Since December 2012 the Marine Biology Section of the Société Jersiaise has been coordinating a citizen science project with mermaids’ purses (eggcases from rays and catsharks). In the autumn and winter empty mermaids’ purses wash up on our coasts in large numbers and can be identified back to the ray or catshark species that laid them. The Shark Trust have been running an eggcase project for several years and it was this that inspired the Société Jersiaise to start its own project (all our data goes to the Shark Trust but we are also looking for local trends).
Undulate ray Raja undulata (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Since starting the project we have collected and identified nearly 6,500 eggcases. The aim is to get five years’ data before running a full analysis but some basic trends can already be discerned. For example, Jersey’s commonest eggcases (44%) come from the undulate ray, a species which is rare elsewhere and listed as threatened in the EU, but is common here. Almost as common is the blonde ray (39%) with other species being much rarer: small spotted catshark (10%); thornback ray (3%); small-eyed ray (2%); and nursehound and spotted ray (both >1%). The below chart shows the situation as at end of February 2016.
Mermaid purse results 2012-2016
We have also noted a seasonal trend in some of the eggcases – e.g. the gap between undulate and blonde ray numbers in the autumn (between weeks 39 and 46 on the chart below) seems to be an annual thing but we’re purposefully not looking at trends in detail until the five years are up.
Blonde and undulate ray eggcase appearance in Jersey 2015.
Now, we’ve been doing this for over three years and in that time we’ve consistently had the same seven species handed in. Then, in 2016, we’ve suddenly had four eggcases from a cuckoo ray handed in, three of which are in perfect condition. This is unexpected because there has never been a single record of cuckoo ray in Channel Island waters – nor are there any commercial or amateur fishing records (we’ve checked with Marine Resources and the JFA and there are no angling records). It does not appear in historical lists by Joseph Sinel or Ronnie Le Sueur although, before the 1980s, there was a model of a cuckoo ray in the old Jersey Museum but it was not thought to be local.
Cuckoo ray egg case. Photo by Paul Chambers
Three of the cuckoo ray cases were collected by Sabina Danzer on the west coast and they are perfectly preserved. The other one was more battered and collected by Geoff Walker in Grouville. The appearances are probably not a coincidence but whether it means that this species (which normally prefers deeper waters than ours but which can stray into shallower seas) has entered our waters is not known. It may simply be that the eggcases have been swept in from the central English Channel but, if so, then why haven’t we had them previously? All very mysterious.
Cuckoo ray eggcases are distinctive as they have very long ‘horns’ that overlap one another. Most of our eggcases are collected by dog walkers and beach cleaners and so if anyone spots a cuckoo ray or fancies participating in the eggcase research, please contact the Marine Biology Section on marinebiology@societe-jersiaise.org
Small spotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula. Photo by H. Zell (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Results are now available from the Birds On The Edge Island-wide Farmland Bird Monitoring scheme, managed by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust through collaboration between Durrell, the Société Jersiaise, the National Trust for Jersey and the States of Jersey Department of the Environment and carried out at five sites between 2005 and 2015 that show that Jersey’s farmland bird populations are poorer than previously thought.
Five sites (at Crabbé, Les Landes, Les Blanche Banques sand dunes, Noirmont and Les Creux) were chosen in part through their connection with the five landbirds detailed in Jersey’s biodiversity action plans published in 2006: skylark, Dartford warbler, stonechat, yellowhammer and cirl bunting. Each of the transects have been walked at two-week intervals throughout the year and types and numbers of birds at different distance bands have been recorded. The dedicated team of volunteers walked more than 1,920 miles over 10 years in order to see what is happening to our birds.
Bird monitoring provides one of the most robust and globally recognised methods for measuring changes in the state of biodiversity and the broader environment. Currently the UK Farmland Bird Indicator is one of the UK Government’s 15 sustainable development indicators.
Over the ten-year period the information collated can be used to identify trends in populations and evidence suggests that we are dealing with very much a ‘mixed bag’.
A total of 124 bird species were recorded at the five sites during the survey, April 2005 to April 2015. Some of these species were recorded very infrequently or even only once and of all those recorded, 72 species were seen in sufficient numbers to analyse trends.
Linnet: FBS counts 2005-2015
Total numbers of birds recorded on Jersey’s north coast 1985-2014
Sixteen of them showed marked decreases across the five sites while a further nine have increased. The remaining species’ populations appear stable with three showing signs of a possible long-term increase and five showing signs of a possible long-term decrease. Results coincide with a 30-year survey of birds along Jersey’s north coast published by the Société Jersiaise which shows that overall bird numbers recorded here halved between 1985 and 2014².
Dr Glyn Young of Durrell, who managed the project, said “the results of these two studies show the importance of long-term monitoring projects like this one and is grateful to everyone who gave so much of their free time to help understand what is happening to our Island’s bird populations”.
Mick Dryden, Chairman of the Société Jersiaise Bird Section said “The Section has collected bird records for more than 50 years from right across Jersey. This study has clearly shown the value of intensive, systematic study from a group of keen volunteers”.
Turtle dove: FBS counts 2005-2015
In Jersey there are many species of conservation concern, but, as this study shows, it is birds associated with farmland such as the lapwing, turtle dove, skylark, yellowhammer, stonechat, linnet and reed bunting, that are faring the worst in terms of declining rates. This follows a present trend across the UK and Europe. It has been determined that the main causes of these declines are an unusually high mortality during winter, a direct consequence of the modernization of farming techniques, abandonment of marginal land and a changing climate. In traditional agriculture, there would be sources of winter food in the form of spilt cereals, fields left in stubble and fallow grounds. In Jersey it is not known what changes in farming are having an impact on local birds, but it is believed that a combination of intensification, modern technologies and abandonment of marginal land which then reverts to bracken have contributed to the changes in the food availability and subsequent bird declines.
Skylark: FBS counts 2005-2015
Birds are great indicators for overall environmental health and birds in Jersey are in decline, the island’s broader environment is a lot poorer than people assume. Jersey needs a healthy and diverse environment to prosper, so help the birds and help Jersey.
What is being done to benefit these target species which have been identified to be declining in numbers? The Birds On The Edge partnership is a joint initiative between The National Trust for Jersey, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the States of Jersey Department of the Environment, which aims to restore habitats and stop the decline of these bird species.
As an integral part of the Birds On The Edge project and in collaboration with local farmers, a total of 49 fields (with a combined area of 30.35ha or 168.6vg) were planted with winter bird crops in 2015 at 12 different sites. Three varieties of winter bird crops were planted and some barley and mustard. This initiative aims to help our birds get through the winter when food would otherwise be very scarce and be in good condition to breed in spring.
Each of the sites surveyed and the core populations of the declining birds lie within the Jersey Coastal National Park, further emphasising the importance of this initiative to Island biodiversity.
Jonny Parkes, Lands Manager of The National Trust for Jersey says “This survey clearly demonstrates that we all need to “up our game” if we are going to prevent the further loss of some of our key farmland and coastal birds. The loss of the skylark from the dunes at St Ouen would be tragic loss and we need to acknowledge that securing the future of such species will require on occasion robust measures including restricted public access, pest control and increased government investment in agri-environment schemes. The Birds On The Edge Project demonstrates what can be achieved through collaboration and we hope we can further build upon its early success to prevent further population declines”
The Department of the Environment is carrying out a survey of Jersey’s pheasants to find out more about the birds and understand their impact on local agriculture and wildlife.
The aim of the project is to find out where pheasants live in Jersey, what the population size is and their local impact, including their effect on farmland, and the scale of their impact on local wildlife such as lizards and toads. At this time of year you can hear the male pheasants crowing to establish their territories and attract females. You may notice them more as they perform wing whirring displays, strut around to impress the females and square up to other males to defend their patch. The females can begin nesting as early as mid-March and lay clutches of up to 15 eggs.
Pheasants are not native to Jersey and were first introduced in the 1800s, but at that time did not successfully breed. Other attempts to establish a population were made in the 1950s when it is thought they started to breed in the wild in small numbers. By the 1980s due to captive-breeding and further introductions, pheasants grew in numbers and are now common in Jersey’s countryside.
The project’s findings will be used to help the Department decide how pheasants should be managed in the future and what their legal status should be.
Charmaine is directly recording pheasants from 36 transects in 18 1km squares across Jersey, and has five volunteers helping who have taken a square each. Highest numbers of pheasants seen so far have been near Le Landes and near La Blinerie, St. Clement which consistently has around 20 pheasants in one field. Pheasants have been seen in all squares. Over 300 people have filled out the questionnaire so far and 190 pheasant sightings were recorded over the last survey week. You can take part in the survey by completing an online questionnaire here If you find a dead pheasant Charmaine would like to hear about it and can be contacted at c.rice@gov.je or telephone 07797810987.
The most significant event for Jersey’s free-living chough population this month has been the disappearance of Blue, the breeding female, who has not been seen since the end of the day on Sunday 31st January.
The only potential clue to her disappearance was on 2nd February when the group were observed actively following a peregrine back from Sorel Point to the grazed headland. When the group returned to the aviary for supplemental feed we placed the food dishes behind the aviary on the grazed land. This way the birds settle on the ground (providing there are no mountain bikers or walkers around) and we can get a clear close-up view of how everyone is.
Student, Nicola Cox, feeding the choughs away from the aviary using target training techniques. Photo by Liz Corry.
As Green, partner to Blue, came into land it was clear he had a problem with his ‘landing gear’, his right leg was dangling out to the side. When he settled on the ground it was clear to see he was hobbling and reluctant to put any weight on the leg. He was feeding fine and did not seem too perturbed by it.
Green has gone through quite a few ordeals in his time living at Sorel including locking talons with a peregrine on his first ever flight away from the aviary in 2013. We monitored him closely for the next 24 hours, but he, the trooper that he is, recovered quickly and was using the leg again the next morning. Could Blue have fallen prey to a peregrine?
The weather had not been too kind, but not so severe that Blue or the rest of the group were in any danger. She was present at all the feeds before her disappearance and roosting in the relative safety of the aviary.
A fair amount of observations had to be carried out from the shelter of the keeper porch due to the constant rain. Photo by Liz Corry.
Icho and the others frequently returned to the aviary looking half drowned. Photo by Liz Corry.
Whatever the reason, the fact is she has left the group, and life goes on for the rest. None more so than for Green who within the space of a week had re-paired. Black, a single female, wasted no time in making her presence known. Our first true confirmation of the pairing was on the 8th when he was observed passing food to her. This is a bonding exercise which proves to the female that he can provide for her if she decides to incubate eggs. Over the course of the month their bond has strengthened.
Whilst it is disheartening to lose a proven breeding female, the fact that Green has re-paired is encouraging. It is also good news for Black as she tried to nest last year and failed in finding a reliable male.
It all means that we head into the new breeding season with three strong pairings all with experience of nest-building at the very least.
Another interesting change which occurred when Blue left the group was with roost site preferences. Checks in the first half of the month showed that two choughs had decided to re-join Mauve and White in roosting at the quarry. Since last October Green, Black, Blue, Red and Dingle had roosted at the aviary with the juveniles instead of the quarry. Now it looks like Green and Black are once again roosting in the quarry. Could this be an indicator as to where they will nest this year?
February sunset roost checks at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry.
There was a slight chance that Red and Dingle were the two not roosting at the aviary.
Ever get that feeling you’re being watched? Photo by Liz Corry.
Our confirmation, however, that it was not them came on the evening of 6th February. The weather had been clear and calm so the choughs were active right up until the sunset at 17:30. The three pairs were missing from the group.
At 17:38 with light almost gone, two choughs shot back from the direction of the motocross track and went straight into the external roost box. It was Red and Dingle.
Having two less birds roost at the aviary will hopefully make the task of cleaning out the roost-boxes a little less depressing for the chough team.
As the winter weather eases off and day length increases we have seen a change in the choughs’ behaviour.
The group are spending a bit more time away from the grazed land and moving round to Sorel Point and the motocross area. As far as we know they have not been over to Crabbé at all this month and only occasionally venture over to Devil’s Hole.
A welcome break from the rain. Photo by Nicola Cox.
The majority of the time we see just 2, 4 or 6 birds flying over to Sorel Point and Ronez Point which we assume are the pairs nest prospecting.
Funding
We are very grateful to a private donor and neighbour of the choughs who generously gave a donation to help contribute to the cost of repairing the aviary roof. Durrell’s Maintenance Department will hopefully start work in March. I’m sure the choughs will be very thankful, even if it means they have to find an alternative watering hole.
Gardeners, birdwatchers, sportspeople and anglers are being called on to help protect the UK from the threat of invasive non-native species (INNS) at the launch of Invasive Species Week.
INNS cost the British economy £1.7 billion a year. To help stop INNS arriving and spreading, Defra and the GB Non-native Species Secretariat are holding a special week to raise awareness of the issue. See details of Jersey’s invasive species here and here.
It will bring together organisations from across Britain who can help stop INNS damaging our landscapes and harming our native wildlife. While the majority of animals and plants introduced to Britain are harmless, around 10-15% become ‘invasive’.
This year Invasive Species Week coincides with the fifth anniversary of Check, Clean, Dry – a campaign launched by Defra and the Welsh and Scottish Governments in March 2011. The campaign is supported by the Angling Trust and Royal Yachting Association, to provide simple biosecurity advice for recreational water users, particularly anglers, and boat and kayak users.
The campaign was launched after the success of Be Plant Wise, a campaign run with the support of the Ornamental and Aquatic Trade Association and the Horticultural Trade Association. This initiative keeps gardeners and pond owners informed of the dangers caused by invasive aquatic plants and to reduce the risk of them dumping aquatic plants in the wild.
Niall Moore, Chief Non-native Species Officer and Head of the GB Non-native Species Secretariat, said: “Invasive non-native species are one of the key threats to our wildlife and natural environment, and can be extremely costly and difficult to manage if allowed to establish. Help to prevent this from happening by getting involved and spreading the message during Invasive Species Week”.
So how do INNS get here? There are several ways but, just think, right now you could be drinking coffee from South America while wearing clothes made in South East Asia, and reading this on a device made in the USA or China. Your lifestyle is only possible due to the thousands of container ships ploughing across our oceans on a daily basis, taking products around the world from one port to another.
Each day some 3,000 species are transported in ship ballast or on ships’ hulls. Ballast water is taken onboard ship when the ship is empty, and emptied usually in ports when the ship is filled. This water can contain millions of creatures and pathogens, including, for example, cholera. Although most perish en route those that survive may find the waters where they are discharged to their advantage and thrive to the detriment of native species.
Of the 54 invasive non-native invertebrate species identified by Buglife as currently posing the greatest threat to biodiversity in Britain, 23 (43%) may have been or could in future be introduced via ballast water.
Shipping patterns are undergoing changes, and are expanding in volume, frequency and coverage. Specifically, the opening of new, northern shipping routes with the reduction of Arctic ice cover will raise the threat of ballast water introductions from previously blocked geographical areas, augmenting the continuing arrival of species along established commercial shipping routes.
Yet our knowledge of marine invasive non-native species is extremely limited and there are few marine species specific risk assessments. It is practically impossible to eradicate marine and aquatic invasive non-native species once they have established. It is thus imperative that we do our utmost to prevent their arrival and export in the first place to avoid their potential large scale negative impact on native biodiversity and the economy.
We need strict controls in place to limit the spread of invasive non-native species by ballast water, not only into British waters but our responsibility to avoid transfer from British waters elsewhere. We have the mechanism to do this through the International Maritime Organisation Ballast Water Management Convention (not yet ratified by the UK). Many of Europe’s large maritime economies have ratified this convention, including Holland, Germany, France and Denmark.
You can help to slow down invasive species by making sure you know what you grow in your garden, especially if you have a pond, and by making sure you clean, check, dry fishing and boating equipment etc. you use around water.
Details of Jersey’s invasive species can be seen here.
The Atlantic puffin is an iconic bird in the Channel Islands. One of the southernmost populations, those breeding on Jersey and the other Channel Islands belong to the English-Channel or French-Atlantic sub-population.
Puffins spend the winter at sea and come ashore to breed in colonies. Usually they arrive in the Channel Islands around April and leave again in July. They have a slow reproductive cycle, not breeding until six years of age, and then only laying one egg per year. Typically, for breeding, puffins return to the sites where they hatched by themselves and Jersey, therefore, plays an important role for the annual life-cycle of this sub-population.
Although there are still good numbers of puffins globally it is listed as Vulnerable with a decreasing population-trend in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. No sub-populations are listed separately and it is highly possible that the French-Atlantic sub-population is even more endangered. Annually, about 580,799 pairs breed in the UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. Nevertheless, the numbers of the French-Atlantic sub-population are relatively low and have shown a continuous decrease during the 20th Century. Conservation Status of Jersey’s Birdslists the puffin as RED with a severe breeding population decline.
Population-development of Atlantic puffin on Jersey between 1998 and 2015.
The reasons for the puffin’s decline on Jersey are not completely understood and may vary with location. Several causes may play a role: puffins usually nest on offshore-islands free of mammalian predators. Most of the introduced mammalian predators, like the brown rat, black or ship rat, domestic cat or American mink, are good climbers and can also reach the puffins’ nest-holes on steep cliffs. The puffin is, therefore, especially vulnerable to these invasive species. Also native seabirds like herring gull, lesser black-backed gull and great black-backed gull might be a cause of puffin declines through kleptoparasitism or direct predation.
Human disturbance through tourism and general boat-traffic at the breeding sites might play a role in decreases. However, there is contradictory evidence: after a tourist-hotspot around the puffins’ nesting sites at Jersey (Plémont Holiday Village) was closed in 2000, a recovery of the population was not seen. This might be an indication that human-presence had little or even no effect on the Jersey-population.
Indirect impacts like climate change cause loss of the puffin’s food supply in many colonies. In the English Channel, rising temperatures and other indirect factors like pollution of the sea may play an important role as well. Moreover, one particular fish species, snake pipefish, has increased in number in the region around Jersey and may have been fed to nestlings, as has been recorded in UK, Norway or Iceland for instance (abstract here), although it is inedible for young puffins. Herring, capelin or sandeel should actually form their main diet.
There may have been a population of 200-300 pairs on Jersey during 1911-1914, decreasing rapidly from 1915 to only 22 pairs in 1998 and as few as two individuals at the time of writing.
My study focussed on recent temporal changes to try to identify of the current status of the Atlantic puffin population on Jersey. Assuming that climate change may play an important role for the puffin’s decline, temperature was correlated to the population size.
The methodology used to estimate the number of puffins between 1911- 1915 is undocumented and unlikely to be based on scientific evidence. However, the records of the high numbers in 1911-1914 and the drastic decline in 1915 were both collected by the same person (Roderick Dobson). Therefore, although the accuracy of the exact numbers is questionable, it can be assumed that there were high numbers of puffins present at Jersey, which then had a drastic decline. The reason for such a dramatic decline within only four years remains unknown. It is clear though that Jersey has never seen numbers of puffins like that again.
Due to a higher human population-density on Jersey, the puffin’s distribution might be restricted by invasive predators and by human presence. Brown rat began occurring on this island in the 18th Century, the black rat was introduced in Roman times. Avoiding pressure from rats, the puffins on Jersey may have become restricted to breed on sites which invasive mammalian predators find harder to access. These alternative breeding sites are small and poor-quality, areas like gaps along the cliffs instead of the commonly used burrows on cliff-tops.
Although the puffin is considered a flagship species of the Channel Islands, they have not been studied sufficiently and very little is known about their local ecology. The causes for the puffins’ decline on Jersey are still not fully identified. Although this analysis did not show any correlation to it, climate change as a factor should not be neglected as a potential main reason for the puffins’ decline in the English Channel. While the puffin might have resisted any single factor causing pressure on its population, the combination of all these factors together may be the causation for the eventual decline. Anthropologically disturbed areas, invasive mammalian predators, rising temperatures, decline in prey availability, and change in available fish species… summing up these factors – they were tough enough to effect the puffin’s population in the end.
With few actions taken, or possibly even feasible, to conserve the colony on Jersey, effort should be put into the puffins’ conservation throughout the Channel Islands, to prevent the same fate on the other islands as is happening on Jersey, where the puffin will, sadly, be extinct soon.
Acknowledgements
This assessment was written for the module “Invasive Species and other Drivers of Distribution Change” as part of the Master of Science class “Animal Behaviour: Applications for Conservation” at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. I am grateful to Paul Aked, senior Meteorologist at the Meteorological Section of the Department of the Environment, Jersey for providing me with data on climate.
The puffin photos used here were taken in Iceland by Nicolas Guillod.
The full report Last chance to see? Analysis of temporal changes of the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) population at Jersey, Channel Islands can be read here
Kaja Heising, MSc Animal Behaviour: Applications for Conservation, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
Please note that since this post was written, the Alderney Bird Observatory has launched its own dedicated website which can be visited here
Summary
An exciting project is being developed by the Alderney Wildlife Trust, to establish an Alderney Bird Observatory. The volunteer warden John Horton has already been appointed and will commence recording across the island and ringing at fixed sites within the Island’s largest Nature Reserve, Longis, which covers much of the eastern end of Alderney and other productive sites like Mannez Quarry.
John is taking a sabbatical from his London Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crimes Officer role in order to support this two year project to achieve accredited Bird Observatory status from the Bird Observatories Council, the minimum time allowed for such recognition. John is an experienced ringer (having ringed more than 60,000 birds over the past 10 years), and has full trainer status. He has a very inclusive approach to ringing, evidenced through his ringing activities in the North Kent Marshes. John has experience of the Channel Islands as he spent a couple of years working at Durrell’s Wildlife Park in Jersey before joining the Metropolitan Police.
The Observatory aims to be an educational resource highlighting the value of wildlife to the next generation. John would very much welcome any visiting ringers who wish to support the work through whatever time they can make available. Please note that all ringing activity in Alderney including seabirds should be coordinated through the Alderney Bird Observatory Warden in the first instance. Data collected from the Alderney Bird Observatory will be collated by the Channel Island Bird Ringing Scheme.
What is a Bird Observatory?
A Bird Observatory is a place which conducts long-term monitoring of bird populations and migration. Individual observatories are located at prime migration points around the British Isles and activity is conducted within a defined recording area. The first observatory was established on the Welsh island of Skokholm in 1933 and since then the British network has become renowned worldwide for its observatories, the quality of their observations and the wildlife viewing opportunities they present.
An integral part of an observatory’s work is bird ringing, the capturing of birds by a licensed ‘ringer’, who acts as the observatory’s Warden, thus enabling the study of population dynamics across an international species (British Trust for Ornithology for information on ringing here). In Alderney’s case the Bird Observatory would work within the Channel Island Ringing Scheme, in parallel to the BTO.
Observatories encourage volunteers to participate in scientific studies of birds and the environment, including ringing and more casual observations whilst out enjoying the areas they reside within. The results of these studies are made freely available to researchers and to the public who are welcome to then visit the observatories.
What benefits would a Bird Observatory bring to Alderney?
This is a project, born out of the Living Islands initiative, which has already attracted regional media interest and expects to focus the national media on the Island. It will also bring visiting scientists and it is believed a significant number of birdwatching enthusiasts form the UK and Continental Europe, as its reputation develops. It will be the only official Bird Observatory in the Channel Islands and the most southerly Observatory in the British Isles. The Trust also envisions the facility will bring an economic boost to the fragile Alderney economy by sustainably exploiting a resource which to a large degree Alderney owns and controls, attracting visitors who would like to participate in the work of the Observatory or who simply want to visit an island which has this resource and reputation.
Such visitors will stay in the Island’s existing accommodation (mostly in the shoulder months when migration occurs) and over time there may also be the potential to establish a new ‘hostel’ class of accommodation. This would provide cheaper dormitory or shared room style accommodation for visiting groups, including universities and clubs.
From a wildlife perspective, the Alderney Bird Observatory will provide a mechanism to ensure a high level of continuity and scientific rigor in research, both through observational sightings and through ringing. The potential for reporting sightings of rare species of birds will be vastly increased through the coordination of the Alderney Bird Observatory’s full time Warden.
The Trust sees the Alderney Bird Observatory as very much a Channel Islands initiative. Environmental organisations and individuals from Jersey, Guernsey and Sark, as well as the host island of Alderney, will all be participating in developing the Observatory.
Alderney Wildlife Trust is looking for help funding the start of this project and you can contribute here
More information is available from Alderney Wildlife Trust here
We reported here on the project to rid two of the Isles of Scilly of invasive rats in order to protect threatened colonies of seabirds and other wildlife. The Scilly Seabird Recovery Project can now report that St Agnes and Gugh are officially rat-free after the last rat was spotted in November 2013.
On Saturday 13th February St Agnes and Gugh in the Isles of Scilly were declared officially rat-free after passing a thorough month-long inspection two years after the last signs of rat activity were spotted.
This is the world’s largest community-led rat removal project. Local volunteers worked with conservationists from the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project and island restoration specialists Wildlife Management International Ltd (WMIL) to rid their islands of the rats that were killing seabirds. The project has been a huge success and benefitted from essential support from EU LIFE and the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as local organisations.
Brown rats arrived on the islands in the 18th century following several shipwrecks. The population of rats grew and became harmful to the burrow-nesting seabirds that lived on the islands, including European storm petrels and Manx shearwaters. With numbers of these species declining since the 1980s the removal of the rats was essential to the protection of the seabirds.
Work began in 2013 with an intensive six-month operation to monitor rat activity on the islands. WMIL worked with over 30 local volunteers to find rat nests and signs of activity. This information was used to create a strategy for eradicating the rat population, with an intensive programme of baiting and poisoning for a month in the winter.
Baiting started on 8th November 2013 and continued every day, as the days passed the amount of bait taken was monitored. And by the end of the month the last evidence of rats was observed. Treatment and community projects continued, but no further rat activity was detected.
The specialists returned at the beginning of the year to check for any signs that rats might still be present on the islands. Having completed this follow-up survey St Agnes and Gugh now meet the international criteria to be declared rat-free.
Since the removal of the rat population, the project team has observed both Manx shearwaters and European storm petrels successfully breeding on the islands for the first time in living memory, with over 40 chicks being recorded on the islands in the last two years.
Jaclyn Pearson from the RSPB, who manages the project said: “Getting to this stage is a fantastic achievement and everyone involved is delighted that the islands are now officially rat free. This, and the recovery of the seabirds so early on, is testament to the hard work of the team and the 100% support from the local community. We look forward to continuing to work with the community for the next two years of the project and beyond.”
Elizabeth Bell, Senior Ecologist, Wildlife Management International Ltd says: “The eradication of non-native brown rats from St Agnes and Gugh demonstrates that the techniques of ground‐based bait station operations can be successfully utilised on inhabited islands throughout the UK and the world.”
Sarah Mason, CEO of Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, which looks after most of the land on which the seabirds breed says: “This is fantastic news for the seabirds of Scilly. The Trust’s land management work is now more important than ever; we must ensure that habitats across the islands are suitable for our iconic seabirds so that they can be enjoyed by future generations.”
Local representative Richard McCarthy says: “St Agnes and Gugh are very special places. When I first learned that our community was being selected for this project, I was only too pleased to encourage fellow islanders to back rat removal. The speed with which this was achieved and seabird recovery began has surprised us all. Young and old, we must now do our level best to ensure that as far as possible we minimise the likelihood of rats returning.”
Project Supervisor Paul St Pierre, RSPB says: “This has been an amazing journey working with inspiring people to conserve some amazing birds. The work on St Agnes and Gugh is just the latest of an increasing number of successful island restoration projects that have taken place around the UK in recent years, helping many of the UK’s much loved but vulnerable seabird species. St Agnes and Gugh have provided an excellent training ground for a generation of conservationists who can now use their skills on similar projects in the UK and elsewhere around the world.”
The choughs (and a couple of crows) searching for food in the National Trust conservation field near the aviary. Photo by Liz Corry.
By Liz Corry
It was a very cold, wet and windy start to the new year bringing with it several challenges for the choughs at Sorel. Their primary concern, as always, was to find food to keep them fueled throughout the bitter and blustery days. With the grazed land saturated by rain water, insects were hard to come by. This might explain why they started making regular visits to the conservation fields. An untapped source of insects?
The cliff face around Devil’s Hole, where the water runs off rather than collects, also proved popular exemplified by their muddy bills and heads.
Finding the choughs in the rain. Photo by Liz Corry.
Erm Q you have a little something, just on, its hanging off, oh dear. I’m sure no one has noticed. Photo by Liz Corry
Fortunately there was only one day of ground frost which disappeared fairly quickly. Chough bills are efficient digging tools, but they are not tough enough to break hard ground. An unseasonal or prolonged period of ground frost can lead to starvation and is often detrimental to wild chough populations.
Ground frost at the start of January. Photo by Liz Corry.
Jersey experiences another kind of ‘ground frost’ for birds at this time of year. Jersey Royals are planted in January and the farmers cover their crops with protective plastic sheeting. The sheeting is largely to protect from ground frost and encourage growth, but also stops birds stealing or damaging potatoes. Of course the choughs are not interested in vegetables they want the insects in the soil. When the young choughs flew over to Crabbé this month after a short spell away you can only imagine what was going through their minds the first time they flew over the fields.
Potato fields in Jersey are now covered to protect the freshly planted Jersey Royals. Photo by Liz Corry.
Jersey’s chough population became a bit more reliant on the supplemental feeds at the aviary. This is where there next challenge awaited. How to fly through release hatches into the aviary with 40+ mph tailwinds or cross winds without smacking into the frame-work? Those that did risk actual life and limb demonstrated just how aeronautically skilled this species is.
For the likes of Ormer and other less confident individuals, the team started placing food bowls on the ground outside of the aviary. For those inside who then found themselves struggling to stay grounded on the tables, the bowls were placed in more sheltered positions.
Helier was blown backwards off the aviary shelf. Fortunately no damage except to her dignity. Photo by Liz Corry.
The choughs demonstrating their association with the target board and food. Photo by Liz Corry.
There have been a few times this month when the weather has been so bad, the group fail to turn up for the aviary feed. Opting instead to stay sheltered on the cliffs by Devil’s Hole or in the dry, warm quarry buildings. Who can blame them?
There is growing concern for the aviary itself after three winters out on the cliffs (four if you include whilst it was being built). One of the shelter stands became dislodged from the framework after overnight gales. The integrity of the plywood roof is beginning to give, reducing the amount of dry shelter spots for the birds when they roost and keeping food bowls dry. Ideally a new bitumen-panel roof needs to be fitted with guttering to collect rainwater (5-10 litres of water is carried to the site each day). This cannot be done without finding funding first. We estimate costs to be around £500 or less if we can find reclaimed materials. Then, all we need is a day when the winds won’t blow the builder off the roof!
A bonus function of the present aviary roof? – fresh drinking water. Photo by Liz Corry.
That being said, January did experience a few sun-blessed days much to the excitement of the choughs who took full advantage of the calmer weather. Visitors to Sorel will have seen amazing aerial displays from the group. Some of the younger males have started displaying around the breeding females involving lots of tail flicking and running around like a scene from a Benny Hill sketch.
January is the month when the choughs start planning for the upcoming breeding season. Nest prospecting (weather permitting) and looking for potential partners. We switched their supplemental food to the breeding diet which means more protein and calcium. The captive pairs at the Wildlife Park will switch to their breeding diet when they move from the flocking aviary into their separate breeding aviaries.
Twenty-two choughs waiting for staff to put out their supplemental feed. Photo by Liz Corry.
We have tried to see if the choughs would take a pelleted diet. The expected cost of supplemental feeding for 2016 is approximately £3,000. An all-in-one pelleted diet could reduce this as long as it is not at the expense of the birds’ nutritional needs. So far we haven’t found one which the birds will not either ignore, flick out of the dish, or jump from in fear. Yes that actually happened!
Just for fun here are two of the youngsters searching for insects in a slightly unusual way…..
January was looking set to be a relatively mundane month to report back on. That was until the morning of the 31st when Durrell student, Nicci, was out on radio-tracking duties. The choughs were spread out as per foraging around Sorel and Mourier Valley. There are seven birds whose daily movements are being tracked with proximities of the other fifteen birds in relation to those focal birds also logged. Not all twenty-two need to be accounted for at each session, but they usually are as the group stick together out of the breeding season. ‘Brunch’ at the aviary is when we expect to see all of the birds at this time of year. On this occasion there were only twenty-one. Nicci’s concern started to grow over the course of the afternoon as there was still one bird unaccounted for. At the afternoon feed she could still only count twenty-one. Mentally ticking off leg rings from the list time and time again Nicci reported back to the team that Dusty’s mum, Blue, was missing.
Blue, pictured here with her partner at the aviary in January. Photo by Liz Corry.
She was last seen the day before, an hour before roost. Her and her partner now roost in the aviary, as opposed to the quarry, where the only threat at night would be from a feral ferret or cat. In which case you would expect signs of intrusion at the aviary and the group to be behaving differently the following morning. Nothing. Was she off exploring for nest sites without her partner? Had a peregrine snatched her? Would she reappear the next morning? Only time, and February’s report, will tell.
The Inter-Island Environment Meeting (IIEM) 2016 Organising Team cordially invite you to the 2016 Inter-Island Environment Meeting.
This year’s IIEM is being held at Castle Cornet, Guernsey on 22nd – 23rd September. The Meeting is being organised by La Société Guernesiaise in partnership with the States of Guernsey, with sponsorship from Insurance Corporation. This year we plan to incorporate a field trip within the programme itself, over to Herm, to look at the newly designated Ramsar site.
The theme of the this year’s Inter-Island will focus on Designations which recognise the importance of a particular area, species, habitat, or policy and how we can make them work in the most effective way in the context of island jurisdictions.
Further details about Guernsey IIEM 2016, including the programme and booking arrangements, will be circulated in due course and available through Birds On The Edge. In the meantime we wanted to, firstly, flag the meeting as early as possible for your diaries and secondly, to gauge the level of interest at this stage and garner people’s views about what they’d like to see and hear at this year’s meeting. We are also looking for contributors and if you would like to present a paper or provide a poster for the event we would love to hear from you as soon as possible.
Attendees of previous meetings will have received notification from the organising committee. If the Inter-Island is new to you or you missed recent meetings please email BOTE at birdsote@gmail.com to join in.
You can see details of previous meetings here 2015, 2014 and 2013.
