Are there many more beautiful sights in mid to late summer than that of a hillside covered in flowering heather? Against the backdrop of a blue sky and glorious sunshine, a sea of purples, pinks, and occasional whites, shimmering in the heat, there can be few more perfect sights. The hum of insect activity too can be heard, almost felt, from a distance amid the call of foraging birds.
Heather, whether it be Calluna vulgaris (ling) or Erica cinerea (bell heather), has long played a part in the landscape of Jersey, predominantly of the northern, rockier coastlines, but it can occur in any open landscape, wet and dry. In Jèrriais it is called d’la bruëthe, and has been used as many things through the ages: firelighters; bedding for farmers and their livestock; an orange dye (from the flowers); knife handles (from the roots), and, my personal favourite, it has been used to make beer.
It is also a favourite amongst much of our wildlife. Bees adore it, heather honey is a delicacy; some butterflies rely on it as a food source for their caterpillars; some birds, such as the choughs, like to line their nests with the newer, softer, shoots in spring; grazing livestock and rabbits like to eat those same soft, new shoots.
Heathers are a staple of the heathland flora, much preferring the acidic soils that most plants would struggle in. They flourish in areas where trees have been removed and the grazing of livestock has prevented their regrowth.
One component of the restoration project at Don Paton, Sorel Point, Mourier Valley and Devil’s Hole is the increase of heather in the existing heathland. The overall site had lacked any management for many years, before it was given to The National Trust for Jersey; the soil is too poor for arable farming to be successful, and the area had become overgrown with bracken, gorse, bramble and thick grasses. All of these other plants, of course, play their part in the habitat, but, left to their own devices, they will dominate and swamp any smaller more wildlife-friendly species. The National Trust rangers have worked hard to bring these other plants under control, and encourage those such as heather to gain a foothold.
Once areas had been cleared and more open spaces were created, with grasses growing, ably controlled, munched and fertilised, by the Manx loaghtan sheep, we could pinpoint areas where heather could be re-established.
Seed was collected from Les Landes by the States of Jersey rangers, as there is an abundance of well-established heather there. Les Landes is what we hope Don Paton will look like in a few years’ time, minus the castle and racecourse. After an application of sulphur had been applied to acidify the soils, the seed was scattered at Don Paton.
Once the heather had started to grow, we realised just how popular it was as a food source for sheep and rabbits alike, and decided that we needed to protect it before it was lost again. When it is well established, gentle nibbling will not be too much of a problem, in fact it will be of benefit, but until that time, a sheep and rabbit-proof shield was required.
A post and wire fence was put up one winter, on a cold, wet, wild grey day (are there any other type of day in a Jersey winter?!), much to the amusement of the sheep, who watched us struggling to bury the wire in the rocky soil. They then thought it was hilarious to jump over the wire just as we packed up for the day. We were not amused.
A second, taller layer of wire was put up, in an attempt to remedy the sheep jumping. They they decided to tangle their horns in it instead, which caused holes to appear. Rabbit sized holes.
A third attempt at protecting the heather, using stronger, taller wire (put up on a much sunnier day!) and at two much smaller sites than the first, has now been put up and, so far, seems to be keeping the animals out. We will be monitoring the areas regularly to ensure that the heather is not being eaten by the woolly jumpers or their bunny mates, at least until it is really well-established (or there is enough for the staff to start making beer!).
What do we need for a ‘good life’? At one level, the answer to this question will differ for each person. Yet, we all share a common set of needs that must be met for us to experience wellbeing. Understanding those needs and the crucial contribution of nature’s services in enabling us to meet them is the subject of a new report in the (New Zealand) Department of Conservation’s series of Science & Technical publications.
The report brings together research on wellbeing and research on ecosystem services, focusing on the services that come from ecosystems in New Zealand but widely applicable throughout the world and very appropriate as the Channel Islands look to a ‘greener’ future.
There has been an upsurge in research on ecosystem services in the last 20 years, including detailed research and discussion about how to classify and categorise the types of ecosystem services that contribute to wellbeing, and numerous studies attempting to determine the monetary value of various ecosystem services. However, the question of how to categorise and understand the types or aspects of wellbeing that ecosystem services may contribute to has not been explored to anywhere near the same extent. This may be because the impetus for studying ecosystem services has come from ecologists and economists, rather than from social scientists. To date, much of the work has focused on the supply of ecosystem services and the demands for these services, both marketed and non-marketed. However, there has been little focus on what is driving our demand for ecosystem services – a desire for enhanced wellbeing.
What are ecosystem services?
‘Ecosystem services’ can most simply be defined as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. Ecosystems are widely considered to provide four categories of services: supporting (e.g. nutrient cycling, soil formation and primary production); provisioning (e.g. food, fresh water, wood, fibre and fuel); regulating (e.g. climate regulation, flood and disease regulation, and water purification); and cultural (aesthetic, spiritual, educational and recreational).
What is wellbeing?
Wellbeing can be defined as a good or satisfactory condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity. The last 20 years have seen a significant increase in research on wellbeing. Some of this research has focused on happiness, looking at the different contributors to happiness and how its different aspects can be measured. Researchers and governments have been exploring how best to measure whether the wellbeing of a nation is improving.
The conclusion?
The ecosystem services delivered by biodiversity and natural ecosystems contribute in a wide variety of ways to wellbeing. They not only provide many of our basic needs and enhance our safety; they also breathe the fundamental essence into what it means to be a human. Some people appear to be highly aware (either consciously or intuitively) that their own wellbeing is linked to the health of the indigenous biodiversity that delivers so many of these services, and are actively participating in restoration projects around the country. However, many others appear to be unaware of these connections. The ecosystem services concept has proven to be an invaluable tool internationally and in New Zealand for communicating our dependence on ecosystem services, and is leading to improved policy and practice.
We look forward to its increased use, greatly increased research to support its use, and the incorporation of ecosystem services as a key component in engagement across the community and in education at all levels. However, a clearer understanding of the main contributors to wellbeing, and the ways in which our choices can affect both the level of wellbeing and the level of environmental impact, is equally important.
We believe that fostering discussion, research and education on the different components of wellbeing (e.g. what really does make us happy?) will broaden understanding of the many factors that contribute to personal and national wellbeing, including a greater awareness of the irreplaceable contribution of ecosystem services. We will not only improve our own wellbeing and that of supporting ecosystems, but will also enhance the opportunity for our grandchildren and others on the planet to meet their basic needs and enjoy ‘the good life’.
Download the full report The nature of wellbeing:how nature’s ecosystem services contribute to the wellbeing of New Zealand and New Zealandershere
Is it worth having birds in the city? If you live in Seattle or Berlin, the answer is yes, to the tune of £80 million and £47 million a year for each city, respectively.
A new study published in the journal Urban Ecosystems looks at what economic value residents in two comparable cities place on having birds in their gardens and parks. Researchers at the University of Washington and Humboldt State University compared two types of common birds – finches and corvids – in both cities, asking residents how much they would pay to conserve the species and what they spend, if anything, on bird food.
They found that both cities place a “sizeable” value on bird enjoyment, somewhat more so in Seattle. Residents in both cities spend more than the average U.S. adult on bird-supporting activities, suggesting that people from Seattle and Berlin value having birds around their homes and neighbourhoods.
These activities, in turn, also show that birds benefit the local economies as residents invest in food and nesting structures.
“This paper shows that our interactions with birds actually have a pretty high economic return to the community where you live,” said John Marzluff, one of the paper’s co-authors. “We know that having a liveable, green community that attracts birds also increases the value of homes in that area. This paper shows there’s an economic service birds are providing.”
Researchers say this is the first look at estimating the economic value of enjoying common birds in an urban setting. Previous studies have assessed people’s willingness to pay to see rare or charismatic birds and to pay for conservation of endangered species, but these instances don’t affect most people.
“No one has really looked at what people will be willing to pay for these more common species, ones that aren’t necessarily endangered or threatened. We wanted to address that because people living in urban areas don’t encounter endangered species on a daily basis,” said co-author Barbara Clucas.
Clucas in the Seattle area and collaborators in Berlin went door-to-door and surveyed dozens of households in different types of neighbourhoods – urban with apartments, dense suburban, light suburban and rural. The researchers asked specific questions about how residents viewed corvid and songbird species, whether they would pay for conservation of these species and what they spent annually on bird food.
In both Seattle and Berlin, residents’ willingness to pay for bird conservation was higher for finch species than for corvids. Interestingly, some Seattleites said they would pay to actually reduce the crow population in the city, though many also appeared indifferent about crows.
In contrast, Berliners were willing to pay a small amount to increase the city’s crow population, but they had an overall negative reaction to conserving magpies, another corvid species associated by legend with stealing and mischief.
“There’s a lot of culture that goes along with these birds, and that influences how we view them,” Marzluff said.
The researchers also noted that residents living in the urban core in both cities interacted the least with birds. The more that we as humans feed and house birds, the more variety and density appear around our homes. If that interaction isn’t happening in urban cores, “there’s a greater disconnect between nature and humans in those areas, and that’s where most of the population lives,” Marzluff said.
That interaction is important for human-nature connections that can lead to greater appreciation for the natural world, he added.
Download the full paper How much is that birdie in my backyard? A cross-continental economic valuation of native urban songbirds here
As part of the programme to support our threatened population of swifts in the Channel Islands Vic Froome has produced a wonderful booklet on the incredible swift, its life and how we can help it. See how to get a copy at the bottom of this page.
Vic was given permission to make changes to a booklet published originally by Action for Swifts (read the UK 2nd edition here) and make it more appropriate for a Channel Islands audience. Paul Hillion and Melody Press in Guernsey helped in design and printed the booklet. M & S (Guernsey), The Channel Islands Co-operative Society and Ronez funded the costs of production and helped make the booklet available to RSPB Guernsey Group, La Société Guernesiaise, Alderney Wildlife Trust and Birds On The Edge.
The booklet includes information of artificial boxes and ideas for helping swifts find sites to nest.
In Guernsey, swifts breed in a variety of ‘typical’ locations like churches and housing. Vic has received sterling support in his campaign to educate about what is happening to swifts and how everyone can help through often simple measures like the provision of boxes where access to holes in buildings has been prevented. It all starts with remembering about the swifts!
Rather curiously, in Jersey, we only know of swifts nesting in fortifications (castles, towers and a fort), part of the St Helier Harbour walls and fully natural sites on the north coast like Plémont. There are no records of swifts in any houses or churches which seems rather strange. Roderick Dobson (in 1952) reported the same situation (and pretty well the same sites) that we see today. Dobson also reported a decline in swifts at Mont Orgueil because or repairs and pointing to the walls – something the birds are again facing! This year we plan to give the swifts help in the castle by improving nesting opportunities modifying some of the post holes in the walls. We expect to be able to report more on this project soon.
The 28 page booklet will be free to anyone who would like a copy and will be available at several locations around the Islands so please look out for it. However, you can also download a copy here thanks to Melody Press.
Spring is here and seabirds are returning to their nests in the Channel Islands. This year there are increasing opportunities to watch these birds from wherever you are through nest cameras and video links.
Puffins on Burhou
The Alderney Wildlife Trust plans to have several webcams that stream 24 hours a day. This year again two cameras are focused on Burhou’s Atlantic puffin colony but viewers can often see storm-petrels, gulls and even the occasional rabbit!
The AWT webcams are available for everyone to watch and can be found on the LIVE Website. You can also keep up to date on all the activity and see the latest highlight clips on the LIVE Facebookpage. Highlights from previous years can be seen on the websites too (this is one below).
In 2015 there will hopefully be two further cameras keeping us up to date with our seabirds.
Shag nest on Jethou
The seabird web camera was installed on Jethou on 17th March 2015. This was only possible with the support of Jethou Island staff who transported the equipment over to the island including camera, solar panel, car battery, support structure and weights. The south-west coast of Jethou Island was chosen for the site to install the camera as shags were known have nested in this area before. A suitable shag nest in the early stages of construction was chosen (no eggs yet) and installation was carried out by two seabird volunteers in 1½ hours. The exact positioning of the web camera may require adjusting but the first image of an adult bird on the nest was taken that day. The development and plans of this seabird camera can be seen here
The Jethou camera does not yet provide a live feed but takes an image every five minutes. However, the IT gurus put together a YouTube film (see example below) of each day’s clips joined together as a short film which can be accessed here. If possible, a live web camera may be installed in future – if sponsorship can be arranged.
If the Jethou camera continues to be as successful as it appears to be so far, plans will be developed for a similar web camera on the Humps, the small islets off the north coast of Herm, which also are an important seabird breeding area. Everyone is very grateful for the continued support of Jethou Island in this and other seabird initiatives.
Gannets
This year AWT will be reinstalling Gannetcam, which was trialled in 2014. If all goes to plan this camera will give an insight into the dramatic lifecycle of Alderney’s largest breeding seabird, the northern gannet. In the meantime you can watch videos of previous years activities (below) at the gannet nests (and other local wildlife) here
February, normally a relatively quiet time in the chough calendar, quickly became action packed. It started with the first snow of the season, the first ever for the chicks.
The choughs searched out snow-free ground to probe in this month (they obviously didn’t look behind the gorse!). Photo by Harriet Clark.
It quickly became apparent that the field staff were more excited by this than the birds. All the choughs cared about was finding food.
In the wild, choughs don’t tend to fare too well if the ground freezes because the surface is too hard to probe. There wasn’t much snow in Jersey, but enough for the choughs to start looking for exposed ground.
Even if the birds can dig below the surface, ground temperatures are not particularly favourable to the insect communities. This was evident when the pitfall traps were collected in by the students. Most were empty to the dismay of the sheep who obviously thought they might be full of food.
Naturally the choughs became more dependent on the supplementary food we have been giving them. The fact that no individuals have died over winter due to starvation is in part a testament to how post-release care is important for a successful re-introduction.
Chickay getting stuck in to her aviary feed. Photo by Liz Corry.
Knowing that we want to release more choughs this year and the next, we have started to prepare ourselves, and the choughs, for what happens if there is too much competition in the aviary at feed time or if the original cohort disperse further afield.
Food stands in the aviary field reduce competition for food in the aviary. Photo by Liz Corry.
We continue to use the external food stands in the field to create multiple feeding sites, thus reducing competition.
Especially from the bold, hand-reared chicks who zoom to the bowls first.
Whilst we might have the odd magpie attempt to masquerade as a choughs to get free food we have not had any problems with other species taking food.
Song thrushes arrived back at Sorel this month and spent most of the time in the aviary field filling up on insects. Photo by Liz Corry.
The dozen or so song thrushes who visited the aviary field this month did take a shine to the food stands. I’m guessing their interest was in any spillage underneath.
Or maybe the sheep ‘fertilizer’ has created an insect hotspot which meant they favoured that field over others!
We have started taking portable target boards out onto the grazed headland to get the choughs used to feeding elsewhere. We might get individuals or pairs dispersing far away from the aviary and we want to guarantee we can get the supplemental food to them if they don’t return to the aviary.
Initially we treated it as a test. Have they just become accustomed to being fed in the same places each day or would they recognise a target board at a completely different location? Their corvid intelligence shone through and they eagerly flew to the targets wherever we put them. So far we have only tried relatively close to the aviary. As their success in finding the targets continues we will try further afield.
In the wild, the chough breeding season kicks off at the end of February or early March if the weather is mild. Breeding pairs are gathering materials and building their nests to rear their brood over the following three months if successful. Some of our original choughs released in 2013 are now sexually mature and we have two pairings with potential to breed. Over the next few months we will be following Green and his partner Blue very carefully along with White and his partner Mauve.
To aid in this, as mentioned in January’s report, we have added a radio transmitter to Green, the oldest male in the group. By doing this we were quite surprised to find out that he has been roosting in the quarry buildings. From our observations the previous few months we have always seen White and Mauve fly to the quarry at night and Green and Blue hang around the aviary.
Some of the structures in the quarry that the choughs like to hang out on at weekends. Photo by Liz Corry.
It might be that this move to the quarry is recent. Although what we fear is that the pair have tricked us and quietly sneaked out seconds before everyone else has gone to roost. Visibility at dusk is poor as you can imagine and we watch from a distance to avoid disturbing them. The only guarantee is if we can hear their transmitters beeping away in our headphones. It also helps having ‘spies’, otherwise known as quarry workers, who keep you informed on how many choughs are waiting for them when they start work at 6am.
We were told that four had roosted in the quarry the day we started radio-tracking Green. Presumably the fourth bird is Green’s partner. If not, I think someone needs to break the news to Blue!
Ronez Quarry have been a huge support throughout this project and this month was no exception. They provided funding to build nest-boxes for our inexperienced choughs who might want to nest along the north coast but could be looking for boxes, just like the ones they were reared in, rather than natural crevices. This could be the case for the first year of breeding. Then, as they build in confidence and experience, they will happily use natural sites.
Since we have birds roosting in the quarry already we suspect that they might try to nest on the rock face or in the buildings. If the latter we need to provide them with somewhere safe and sheltered from the dusty working environment.
Glyn Young, Durrell, and quarry site manager Kirsten DuHeaume in Ronez quarry. Photo by Liz Corry
We spent a couple of days surveying the quarry for potential nest sites with manager Kirsten DuHeaume, and foreman Kevin Gray. We also had to consider which sites were feasible from a health and safety perspective.
Blasting rock for quarrying purposes can leave hidden fractures in surrounding rock faces. What might seem stable from the outside is actually far less when it comes to working on it.
Some buildings which looked suitable could not be reached to place the box high enough for a chough to consider using it. We managed, however, to find a few suitable sites and the rest of our boxes were distributed along the north coast.
Ronez kindly provided the use of their machinery as well as their staff to operate it. Not only that, but they paid for Tony Cross to come over from Wales to advise and assist with fitting the boxes. Within seconds and with precision and skill, Kevin Le Herrissier designed a couple of steel supports to aid in fixing the boxes in place. Tony assisted in positioning the boxes and adding handfuls of gravel, the equivalent of ‘soft-furnishings’.
Kevin Le Herrissier and Tony Cross preparing a nest box. Photo by Liz Corry
The boxes, designed by Tony Cross, were built off-site by two volunteers, John and Mo, who work in Durrell’s Maintenance Department and, thanks to Steve Luce, by La Moye Prison. The prison have previously built nest-boxes for other projects but this time it feels more poignant since La Moye was the last recorded breeding site for wild choughs in Jersey.
Due to the sensitivity of the choughs and to safeguard their survival we will not be disclosing to the public the exact locations of the nest-boxes or any natural sites they use. Licences are required in the UK, just to take photos at chough nests as a certain level of legal protection is needed to deter egg-poaching.
Tony Cross watching the choughs for cllues as to where they might nest. Photo by Liz Corry
Of course the choughs are free to choose where they go and sometimes, as with the quarry, it can become quite obvious.
For now, here are a few photos to give you an idea of what we got up to. Needless to say don’t try this at home unless you are equipped with a fully operational Tony Cross. We also had help from our project partners in the form of National Trust ranger, Neil Harvey, and the States of Jersey’s principal ecologist John Pinel, an experienced climber.
I must also add that we have permission from the landowners to erect these nest-boxes. A requirement for anyone wanting to put up a nest-box.
Tony and his colleague Adrienne normally have to risk life and limb abseiling over cliff edges to erect nest-boxes for choughs.
This time Ronez lent a ‘helping hand’….
Kevin assisted in fixing the boxes. With steel brackets and bolts into the rock I don’t think we will have any problems with boxes falling down!
Some boxes just need to be dug into the top of the cliff edge.
Others can be a bit trickier….
…which is where the extra bodies came in useful. Much to the ‘delight’ of Neil!
and always of course under the supervision of the choughs.
In fact I started to get a bit paranoid by their stalking. Hopefully it meant that by the end of the day they had made a mental note of all the box locations.
Preparing for the breeding season in the Wildlife Park
Preparations for the breeding season have also been underway at the Wildlife Park. Once again we hope to hand-rear and parent chicks from our captive-breeding pairs which can then be used in this year’s soft release.
Two breeding pairs have been moved to their off-show aviaries. Gwinny has stayed paired with the same young male as last year. True to the Celtic legend Tristan and Iseult have reunited and, no pressure here, but since they have produced eggs together in the past we have huge expectations for this pair.
At the start of February we imported a new male from Paradise Park. Denzel, named by his previous keepers, moved into our quarantine enclosure where he must remain until he has been given the ok from our vets. We are hoping he will pair up with our single female to make a third couple.
The nest cameras have been switched on and all the birds have now changed to their breeding diet which means more protein is added to the menu. We will have to wait until March to find out if the pairs decide to build nests.
Gianna, meanwhile, is waiting patiently for when they do in case we need to call on her services as a foster mum. We are still at the very early stages of her training. She is starting to allo-preen staff now: a sign of a pair-bonding in the bird world. She might not reach the stage this year in which we are confident with her foster-rearing abilities. However, we would certainly like to think she can aid the breeding programme in the future.
How are Jersey’s garden birds faring? Not all that well it seems. The results of this year’s Great Garden Bird Watch show some genuine causes for concern in our bird populations. Don’t forget, the majority of the bird species that are recorded during this survey are those that have adapted well to people and, we had assumed, to our modern way of life. These are generally the birds that we feed and enjoy to have around us.
The good news this year is that at least the weather over the count weekend was better than in 2014. This year we received 315 completed survey forms and although the weather was still pretty poor it could only have been better than last year’s gales.
House sparrow. Jersey Garden Bird Watch 2002-2015
The Top 10 bird species recorded was pretty consistent with previous years’ counts. Again house sparrow topped the poll, recorded at 225 of the households that reported. With 1,637 sparrows counted, that’s 5.2 sparrows per garden in the survey. House sparrow has declined alarmingly in Jersey over the last 25 years and this is reflected in our 14 years of garden counts. However, despite the overall decline since 2002 there may be some cause for optimism as the last few years have shown a slight increase in numbers. St Saviour, St Helier and St Lawrence have the most sparrows which suggests that in Jersey at least sparrows can still be found in a town.
Starling. Jersey Garden Bird Watch 2002-2015
Chaffinch was the second most recorded species, spread nicely across the Island, and starling the third with most reported from St Saviour and St Brelade. We have dealt before on overall reductions in starling numbers and that this can be further seen in the survey since 2002 is a stark reminder of just what is happening to this formerly abundant bird. Following the starling in the Top 10 were blackbird, wood pigeon, great tit, magpie, blue tit, collared dove and…….herring gull. Robin only came in 11th which may be a surprise. However, at least the robin population appears relatively stable with an average of 1.2 per garden.
Greenfinch. Jersey Garden Bird Watch 2002-2015
Great tit (blue) and blue tit (red). Jersey Garden Bird Watch 2002-2015
What of the other ‘typical’ garden birds? Well, both great and blue tit numbers show slow declines while the blackbird population does look pretty stable (1.9 birds per reporting household in 2015) despite them having such a good year in the UK. This might suggest that, while big numbers of blackbirds fly into Jersey in winter, these immigrants don’t turn up in our gardens. Sadly, greenfinch numbers are, as predicted, very poor with now around one quarter of the number recorded per garden compared to 2002. The only consolation we can see in the trend of the greenfinch is that it may have levelled off and that it seems that those that do live here don’t go into gardens in winter as much as they once did.
Wood pigeon. Jersey Garden Bird Watch 2002-2015
Are any of our garden birds actually doing ok? Well, while you might not be surprised that magpie numbers stay the same year on year (around 1.5 per garden) only really wood pigeon and blackcap have gone up in numbers. Neither should be a surprise, the pigeons are rather obvious (and they can be bullies) and their increases much noted and the blackcap’s change in wintering habits widely reported. So, all in all, it’s not really very good. We do still have quite a few birds in our gardens, which is nice, but overall they may not be faring very well. And what does that say about our lives that the birds in our gardens are declining?
As in previous years we are excited to see what comes out in the ‘others’ columns of the report sheets when they come in. That red squirrels are widely recorded, although most seem to be in St Brelade and St Lawrence, is not a big surprise but it’s nice to hear too of toads and newts. This year several early bees made it onto the forms as well as marsh harriers, including three in a hedge in one site, buzzards, a very bold little egret and a grey wagtail that was the first recorded by the house owners in 46 years of occupancy. We even had three cirl buntings reported. But that was from Grouville where all our cirl buntings are!
Once again, as organisers on behalf of Action for Wildlife, Birds On The Edge and the JEP we are very grateful to everyone who sends in their counts. Here’s hoping for further improvements in the weather during next year’s count and for better news about all our birds!
A new research study, conducted on six farms across East Anglia, has recommended a new agri-environment management option that could help in the recovery of UK turtle dove populations.
The study, carried out by the RSPB, found that cultivating grown seed with a mix of plant species in the autumn creates a habitat rich in seed that is easily accessible – ideal for turtle doves, which feed on seeds present on, or close to, the ground. The authors also suggest that light cultivation or cutting during spring would better prevent the plots from becoming too overgrown and, therefore, unsuitable for turtle doves.
UK turtle dove populations have fallen 88% since 1995, with one cause for this decline thought to be the lack of seed from arable plants, which historically formed the bulk of turtle dove diet during the breeding season, resulting in a much shorter breeding season with fewer nesting attempts.
This latest research into the management of bespoke seed mixes to provide food for turtle doves, (published in the Journal for Nature Conservation), is under consideration as a part of a modified version of the nectar flower mix option under the UK’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme and could be pivotal in providing food for turtle doves on farmland across the UK.
Patrick Barker, an arable farmer in Westhorpe, Suffolk, who took part in the study, said: “It’s been great to be involved in this research and to find out how we can give turtle doves a hand. What was particularly striking was that the areas they prefer don’t look as you’d expect. For example, we learned that bare patches on the ground amongst the vegetation give them space to land and move around.
“I hope that our work here will encourage other farmers to do the same, and that this will help turtle doves return to the countryside.”
This new management option is part of a wider ‘turtle dove package’, deployed within the Higher Level Stewardship scheme agreements on farms supporting turtle doves (or with turtle doves nearby), which seeks to provide foraging habitat in proximity to nesting turtle doves. The other options in this package include cultivated margins, fallows that promote seeding plants, and scrub and hedgerow management for nesting. The options a farmer selects will depend on local land characteristics and farming practices.
Tony Morris, Senior Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science said: “This research helps our understanding of how to provide food for turtle doves on farmland where the original sources of seed food have long since vanished but without unduly disrupting modern agriculture.
“Agri-environment schemes offer the best and perhaps last hope for this iconic species. We’re hopeful that, together with farmers and our partners in Operation Turtle Dove; we can reverse the decline of this bird and secure its long-term future in Britain.”
Jenny Dunn, RSPB Conservation Scientist, said: “The results of this research show that it is possible to create a ‘farmed’ habitat structure similar to that used by turtle doves historically – an area with a patchy structure containing both seed-rich plants and bare ground to allow turtle doves to access the seed.
Testing bespoke management of foraging habitat for European Turtle Doves Streptopelia turturabstract can be read here
By Stuart Croft: Cirl Bunting Reintroduction Project Officer, RSPB
The programme to increase numbers of cirl buntings in the south-west of England and especially the translocation of chicks from Devon to Cornwall was a major inspiration in the establishment of Birds On The Edge. Not so long ago cirl bunting was an easy bird to find in Jersey and with so few in England we were regularly asked to show tourists our (then) big four – cirl bunting, serin, short-toed treecreeper and Dartford warbler. The disappearance of our serins and cirls coincided it seemed with dramatic changes in the fortunes of the cirl bunting in England. We then needed to speak to the English for tips on recovering the bunting population. The cirl bunting, meanwhile reappeared and, despite its tenuous foothold back in Jersey, is once again on the Island. Stuart and the RSPB kindly allowed Birds On The Edge to repost this piece previously published on the RSPB Community blog site
The Cirl Bunting Reintroduction Project – a partnership project between the RSPB, Natural England (NE), the National Trust and Paignton Zoo, with assistance from the Zoological Society of London – began in 2006. The aim of the project is to re-establish a self-sustaining population of cirl buntings on the Roseland Peninsula in south Cornwall, by taking chicks (under license from NE) from nests in healthy populations in south Devon, and translocating them to the site in south Cornwall. Here they have been hand-reared by aviculturalists from Paignton Zoo, and released into an area of suitable farmland habitat. Though reintroductions of other bird species, as well as other forms of wildlife, have been successfully undertaken in the UK and further afield, the reintroduction of a small, song bird like the cirl bunting had not been attempted before in Europe.
The first batch of young birds was released in 2006, and releases continued for a total of six years, until 2011. Throughout the project all the birds have been monitored by the field team – a process aided by the fact that all the hand-reared birds have been fitted with a unique combination of coloured leg-rings. This has allowed a great deal of information to be acquired relating to many aspects of the birds’ life histories, e.g. their seasonal movements, habitat selection, breeding ecology and longevity.
We have learnt that, just like in Devon, the Cornish birds do not wander far, choosing to settle in an area that, crucially, contains all their year-round requirements i.e. weedy stubbles to forage for seeds in the winter, thick hedgerows where nests can be located away from disturbance and extensive grasslands rich in variety and abundance of insects to feed chicks in the summer. Thanks to the willingness of the local farming community to adopt Environmental Stewardship, in the form of Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), more of this preferred habitat mosaic exists on the peninsula than it did just a few years ago.
During the breeding season pairs are usually faithful, though we have recorded several instances of polygyny – one male breeding with two (even three!) females simultaneously – whilst ‘divorce’ – with partners from a pair splitting and re-pairing with different partners – is novel behaviour that has been recorded. Though cirl buntings are relatively short-lived, with 2-3 years being typical, the oldest known colour-ringed bird so far, died just one month short of his fifth birthday. We are hopeful that there are still a few remaining ringed individuals that stand a chance of exceeding that lifespan.
Following the first recorded breeding of the reintroduced birds in 2007, the population has been steadily increasing, both as a result of further releases, and due to productivity in the breeding population. Despite some poor summers, which have limited breeding success, the population exceeded its target level of 30 pairs in 2012, with 44 pairs recorded. However, the exceptionally wet summer of that year resulted in very low productivity, resulting in a decline in the population the following year. Fortunately, the following two summers have been a vast improvement and the population has responded well. Last year 39 pairs raised well over 100 fledged young – the highest number in any year by far – and we are optimistic that 50 breeding pairs is a realistic possibility this year – a great milestone to reach in the tenth year of the project and one step further forward in establishing this bird back in the Cornish landscape.
The success so far shown from this project is a great example of team work – where various different individuals and organisations have worked collaboratively. We would like to thank all those who have supported the project over the years, in particular the farmers who have given us access to their land, which has enabled us to monitor the expanding population – without their support this project would not have worked.
For more information on the Cirl Bunting Re-introduction Project see the Project’s pages online
The current state of Jersey’s butterfly species and how the Island can continue to conserve them to honour its international environmental agreements will be presented at the annual Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (JBMS) conference next week.
The Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme is a Department of the Environment initiative set up in 2004 to provide information at a local level on changes in the abundance of butterfly species. Approximately 20 volunteers make a weekly count of butterflies at thirty-five locations across the Island. Butterflies are an indicator of the general health of the countryside so this information helps the department monitor the Island’s ecosystems.
Speakers at this year’s free event include:
David Roy (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology). As head of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme David will be talking about the success of butterfly recording in the UK since 1976 and what this can tell us about the health of the wider natural environment.
Susan Clarke (Wessex Environment Associates) is a self-employed zoologist, specialising in butterflies. She will be demonstrating how anyone can have fun with their own butterfly mark-release-recapture project and the sort of information you can collect in your back garden.
Paul Chambers (States of Jersey, Department of the Environment) about the state of Jersey’s butterflies based on a full ten-year analysis of the JBMS data between 2004 and 2013.
Other speakers will include other JBMS members who will be talking about their work and results during the 2014 monitoring season.
This year’s meeting is timed to coincide with the release of a major report by the Department of the Environment called The State of Butterflies in Jersey. This report is based on an analysis of the results of the JBMS’s first ten years of monitoring and provides detailed information on the conservation status of all Jersey’s butterflies and their habitats. More information about this report will be released in due course.
The event takes place on Saturday 14th March 2015, between 10 am and 3.15 pm at the Durrell Conservation Academy in Trinity. It’s FREE and open to anyone with an interest in local natural history, whatever their level of expertise. If you would like to attend please contact Paul Chambers on (01534) 441630 or email p.chambers@gov.je for more details or to reserve a place.
Further information on the Jersey Butterfly Monitoring Scheme can be found here
By Sally Dalman
heather), has long played a part in the landscape of Jersey, predominantly of the northern, rockier coastlines, but it can occur in any open landscape, wet and dry. In Jèrriais it is called d’la bruëthe, and has been used as many things through the ages: firelighters; bedding for farmers and their livestock; an orange dye (from the flowers); knife handles (from the roots), and, my personal favourite, it has been used to make beer.
One component of the restoration project at Don Paton, Sorel Point, Mourier Valley and Devil’s Hole is the increase of heather in the existing heathland. The overall site had lacked any management for many years, before it was given to The National Trust for Jersey; the soil is too poor for arable farming to be successful, and the area had become overgrown with bracken, gorse, bramble and thick grasses. All of these other plants, of course, play their part in the habitat, but, left to their own devices, they will dominate and swamp any smaller more wildlife-friendly species. The National Trust rangers have worked hard to bring these other plants under control, and encourage those such as heather to gain a foothold.
Once the heather had started to grow, we realised just how popular it was as a food source for sheep and rabbits alike, and decided that we needed to protect it before it was lost again. When it is well established, gentle nibbling will not be too much of a problem, in fact it will be of benefit, but until that time, a sheep and rabbit-proof shield was required.
