’t been counted. However, on 11th June, Tim Liddiard found an oystercatcher actually walking on the path we use as the Les Blanche Banques transect. This bird was presumably one of the pair nesting at the nearby sandpits.
From Claire Mucklow, RSPB’s Cornwall Projects Manager
The last week has been one of both tremendous highs and lows for the chough team in Cornwall. They were very sad to have to report the loss of the wonderful male chough from Southerly Point on the Lizard. Just over a week ago a volunteer witnessed two choughs locked in combat for the most part of the day, and it appears that the new younger bird has ousted and possibly killed the older male. He may not be dead but he has certainly been usurped. Claire says “I always joke ‘they will live forever’ when people ask me how long the pair at Southerly Point will be around, but sadly choughs are not invincible and nature in all its rawness has won the day. An end of an era, and the loss of a very special bird”.
What a legacy that chough and his mate have left Cornwall with though. Since they returned in 2001 they have brought so much joy to those lucky enough to spend time with them and a real sense of Cornish pride enveloped them. The pair together raised 44 chicks and many of those birds have gone on to breed themselves, securing a future for choughs in Cornwall. Proper job!
But, there is a happier, and unexpected, twist to this tale. The new male, a bird often seen in the company of the Lizard pair, has adopted the old male’s new chicks – extraordinary as normally a bird would try to kill any chicks that were not his. This is new behaviour, possibly not previously recorded for choughs. The female having invested so much time and energy in her new brood has accepted this new male and together they are feeding her two chicks, which are around two weeks old. Here’s hoping the female and her new mate will live for many a year.
There is further news of chicks in Cornwall where there are already chough fledglings this season; five more youngsters took to the skies last week in Penwith. The crazy weather has really affected this year’s breeding season and, with six weeks between first and last broods, the last chicks will not fledge until early July. The total number of young for this season so far is 16, two broods of five, and three broods of two. There are a further three pairs of choughs that have shown signs of breeding but they are too young this year.
Follow news of Cornwall’s choughs on the project website here and on Twitter at @cornishchoughs. Find where to watch wild Cornish choughs here
Training this month experienced another learning curve for both choughs and keepers. During training sessions the birds were becoming sluggish and/or lacked motivation. Keepers noticed that with the change in season more and more insects were starting to emerge. The choughs were spending more time probing the ground between sessions and we quickly realised that the birds were just not hungry enough to bother finding out what the whistling keeper was bringing them. With food rations imposed the motivation returned!
At the same time another behavioural issue arose. As the group becomes more settled in the aviary their personalities start to show and social structures form. When training first began every bird was in the same position. Once they understood what was expected of them and what reward they would receive they would flock to the target boards. Now with a pecking order established (pun fully intended) the dominant ones make sure that the shy ones wait their turn. Which means either very little or no reward at all for some birds and the desired behaviour is not reinforced. To break this pattern more target boards were added to the aviary to spread around the food reward. It took a day or two for the birds to realise they didn’t have to go to one spot for food. Once these considerations were taken into account the choughs’ response time between whistle and reward improved dramatically.
There was another dip later in the month when two of the seven choughs had to be separated from the group. These two will not be released as they don’t have radio transmitters. Through positive reinforcement training and a lot of sheer luck the two choughs were shuffled across into section 1A. This is where the first target board was set up and the group have formed a strong association with it. The first few days of training after the separation saw the group of five fly down to the shelves outside and peer in at the target board bewildered by the mesh blocking them. They gradually learnt that they could use other target boards and training is back on track.
As well as flying on command the birds have been undergoing training to jump onto scales and weigh themselves. Their first response to the weighing scale being introduced was to fly to the shelving and peer down in judgement. Soon their desire for food overcame their conflict with change and they jumped on the scales. It takes patience and a basic grasp of maths for the keeper to obtain individual weights when five will jump on at once. However, this was achieved and we learnt that the choughs have maintained healthy weights.
Radio-tracking update
Around the middle of May keepers found a couple of feathers on the floor of the aviary. This isn’t particularly unusual in a group of that size. However, as the days went on and more were found, alarm bells started ringing. Checking in with the juveniles at Durrell a similar case was being seen and the alarm bells grew louder. It was suspected that the juveniles were going through a moult. Shedding feathers results in shedding radio transmitters and on the 26thMay this was nicely demonstrated by ‘Red’ losing her transmitter. Both birds carrying dummy tags have also dropped them. The first was likely due to over preening of the tail feathers the second which happened more recently was through a natural moult.
Normally choughs will not moult until their breeding season is finished. The earliest we have recorded moult for juveniles at Durrell was July. There are a few possible reasons for an early moult, such as abnormal weather patterns, transmitter attachment causing excess preening, and nutritional factors. Either way the team now needs to consider what this means for the timing of the release. Moulting can be a relatively stressful time for a bird and their welfare is top priority. A delay in release is inevitable, but the question being addressed now is ‘for how long?’
Choughs at Durrell
Captive breeding behind the scenes
After an agonizing wait, for both parents (Tristan & Issy) and keepers, the first chough eggs hatched around the 16th May. Two chicks could be seen on the nest camera monitor begging strongly and the parents were feeding well. The next day a third chick was seen, then a fourth the following day. Extra insect feeds were taken to the aviary from around 7am until 7pm each day. Feeds consisted of mealworms, small crickets, and ants/ant larvae.
On the 19th there was some concern as only two chicks could be seen actively being next to an unhatched egg were. The quality of the camera image at that time was not very clear so the nest was left undisturbed.
However, on the 21st keepers noticed flies hanging around the nest. Concern rose and a decision was made to check the nest. Unfortunately one decomposed chick and an egg were found in the nest. Two other bodies were found on the floor of the aviary. The fourth chick was not recovered. Post mortem analysis by Durrell’s vets showed evidence of a respiratory infection. Further analysis is underway to identify the exact infection. This of course if a huge disappointment for staff considering the efforts undertaken by everyone to achieve success this year. There is a slight chance that Tristan and Issy might lay again, but it would be very late in their season if they did.
Arthur and Gwinny’s nest was checked at the same time and found to be empty. It appears that they have done nothing except build the nest this year.
Update on George
George continues to be held in the Durrell Veterinary Centre whilst his health issues are being treated. The quarantine period finished on the 22nd so in theory he can now be moved into Durrell’s collection at any time.
It was noted that when George finished his course of painkillers he began to hold up his foot again and looked in discomfort. He was immediately put back on medication and re-examined under anaesthetic by the vets.
There were a couple of pecking sores on his left foot and new cracks in the skin. The vets think the fractured middle digit might fall off naturally through necrosis and would prefer this than invasive surgery.
The main focus of this examination was to treat the bumblefoot on the right foot. The vet removed the scab, drained the infection site, cut away excess tissue, and sutured the skin tighter together. This had the effect of reducing the foot pad to a more normal size. With the aid of a pressure bandage it was hoped that George would begin to use his foot normally again and gradually correct his posture. However, upon waking up from the anaesthetic George showed an intense dislike to the bandage and made every effort to remove it. After five days of mental anguish George had the bandage removed. The wound was still healing but as it wasn’t presenting any problems, the bandage was left off and antibiotic ointment applied.
About ten days later George had pulled out his claw on the injured digit of the left foot. There was not much that could be done for this except make sure any bleeding had stopped and clean the wound. A week after that he tore the skin on the end of this digit. The vet sutured the wound with two stitches and George was put back on a six day course of antibiotics and painkiller. However, for all our concerns, George is a born fighter and was moved into the display aviary at the start of June to continue his recovery.
Following the remarkable rediscovery of bee orchid in St Ouen’s Bay last year another orchid species thought to have become extinct locally has been rediscovered.
Early spider orchid Ophrys sphegodes was first found in Jersey by Lester-Garland in 1910 and was last seen in 1929. The location of the newly found plant is over a kilometre away from the original location so possibly the seed has blown in from France. Or maybe, since the soil around it had been disturbed, the seeds were brought up and able to germinate. As the name suggests this delightful orchid usually flowers earlier than May, but due to the wet weather this year the season is late. Early spider orchid is rare in England and only seen in a few locations along the south coast. The blue markings on the front of the orchid can vary slightly, but it is these lines that give the ‘spidery’ look, hence the name.
‘It’s an incredibly exciting discovery and all the (National) Trust staff and many Island botanists are thrilled by this find. Finding it was a complete fluke as we were out leading a nature walk at the time. We had taken the kids to an area where we know there are a lot of green lizards and it was during this search that I spotted this rather unusual looking orchid. At first I suspected it might have been a bee orchid, as one was discovered further up the Bay last year, however something about it didn’t look quite right, so I got out the ID books and there it was – this very special early spider orchid’.
A team from The University of Liverpool and the Alderney Wildlife Trust made the first of what will be many visits to Alderney’s seabird colonies on 20th May. The team started the process on Burhou capturing shags, a declining seabird of which Alderney has a significant number. Once caught, each bird will be fitted with a small waterproof GPS data-logger aimed to uncover much about the birds’ lifecycle, their feeding and foraging habits and the potential impacts that marine developments, such as renewable energy installations, may have. It may also throw light onto issues such as fishing practice and marine pollution incidents within the English Channel.
After some intense sessions trying to catch and tag the somewhat elusive shags, the team will move on to tagging the much more accessible but aggressive northern gannets. This will be done with the help of the Channel Island Ringers and other organisations. By monitoring two species at once, one which tends to feed close to its nesting site (the shag) and the other which can travel well over 200km on a single foraging trip (the gannet), it is possible to get a much broader picture of how our breeding birds use Channel Island, French and UK waters to survive. Both bird species fly between roosting and feeding sites and capture their prey by diving into the water column. This means that they could encounter wind turbines while flying above the water and tidal turbines while foraging below.
Each GPS tag will stay on the birds for approximately five (shags) or 10 (gannets) days before the team returns to retrieve them. These tags will not cause the birds any discomfort and will fall off by themselves after a few weeks if not retrieved as planned. The information the tags contain can be downloaded and, it is hoped, contribute to a growing body of information which is forming the basis of a PhD being undertaken by Victoria Warwick-Evans.
A trial project undertaken in 2011 saw 23 GPS data loggers attached to northern gannets breeding on Les Étacs, Alderney. Within six days, 17 of the loggers had been retrieved, revealing the locations of 34 foraging trips. Interestingly individuals seemed to specialise their feeding in different areas with some flying to the south coast of England, some southwards to Jersey and others heading east towards Le Havre on the French coast. Amazingly on one occasion a gannet made a 340km round trip, and several made two trips to the South Coast of England within 72 hours. Preliminary analysis suggests that Alderney’s gannets make longer foraging trips than those breeding at some UK colonies but are comparable to the distances travelled by their closest neighbours breeding on Les Sept Îles, Brittany. Evidence also suggests that there is little overlap between the foraging sites of the gannets from Brittany and those from Alderney: the French gannets tend to stick to the western English Channel whereas Alderney’s appear to feed more towards the eastern end of the Channel.
Victoria from the University of Liverpool says that she is “thrilled to be part of a team studying the intricate foraging behaviours of these impressive seabirds, and excited to have the opportunity to use this data in the development of models in order to predict any effects that offshore developments may have on these seabird populations.”
Tim Morley, Ecologist from the Alderney Wildlife Trust says that “the chance to better understand the life of our seabirds during the breeding season is something that excites us at the AWT, and we are privileged to be working with the University of Liverpool team in this venture. The results will be a key focus of our future conservation efforts amidst growing concern over marine pollutants, fishing practises and the intensity of traffic through the British Channel”.
The project is being run by The University of Liverpool, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy (ACRE), with the support of the Alderney Wildlife Trust.
Report by Liz Corry
As a result of the birds moulting, an opportunity to release all seven birds has now arisen. This has also meant that there is no longer a need to keep the two ‘non-radio tagged’ birds isolated from the others. When they were remixed, the young pair, Orange and Red, reunited straight away in a mad flurry of preening.
This pairing behaviour makes it problematic for the keepers as the birds are not being rewarded for carrying out the correct behaviour, i.e. flying to the target area on whistle. It also means that the scales need to be moved around the aviary in order to try and get body weights on all seven of the birds.
Gianna’s prima donna tendencies shone through this month when keepers moved George into the display aviary. At first Gianna was wary of him and sulked when keepers paid George attention and, since he was still being medicated, this happened quite a bit. George himself was visibly happier to be out of the Vet Centre. He was washing, sunbathing, and flying around all within the first few hours of being in the aviary.
