Comments on: Chough report: January 2017

By: Shaun Kent

Shaun Kent — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:06:19 +0000

Having thought about it….l cannot recall having seen choughs foraging the tide line when the avian action starts to hot up on the afore mentioned tide line around September,as the seaweed starts to pile up as it breaks away from the rocks.. plenty of Rock pipit activity though as the seaweed rows become ever larger and rolling further up the beaches on the advancing spring tides heating up as they decompose which presumably benefits the fly lava in the heaps, which the Rock pipits hit as the adult flies emerge. The most consistent source of food that l always noted that the Choughs seemed to exploit were soil dwelling lava such as Daddy long legs grubs, my secondary observation would be that gateways into fields that were subject to soil surface compaction by tractors were a favourite feeding spot, whether this is because of a lack of foliage or because of the soil compaction that favours Ddl nursery zones l do not know….. Cow pat dwelling lava of various kinds seemed not to be on the Menu due to the practise of sterilising the same by way drenching cattle to combat intestinal parasites. My best tip for close up Choughs on the ground watching is to note where the feeding is occurring, and simply drive up slowly in a car, which seems not to bother them….

By: martin banks

martin banks — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 16:59:34 +0000

maybe the choughs don’t know about foraging the tideline because its learned behaviour from others and none of the Jersey birds have done it before?

By: Shaun Kent

Shaun Kent — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 14:10:11 +0000

l had the privilege of visiting your Chough out reach programme on Jersey last Sept (Courtesy of Dionne Davey)and went away truly inspired. We all have much to learn about this beautiful flagship coastal species, and even more to learn about the complexities of the habitat niches that comprise the “Chough anum” After 30 years of joy observing the SW Irish population l can only conclude that Durrell are ahead of the conservation curve on this one. Keep it up you are doing a tremendous and important job.