Commonly referred to as the UK Red List for birds, the fourth review of the status of birds in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man was released this month (see summary here and full report here). This updates the last assessment in 2009. Using standardised criteria, 244 species with breeding, passage or wintering populations in the UK were assessed by experts from a range of bird NGOs and assigned to the Red, Amber or Green lists of conservation concern.
How the lists are decided
The assessment is based on the most up-to-date evidence available and criteria include conservation status at global and European levels and, within the UK: historical decline, trends in population and range, rarity, localised distribution and international importance. The lists now exclude three former breeding species, two previously red-listed, now considered to have ceased breeding in the UK (serin, Temminck’s stint and the once widespread wryneck). The only new species assessed by BoCC4, Caspian gull, went onto the Amber list.
The growing Red list
This update shows that many bird species are increasingly at risk. Nineteen species were red-listed for the first time due to worsening population status, and one species (merlin) was returned to the Red list. In most cases, this is due to evidence from monitoring schemes such as BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) of increasingly severe declines in breeding populations (e.g. for curlew, nightingale, pied flycatcher, whinchat grey wagtail and mistle thrush), surveys of scarce breeders such as dotterel, black redstart and Slavonian grebe, or by seabird monitoring (e.g. kittiwake and shag). Puffin is red-listed due to its global assessment as Vulnerable.
From green to red
Two species moved directly from the Green to Red list: white-fronted goose on account of the non-breeding population decline and long-tailed duck as a consequence of being classified as Globally Threatened. In addition to white-fronted goose, three other species (red-necked grebe, ringed plover and pochard) are red-listed for the first time due to increasingly marked declines in wintering populations, the latter also classified globally as Vulnerable. Woodcock joins the Red List, as a consequence of severe declines in breeding range. These changes increase the Red List to 67 species, more than 25% of all those assessed.
What kinds of birds are in most trouble?
How does the Red List break down across habitats? Despite no new additions, farmland birds still have the greatest percentage of species (12 of 26) on the Red List. Lowland wetland species have the smallest proportion: only four of 31. Five upland birds (curlew, dotterel, grey wagtail, whinchat and merlin) were added, bringing the total for this habitat to 12. Three more woodland birds, woodcock, nightingale and pied flycatcher, were added to the Red list bringing the total of woodland birds to sixteen. With the addition of kittiwake, shag and puffin to the Red list, the number of seabirds on the list has nearly doubled and it now includes four of the UK’s seaducks. House sparrow and black redstart are the only two urban species. The Red List now includes eight globally threatened species, 16 long distance migrants, three of the UK’s four gamebirds and five of the UK’s six larger thrushes.
Silver linings?
There is also some good news. Two previously red-listed species (nightjar and bittern) have shown marked improvements in population status, attributed largely to sustainable forest management and targeted conservation action, have moved to the Amber list. The rapidly spreading red kite is another conservation success story, moving from Amber to Green. Former red-listed species such as stone-curlew and marsh harrier, continue to show modest recovery in numbers and remain amber-listed. Overall, the Amber list has been reduced from 126 in BOCC3 to 96 in BOCC4 as a consequence of both negative changes (moves to the Red list) and positive changes (moves to the Green list). The Green list, now 81, includes a range of common garden species such as blue tit, blackbird, and robin, and saw a net increase of 14 species such as little egret, little grebe, firecrest, woodlark, common whitethroat, wheatear and bearded tit.
A summary of the new list is available here. The full list is available through British Birds here.
Jersey’s own Conservation Status of Jersey’s Birds: Jersey’s bird populations in the 21st Century can be downloaded here
November. The time of year the field team finally succumb to the ‘great’ British weather, unpack their thermals, wrap up in woolly garments, and pretty much live in waterproofs round the clock.
Unless it is November 2015. In which case we also need sunglasses, factor 15, and the agility skills of a border collie to be able to escape our woolly confinements when the sun comes out and the wind vanishes.
There have been days when the team have had to abandon tracking for health and safety reasons. Jersey’s Met Office issued several weather warnings this month with gale force winds reaching above 50mph. Visibility has been poor due to the constant drizzle and mist spreading across from sea to shore. Sorel Point lighthouse might not be as majestic as Corbiere, but it still serves its purpose as an aid for navigation for getting back to our cars! Yet other days have been t-shirt weather (until the sun goes down and hyperthermia sets in). The choughs have been equally unpredictable in their behaviour as a result of the weather leading to four very eventful weeks.
Checking for blockages in Ormer’s trachea.
At the start of the month Ormer showed signs of having a gapeworm infection. Not surprising since Dusty was treated for it the week before.
We caught up Ormer exactly the same way as we did for Dusty and injected him with a wormer. Once again the medication was quick to act and within a day Ormer was his normal self.
With that mini-drama dealt with the team turned their attention to trying to understand why the choughs were spending so much time these days on the west side of Mourier Valley. Watching them endlessly fly around for fun gives you one clue.
They also like to shelter in the Devil’s Hole and look for insects where the soil layer is exposed on the rock face. Anyone familiar with this area will appreciate the leg work needed for the radio-trackers to head down to the hole to pick up a signal only to have to walk back up when the birds switch to the headland minutes later!
Is there a better bounty of insects to be found at Devils Hole compared to Sorel? After watching Noir feeding on a beetle by a clump of gorse the other day it seems hard to believe the rock face has better to offer. Thanks to Piers Sangan and the Insects of the Channel Islands Facebook Group for identifying Noir‘s choice of snack as being a minotaur beetle (Typhaeus typhoeus).
Noir snacking on a beetle. Photo by Liz Corry
The choughs’ jollies on the other side of the valley came to an abrupt halt mid-November when the gales returned and the wind chill factor was Baltic. The birds were struggling to stay grounded and any flight required brute strength and persistence.
One morning whilst the group were over at Devils Hole we noticed Bean and Dusty sat on the rock face not moving whilst everyone was searching for food. At the 11am aviary feed there were twenty-one birds feeding in the aviary. Dusty was missing. Jen returned to Devils Hole to find Dusty sat in the same place looking miserable. We assumed that for whatever reason he didn’t have enough strength to battle the gales across to the aviary with everyone else.
Jen took over a target board and placed it on the headland opposite the rock face. She placed a bowl of food on the target, blew the whistle, and called Dusty to the food. To her surprise he not only responded, but shot up in the air and over to the aviary. This behaviour appeared promising; however he never actually went in to feed and disappeared shortly after…along with Bean. By the afternoon aviary feed Dusty was still missing. Bean materialised in the field next to the aviary and just sat crouched down looking miserable whilst everyone else ate. We tried taking the food closer, but she flew to the nearest rabbit hole and sat in it sheltering from the wind. Bean had made it back into the aviary by roost time but there was no sign of Dusty.
The next day Dusty was spotted back at Devils Hole sat on the cliff face whilst the rest of the group were flying around. Bean was still looking miserable and not eating very much throughout the day. The weather was still horrendous and wasn’t set to change for a few days.
Checking Bean’s body condition showed she was quite thin. Photo by Liz Corry
With Bean’s condition deteriorating we decided to lock her in one section of the aviary so she could have respite from the cold wind and a food bowl all to herself. We knew she had lost weight. It wasn’t until we had her in the hand that it became apparent just how thin she was.
Feacal samples were submitted to the lab. Ultimately all she needed was a bit of TLC and a hearty meal. We increased the amount for food for all the birds as clearly they were having to burn a lot of calories to fly in the wind and stay warm. Once Bean was reunited with the group they stayed close together, including Dusty, and remained on the Sorel side of the valley. Until the next day!
Just as our stress levels were being lowered Lee and Noir went off the radar. This was obviously worrying what with Dusty and Bean’s fiasco and the bad weather continuing. Jen and Nicci tracked a group of choughs flying from the quarry and off west beyond Devils Hole early morning. Whilst trying to work out who was left behind a report came in of a sighting at Les Landes Racecourse again. Jen jumped in the car and went off to investigate.
Les Landes Racecourse backing onto Grosnez. Photo by Liz Corry.
Typically the group had left the area and disbanded. Eleven choughs had been at Les Landes with nine of those last seen heading off down the west coast over L’Étacq.
Chough hide and seek. Photo by Liz Corry.
Calmly assuming that the birds would return for their 11am aviary feed as they always do Jen returned to Sorel. They did indeed return, but Lee and Noir were still missing and absent at roost.
A search began the next day covering the areas were the group had been spotted.
Applying artistic license, some of the following photos were taken using filters to emphasise how bad the weather was without risking the camera’s longevity.
The search lasted all morning.
Grosnez. Photo by Liz Corry
Grosnez castle. Photo by Liz Corry
The Pinacle southwest of Les Landes Racecourse and north of L’Etacq. Photo by Liz Corry
Not a chough… Dartford warbler at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry
View from Corbiere across St Ouen’s Bay to L’Etacq in the north. Photo by Liz Corry
Not choughs…stonechat and linnet at Plemont regeneration area. Photo by Liz Corry.
Just before giving up one last place was checked. Edit that. Double checked. From Ronez loop road the radio antennae was directed towards the quarry. The faintest of beeps emitted from the receiver! Cutting a 26 hour story short…Lee and Noir had somehow found themselves in the workshop building at the bottom of the quarry. Where they perched affected whether the signal was being blocked or not. Mixed feelings (from both parties) of confusion, relief, embarrassment, and glee when tracker and choughs were reunited .
Quarry site foreman Kevin trying to figure out why Lee and Noir won’t leave the workshop. Photo by Liz Corry
Lee and Noir in the quarry workshop. Photo by Liz Corry
Trying to find a suitable spot to target feed. Photo by Liz Corry
The only question now was how to get them out. It took a few attempts at target feeding and another night in the building to think about it.
The next morning the weather was the complete opposite; sunny, calm, dry(ish). The rest of the flock decided to spend the day at Ronez, something they haven’t done in a long time. This probably helped as the two in the building could hear them calling. Lee plucked up the courage to leave by 10am.
Noir took a bit more encouragement. This time when I visited her she started wing-begging when I spoke to her and offered food. Yes I talked to her. No I didn’t expect her to talk back, although in her own way she did. Still unsure about flying down and out of the entrance I blew the whistle to attract the other choughs. A very loud White and his partner Mauve flew in from the back entrance and chatted to Noir for a minute before all three left the building and re-joined the flock.
Noir and Lee returning to the aviary with the flock after two nights in the quarry. Photo by Liz Corry.
By the afternoon feed all 22 choughs were back together and eating at the aviary.
And that is how our November came to a close.
What could possibly happen in December?
Jinx
Display aviary at Durrell re-opens. Photo by Liz Corry
One thing that did go as planned this month was the move of the choughs at Durrell back into their flocking aviary on display at the park.
The repair work to the netting was completed last month. There is still a bit of DIY to do and it needs a bit of replanting after the digging required for the new structural supports.
The important thing is that the birds are together, as they would be in the wild. They get to have a mental break from the breeding season. And the prima donnaGianna gets to see her public.
Gianna having bathed, preens her feathers. Photo by Liz Corry
Jersey’s free-living chough population now stands (and flies) at twenty-two individuals since the release of the captive-reared chicks in September. So how have they been coping with life on the north coast?
The Jersey flock probing for insects on the grazed and at Sorel. Photo by Tim Morley.
Arguments around the dinner table. Photo by Liz Corry.
The seven young captive-bred choughs have integrated well into the free-living flock. Social ‘pecking order’ was established relatively quickly with most of the bickering being between the juveniles and restricted to feed times at the aviary.
It also tends to be the boys more than the girls who squabble. Brothers Kevin and Lee always bicker at feeds, but spend the rest of the time preening each other. A true ‘bromance’?
Kevin waiting to see if Lee will share what he finds to eat (I doubt it!). Photo by Liz Corry.
They are quite competent at searching for wild insects. Bills buried deep in soil and sheep muck. Kevin and Lee even turned their attention to a fresh mole hill, pretty much levelling it in their quest for food.
Noir, a 2015 captive-reared chick, digging for insects. Photo by Liz Corry.
Ormer demonstrating why a chough needs such a long bill. Photo by Liz Corry.
As the cold, wet winter weather sets in the abundance of insects living in the soil decreases, which means the choughs’ wild food supply becomes limited. Like their neighbours in the UK they look for alternative food sources at this time of year to top up their calories.
Last winter the group showed a great deal of interest in the hawthorn berries around the aviary. This year was no different and the new chicks joined in with the foraging.
Choughs use the hawthorn trees around the aviary site as a vantage point to rest and preen as well as a food source in the autumnal months. Photo by Liz Corry.
Our flock have the benefit of sympathetic staff who can interpret their insistent chatter and stalking from above as “please can we have some more food in our bowls?”
Release aviary at sunset. Photo by Liz Corry.
After a busy day of hunting for insects the new choughs go to roost in the aviary along with the other juveniles. Prior to their release in September there were seven choughs roosting in the quarry, Dusty had left his parents and joined the aviary roost group.
This appeared to stay the same after the release.
The choughs continued to forage once the sun had set. Photo by Liz Corry.
However, when the clocks changed on 25th October field-staff made a new discovery: A clear sky and a bright, almost full, moon provided enough light for the choughs to carry on foraging near the aviary once the sun had set.
To be fair, their internal clocks may have been slightly skewed (with ours) making them think they had at least another hour before bed.
Flying in to roost. Photo by Liz Corry.
Suddenly the birds took to the air and headed straight for the aviary. At least one pair broke away and shot off to the quarry. Two others disappeared from view.
Had they sneaked into the aviary via the other side? Had they left for the quarry, but been missed in the melee of choughs flying around the aviary? All we knew was at least 18 roosted at the aviary; four more than normal.
We repeated our roost checks and also checked in with Ronez Quarry to see what information they could provide. We now know that White and Mauve still roost in the quarry. The remaining adults, Green, Blue (Mrs Green), Black, Red, and her young man Dingle, all roost at the aviary.
There have also been changes in where the choughs hang out during the day. Breakfast time is spent over at Devil’s Hole no longer near the heather regeneration area on the east side of Mourier Valley.
Foraging for breakfast at Le Marionneux (west side Mourier Valley). Photo by Liz Corry.
We knew of their visit to Les Landes last month thanks to public sightings. This month we have had several sightings of choughs flying around le Câtel Fort, Grève de Lecq, which is halfway between Les Landes and Sorel (as the chough flies). Many thanks to Keith Pyman for those reports. He was lucky enough to see them pretty much once a week throughout October flying over his house. We cannot physically get there in time to know where they go after that. Are they passing Grève de Lecq on the way to Les Landes? Are they just scoping out the cliffs at Petit Grève? All we know is that they are back at Sorel in time for their lunch feed acting all nonchalant.
Not every chough made the journey beyond Devil’s Hole in October. Sometimes it is just four birds, at other times it is a group of seven or fourteen. We cannot be sure which individuals travel without being there to see their leg rings. Even then it requires them to be on the ground not flying with their feet tucked in. The radio-tracked group of seven tend to favour staying at Mourier Valley. Again not having transmitters attached to the other 15 doesn’t help our chances of being able to identify those who wander off.
One thing we can be certain on is the health of our choughs. Our close daily monitoring allows us to know when something is wrong. When that something is Dusty, Jersey’s wild-born chick, our own stress levels tend to increase let alone the bird’s.
A fortnight into Nicola Cox starting her six-month student placement on the project she spotted Dusty occasionally open-mouthed breathing. This could be due to several different reasons most of which are mundane and fleeting.
We continued to monitor him closely and could see that his breathing was gradually becoming laboured and he started sneezing. We know this usually means one thing and a faecal sample from Dusty confirmed it. He had Syngamus, a gapeworm, and in quite high numbers. Thankfully this is very treatable, but it did mean we had to catch him up to worm him.
The easiest, least stressful way of doing this was to call all twenty-two choughs back to the aviary just before roost and lock them in. I held off giving them their afternoon feed until then to ensure they were all motivated enough to stay inside the aviary eating. First thing the following morning we went in and caught Dusty in hand-nets. Within minutes Dusty had been checked over by the Vet, given medication, and the whole group given access back outside. The choughs appeared unfazed and within a couple of days he had stopped sneezing and breathing normally. Quite an exciting and thankfully positive end to the month.
The use of neonicotinoid pesticides, linked to deaths of bees, may be contributing to the decline of butterflies in the UK, a study has revealed.
Previous research has demonstrated that these chemicals, widely used in agriculture, appear to be harming bees, birds and other wildlife. But the study (published by PeerJ) by the Universities of Stirling and Sussex in partnership with Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology is the first scientific evidence of a possible negative impact on widespread UK butterflies.
Neonicotinoids were introduced in the mid-1990s as a replacement for older chemicals. They are a systematic insecticide, meaning that they are absorbed into every cell in a plant, making all parts poisonous to pests. The chemicals remain in the environment and can be absorbed by the wildflowers growing in field margins, many of which provide a nectar source for butterflies and food-plants for their caterpillars. The study found population trends of 15 species showed declines associated with neonicotinoid use, including small tortoiseshell, small skipper and wall.
The study was based on data gathered by volunteers from more than 1,000 sites across the UK as part of the long-running UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS). Ecologist Dr Andre Gilburn of the University of Stirling, who led the study, said: “Our study not only identifies a worrying link between the use of neonicotinoids and declines in butterflies, but also suggests that the strength of their impact on many species could be huge.”
Dr Tom Brereton, Head of Monitoring at Butterfly Conservation, said: “We are extremely concerned with the findings of the study and are calling for urgent research to see whether the correlations we found are caused by neonicotinoid use, or some other aspect of intensive farming.
“Widespread butterflies have declined by 58 per cent on farmland in England over the last 10 years giving concern for the general health of the countryside and for these and other insects in particular.”
Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex said: “Many of us can remember a time when our meadows and hedgerows had far more butterflies, bees and other insects than today. “This study adds to the growing mountain of evidence that neonicotinoids are one of the causes of these declines.”
The paper Are neonicotinoid insecticides driving declines of widespread butterflies? Can be downloaded here
Jersey’s own The State of Jersey’s Butterflies: Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme 2004 to 2013 can be downloaded here
They might not seem like it at first glance, but the sheep at Sorel are part of a special task force deployed in Jersey to help protect and serve the Island’s biodiversity. And now to boot they have celebrity status! Having featured on BBC’s Countryfile back in summer and subsequently attracting tourists to the north coast they have once again hit the headlines with ITV Report.
The report by Katie Robinson (ITV Channel) can be found by clicking here or following The National Trust for Jersey‘s Facebook page. There is a nice video as well featuring ranger Neil Harvey and a cameo from the chough flock.
Working hard on our coastline since 2009
Having been established back in 2009 with just 20 breeding ewes and two rams, Jersey’s conservation grazing flock of Manx loaghtan sheep is now almost 200 strong. The Manx loaghtan, a hardy rare breed thought to be the closest living relative of the now extinct Jersey sheep, originate from the Isle of Man. Since their introduction, the flock have been invaluable in addressing the widespread ecological degradation that has taken place along Jersey’s north coast.
Historically, the coastal headlands and slopes on Jersey’s north coast were grazed; however changes in Jersey’s economy during the early 20th century led to the cessation of traditional mixed farming practices on marginal land. When active management ceased, the semi-natural open grassland and heathland habitats characteristic of traditionally farmed marginal areas began to be invaded by bracken and scrub. The invasion of bracken in particular, which now blankets vast swathes of land along the north coast of the Island, has sadly led to a widespread decline in biodiversity.
Reinstating active management is the key to restoring species-rich semi-natural maritime grassland and heathland habitats. The Manx loaghtan flock contribute enormously in this respect. Through the action of trampling, the sheep help to reduce the cover of bracken, while grazing controls the growth of competitive plant species, prevents scrub invasion, and facilitates the development of diverse plant communities with varied sward structures. In addition, patches of bare ground and animal dung resulting from sheep grazing provide important resources for invertebrates.
Sheep, choughs and other birds
The Manx loaghtan grazing area at Le Don Paton provides ideal habitat for the choughs. These iconic birds forage for invertebrate prey in areas of short turf and dung produced by the grazing sheep, and also use wool in nest building. In addition to benefiting Jersey’s resident wildlife, the short grassy areas maintained by grazing also provide feeding opportunities for migratory bird species of conservation concern, such as meadow pipit, wheatear and ring ouzel.
The increase in the size of the flock is fantastic news as it will allow this highly effective and sustainable management technique to be more widely applied, facilitating the restoration of Jersey’s coastal headland habitat for the benefit of our native wildlife.
Sheep and people
The flock have proven to be extremely popular with both visitors and local residents alike, to the extent that they are now something of a visitor attraction. An additional benefit of the increase in flock size is the increased production of high quality meat for the local market, as well as wool for craft knitting.
Jersey’s Woodland Bat Project was created in September 2014 and Stage One was to erect 58 Kent bat boxes in five Jersey woodlands including Val de la Mare, St Lawrence (Waterworks) Valley, La Hague water filling station, Don Gaudin in St Peter’s Valley and St Catherines Woods. We also put up five Schwegler woodcrete boxes which are of a much tougher design, one per woodland. These boxes were all put up between October 2014 and May 2015. Importantly, with each box we placed a small shelf underneath the box to collect any droppings that any occupying bats may produce.
Kent bat box
The Kent box tends to attract crevice-dwelling bats which include the pipistrelle species that we have in Jersey (see list of Jersey bats here). The object in Jersey was to provide more roosting opportunities for bats and to learn more about our woodland species of which there has been little research so far.
I obtained the relevant licencing from the Department of the Environment (see Jersey details here) and with a team of volunteers from the Jersey Bat Group we checked the boxes for signs of occupation during the last week of each month after April. Up until September there was no evidence of occupation. However………….
On 30th September I received several excited messages from Cassie, who monitors the Waterworks Valley sites, to say that there were bats in the inner crevice of one of our boxes, WW11. This is one of the higher boxes and lies in an area which has proved very rich in bats – we undertook some static echolocation monitoring in our woodlands during August.
I was out of the Island when Cassie made the discovery, but asked if some of the monitors could go down and do some echolocation recordings that night so we could get an idea of which species was in the box. It appears that there were three bats in the inner slot of the box. Echolocation recordings on emergence indicated that the bats were Nathusius’ pipistrelle Pipistrellus nathusii(see also Nathusius’ pipistrelle website) a migrating species which is relatively rare in the UK but has been recorded in Jersey many times since it was first recorded in 1987. There was also one dropping on the shelf which was collected for analysis.
Cassie kept me informed and the bats did not go away. On my arrival back to Jersey on 20th October I went down to Waterworks Valley and was delighted to find one bat in box WW11. I also looked at some of the nearby boxes and discovered a bat in the outer crevice of WW13. It looked like another pipistrelle but we will need to do some more monitoring to determine its exact species. As these boxes were put up in January it has taken only 8-9 months for two of them to be occupied. I think this is very encouraging for the rest of the project.
This winter we hope to put up some more Schwegler woodcrete boxes which are far longer-lived and which have had good results in other projects in the UK.
At the start of September the eight captive-reared chicks were released into Jersey. After their thirty-day quarantine and pre-release training they were finally ready to join the rest of the flock. As with the previous chicks released into Jersey we have named them alphabetically with a nod to their new home. We have four males and four females to introduce to the group. Kevin, named after Ronez’s site foreman who looked after Dusty in the quarry, Lee (Durrell), and (St) Mary are the eldest of the group, albeit only by a week or two. Noir, Ormer, and Pyrrho are three girls from the same clutch, and Q and Ronez are the youngest brothers. Each bird has its own colour ring and a radio transmitter attached to their tail feathers so we can monitor them closely after release.
The method for this release had to be tweaked to account for the fact we had almost twice as many choughs living outside of the aviary. Attempting to call back and lock-in eight specific individuals from a group of twenty-three each night would be a practical nightmare (and most likely cause nervous breakdowns amongst staff). This time we simply let them out on the first night then planned to follow them like hawks, so to speak, and call them back for food as and when. We relied on the social intelligence of the choughs knowing that the outside group would act as mentors and, hopefully, ‘anchor’ the new birds to the aviary site.
‘Egg’ trying to demonstrate her social intelligence. Photo by Liz Corry
The hatches opened on the 7th and, in what now appears to be modus operandi for chick releases, the eight birds stayed firmly in the aviary. Eventually when the outside group were called down for food at the aviary, the newbies flew out to meet them, eat, and cause general pandemonium once they realised they were no longer confined to the aviary.
They also had several distractions to contend with in the form of low-flying light aircraft, a helicopter, and paragliders. Definitely a good day for flying then!
Over the course of the evening the newbies explored the sky above Sorel and the cliff tops. All bar Mary and Q who decided for personal reasons that observing from inside the aviary was a far better option. The other six carried on flying around past sunset clearly trying to decide on a suitable roosting spot on the cliffs instead of the aviary.
The next morning they were still out along the cliffs, very rarely going inland. Q had decided to leave the aviary but got ‘lost’ in doing so. He was probing one of the farmers’ fields at Sorel by himself, calling loudly and not getting any response from the other choughs.
Even Mary, 200m away in the aviary was ignoring him or maybe petrified into silence now she was the last bird remaining in the aviary. Mary made her way out by midday and joined Q, who had now joined the adult flock, and suddenly 23 choughs were swirling around the cliff tops.
The newbies still avoided the aviary even at feed times. On the second night they moved towards Sorel Point to find a better roost spot.
View of sunset from the second roost site. Two choughs are visible on the rocks in the bottom left corner. Photo by Liz Corry
Over the course of the next five days the newbies kept using this roost site, but one-by-one they returned during the day to join the others at the aviary.
All except Q and Ronez who for reasons known only to themselves decided the quarry looked a much better place to hangout in. They didn’t, however, hangout with the other choughs who use the quarry. Instead they went to the rock-face in the south-east corner and stayed there.
We managed to catapult food onto the quarry ledges. We had to battle with the wind. Sometimes it was calm but at other times you were fighting with the wind to merely stay upright.
Sadly for the youngest chough, Ronez, our efforts, and his, to stay alive on the ledges did not pay off. On the evening of the 13th both he and Q were left probing away near the fenceline at the Ronez loop road. The next morning there was only one chough visible. Ronez’s radio signal was loud and clear suggesting he was close by and not moving.
The unstable nature of the rock face prevents access to the site. He may well have been predated if he roosted on the ground. Feral ferrets have been seen by quarry staff and this particular area is very accessible to a predator who takes little heed about Health and Safety regulations. Just as likely he could have become weak without means of getting out and starved. Either way there was nothing we could do further and it is, sadly, part of the course.Q left the quarry shortly after that and rejoined the other choughs. They now roost in the aviary and return for food provided by staff. They are very good at probing for insects as well and have been spending their mornings at Devil’s Hole on the other side of the valley to Sorel.We have even had a report of a group of eight birds at Les Landes Racecourse. We know from photographs that two of the eight were juveniles from 2014. These birds flew to Les Landes last October to explore but didn’t spend much time there. It will be interesting to see where they decide to go this year.
Action for Wildlife Jersey
We can only follow the young, newly released and naïve, choughs as they discover their new surroundings and learn to survive in the wild because they have tail-mounted radio transmitters. Each of these transmitters has to be bought and, unfortunately, doesn’t have a very long life. If the birds don’t lose their transmitter the battery will run out. We are lucky to ever find the old transmitters and anyway we are only able to change the battery once before the transmitter can not be further modified. So, we need a lot of transmitters, and this is a big area of our annual budget and this year we are extremely grateful to Action for Wildlife Jersey for funding our 2015 transmitter needs. In fact, the funds so generously provided, also allowed us to buy a new electronic balance to weigh the birds up at Sorel and check on their health.
A VIP visitor to Sorel
On 30th September we were proud to introduce leading author and journalist Simon Barnes to the chough flock. Simon, author of such notable books as How To Be A Bad Birdwatcher and Birdwatching with Your Eyes Closed (see the full list of Simon’s books here)was in Jersey for the 2015 Jersey Festival of Words and took time out to see the Sorel birds and hear about Birds On The Edge and the work being done to restore our habitats and give local birds a chance to survive.
In order to comply with its environmental responsibilities under legally binding agreements, the Department of the Environment last year carried out a survey of small mammal species on the Island to understand changes or threats to populations and to protect them from further loss.
The Department last carried out a similar survey 16 years ago and wanted to find out what changes have occurred since then. In 2014 the Department commissioned Natural Solutions Ltd. to carry out a survey of small mammals in Jersey and to prepare a detailed assessment of the changes that have occurred in population densities since an initial survey carried out in 1998.
The results of the latest survey, compiled by Denise McGowan and Professor John Gurnell, were published recently.
This new report looks at population numbers, densities and biomass over different seasons and habitats, with the aim of finding out more about the changes that have occurred over the 16 year period.
Small mammals matter because they play a vital role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem in Jersey, as keystone prey species for our large predators including birds of prey and snakes. They are indicators of habitat quality and help shape our environment.
Four small mammal species were surveyed at 22 sites in nine different habitats across the Island:
Wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus
Jersey bank vole Myodes glareolus caesarius
Lesser white-toothed shrew Crocidura suaveolens
Millet’s shrew Sorex coronatus
The vole is a unique Jersey sub-species and, in the British Isles, the lesser white-toothed shrew is only found in Jersey, Sark and the Isles of Scilly and Millet’s (or French) shrew only in Jersey. The vole and the two shrew species are protected under the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000 and Jersey is committed through its legislation and international conventions to monitor and protect them.
Results indicate that since 1998, wood mice have continued to be widespread; the Jersey bank vole has followed a similar pattern but appeared to favour heathlands, hedgerows, woodlands and undisturbed grasslands.
The data for shrew species was more difficult to compare across the two surveys due to a low capture rate and a patchy distribution across sites, seasons and years.
Further work is required to determine what could be affecting the shrews’ distribution and population numbers in Jersey.
New research by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has revealed that bird food provided in our gardens has helped blackcaps to rapidly evolve a successful new migration route. This is the first time that garden bird feeding has been shown to affect large-scale bird distributions.
Historically, the migratory blackcap was only a breeding summer visitor to the British Isles. However, over the last 60 years there have been surprising changes in the species’ migration behaviour, with birds from central Europe visiting our gardens in winter, rather than heading to their usual wintering grounds in southern Spain. The reasons why the British Isles have become great for blackcaps were previously unclear, but now scientists have been able to uncover some answers, using the extensive data on garden birds and feeders collected by thousands of volunteer birdwatchers for the BTO’s weekly Garden BirdWatch survey.
The new study, published in the international journal Global Change Biology, has revealed that blackcaps are becoming increasingly associated with garden bird feeding over time, and that supplementary foods, particularly fats and sunflower hearts, are affecting their national distribution in winter. The findings also indicate that changes in the British winter climate have been important in shaping the evolution of this new migration behaviour.
Dr Kate Plummer, BTO Research Ecologist and lead author of the paper, said: “This is the first scientific evidence that supplementary foods provided in gardens can influence the evolution of wild birds, so the findings are extremely important.
“It’s been suspected for a long time that blackcaps started coming to Britain in winter to take advantage of the bird food being provided in gardens. However, it’s only now that we have actually found concrete evidence to support this, thanks to the efforts of citizen scientists.”
Kate Risely, BTO Garden BirdWatch Organiser, added: “The thousands of people who send us information on the birds and bird food in their gardens can be very proud of the part they have played in this research. It is only by collecting regular records of birds that we can find out how our activities are affecting them.”
As the global environment rapidly changes due to human activities, it is becoming increasingly important that we understand if, and how, species are able to respond. These findings indicate that some species, like blackcap, may be more resilient to environmental change than we previously assumed.
The research is set to continue with an investigation into how garden bird feeding has affected goldfinch numbers, and over the winter the BTO will be calling for observations from people who feed goldfinches in their gardens.
In Jersey, our own Garden Bird Watch results have shown increasing numbers of blackcaps in the Island’s gardens. Interestingly, and supporting the new study, our own monitoring shows that the blackcaps that spend the spring and summer in our woodlands all but disappear over winter while they are easy to find in gardens over this period.
Blackcap. Jersey Garden Bird Watch 2002-2015
Read the abstract of the full paper Is supplementary feeding in gardens a driver of evolutionary change in a migratory bird species?here
They say the grass is always greener on the other side. Well now the sheep at Sorel can find out first-hand.
Ecoscape and the Back to Work scheme at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry
Thanks to the skill and hard work of the guys on the Back to Work scheme and Ecoscape, the sheep now have access to extra grazing land at Sorel.
A fence has been erected around the field adjacent to the chough release-aviary allowing for the shepherd to improve the management of his flock. It is a relatively small area, but it will make a huge difference.
Once the fence was up and tools cleared away, the shepherds then had the seemingly mammoth task of herding the sheep from the cliffs and picking out which sheep would go in the new site. Luckily for them Mist the sheep dog, made the job a lot easier.
Aaron the shepherd stood at the top of the ridge calls to Mist, his dog, below to push the sheep up the ridge and onto the headland. Photo by Liz Corry
The shepherding team showing off their skills. Photo by Liz Corry.
Up until the beginning of the 20th Century, the coastal headlands were an important part of the rural economy. Cattle, ponies and sheep would have grazed upon these areas and gorse and bracken would have been collected for fuel and bedding respectively. The disappearance of such practices allowed bracken and scrub to encroach, in turn leading to the disappearance of many coastal and heathland species. The red-billed chough is a prime example of such a species relying on the sheep to improve habitat as well as providing their wool for nest building.
The Back to Work scheme, set up by the Social Security Department and Department of the Environment, helps unemployed people in Jersey to gain skills and experience to attain permanent employment while carrying out dedicated projects enhancing Jersey’s biodiversity.
Ecoscape, a local contractor with a wealth of environmental experience, provide guidance and training to participants on the scheme. Its hard work at times, but the skills acquired and sense of achievement with the end result can be very rewarding.
A video produced by ALC gives you an insight into what was involved over the five days the team worked at Sorel. You can also view it via Ecoscape’s Facebook page.
From BTO
Commonly referred to as the UK Red List for birds, the fourth review of the status of birds in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man was released this month (see summary here and full report here). This updates the last assessment in 2009. Using standardised criteria, 244 species with breeding, passage or wintering populations in the UK were assessed by experts from a range of bird NGOs and assigned to the Red, Amber or Green lists of conservation concern.
trends in population and range, rarity, localised distribution and international importance. The lists now exclude three former breeding species, two previously red-listed, now considered to have ceased breeding in the UK (serin, Temminck’s stint and the once widespread wryneck). The only new species assessed by BoCC4, Caspian gull, went onto the Amber list.
This update shows that many bird species are increasingly at risk. Nineteen species were red-listed for the first time due to worsening population status, and one species (merlin) was returned to the Red list. In most cases, this is due to evidence from monitoring schemes such as BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) of increasingly severe declines in breeding populations (e.g. for curlew, nightingale, pied flycatcher, whinchat grey wagtail and mistle thrush), surveys of scarce breeders such as dotterel, black redstart and Slavonian grebe, or by seabird monitoring (e.g. kittiwake and shag). Puffin is red-listed due to its global assessment as Vulnerable.
How does the Red List break down across habitats? Despite no new additions, farmland birds still have the greatest percentage of species (12 of 26) on the Red List. Lowland wetland species have the smallest proportion: only four of 31. Five upland birds (curlew, dotterel, grey wagtail, whinchat and merlin) were added, bringing the total for this habitat to 12. Three more woodland birds, woodcock, nightingale and pied flycatcher, were added to the Red list bringing the total of woodland birds to sixteen. With the addition of kittiwake, shag and puffin to the Red list, the number of seabirds on the list has nearly doubled and it now includes four of the UK’s seaducks. House sparrow and black redstart are the only two urban species. The Red List now includes eight globally threatened species, 16 long distance migrants, three of the UK’s four gamebirds and five of the UK’s six larger thrushes.
By Liz Corry
