Monthly Archives: May 2020

Jersey Great Garden Bat Watch coming to a garden near you 6-7th June

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Pipistrellus nathusii photo taken under licence by Miranda Collett Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June, 20:55 until 22:00

From Jersey Bat Group

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.

Les Augres Manor, a good place to spot bats. Photo by Glyn Young

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

Happy bat watching!

Myotis nattereri photo taken under licence by Amy Hall

Jersey’s birdwatching and bird photography code of conduct updated

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By Romano da Costa and Glyn Young

Many bird species in Jersey are endangered locally or globally. Their survival depends on their chances to feed and breed safely. Birdwatching and bird photography may cause disturbance to birds, and, in certain circumstances, this disturbance might cause them harm or even death. The following is a simple good practice code of conduct that puts the interest of birds first and offers simple advice on how to enjoy birdwatching and bird photography whilst minimising the disturbance to the birds or their habitats:

  1. Avoid getting too close to birds, if a bird flies away you’re too close! Do not be tempted to keep chasing the bird (some birds will freeze when approached). If a bird is making repeated alarm calls you are also too close
  2. Stay on roads, footpaths or in bird hides to avoid going too close to birds or walking through their habitats. Disturbing habitats is just as bad as disturbing the bird itself
  3. Think about your fieldcraft. Disturbance is not just about going too close – a flock of wading birds on the foreshore can be disturbed from a distance if you stand on the seawall or walk directly towards them while a bird of prey on a kill will abandon it if you get too close!
  4. DO NOT use playback or birdsong recordings to lure out hidden birds or to make them sing at any time of year. Provoking this behaviour may cause unnecessary stress to the bird, make it waste vital energy, keep it from feeding its mate or young, and put it at increased risk from predators. You may also be breaking the Law
  5. DO NOT use flash when photographing birds at night. This might distract the birds or daze them, making them more vulnerable to predators
  6. Know the law: Disturbing a wild bird feeding, roosting or at its nest or nesting area is an offence under the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000
  7. Make your sightings count: Report your observations in the records book at the hides or
  8. If you witness anyone who you suspect may be illegally disturbing or destroying wildlife or its habitat, phone the Police on 01534 612612 or the Department of the Environment on 01534 441600.

A copy of the code can be downloaded here

Jersey’s cirl buntings in spring 2020

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When cirl buntings returned to Jersey after an 8-year absence in 2011, we waited anxiously to see whether they could fully recolonise (see update). We knew that there was adequate nesting habitat available, not least as their hosts, Royal Jersey Golf Club, were happy to help them. The limiting factor seemed to be the availability of adequate food in the winter when the buntings live out in the fields. We sought advice, not least from the RSPB’s Cath Jeffs, developed a plan for the buntings and it was suggested that we provide grain for them in winter and have done this each year (many thanks to Richard Perchard), the buntings quickly learning to use the special feeders. 
 
 
So, how are our buntings doing now? A good walk around the golf-less golf course by Mick Dryden on 3rd May found buntings at six sites. Our recording of the sites is easy as golf clubs, unsurprisingly, number and map their course. However, while the buntings’ presence on the course is widely known, to avoid disturbance we have removed those numbers and replaced with sites (below). Please respect the Royal Jersey Golf Club’s course, the neighbours and, of course, these rare birds who’s foothold in the Channel Islands is still very vulnerable. Here are Mick’s findings: 
  • Site 1. A pair of cirls at the northern end of the gorse, on the road side both feeding together (female above and male at bottom of page)
  • Site 2. A pair at the usual area, both feeding together
  • Site 3. A second male in the large trees, close to the Site 2, singing strongly and flying out to the centre of the course to sing again
  • Site 4. A third pair together on their usual area
  • Site 5 A fourth pair together in the tree. These flew down to the cut down area
  • Site 6. A male singing strongly and holding territory. I didn’t see a female with this one.
So, four pairs plus two additional males = 10 birds. This is at the start of the breeding season and Mick’s survey in 2016 found 17 birds including eight young from three pairs in July, after they’d bred that year.  So, 10 years on from their return, our cirl buntings are still here and, while still vulnerable, they are definitely hanging on.