From Badlabecques

Jersey musicians of repute Badlabecques have recorded a song with students from Le Rocquier School, to celebrate the new chough release aviary at Le Don Paton, near Sorel Point, on Jersey’s north coast.

The song itself is based on a 1934 Jèrriais poem by Frank Le Maistre, which was set to music by Norman French band Magène and adapted by Badlabecques with the help of local poet Geraint Jennings. Titled “Ma Bouaîs’sie” (My Wood) it evokes walking through Egypt Woods in Trinity and hearing all the birds singing together.

Lyrics

J’connais l’bouvtheu et la rouoge-gorge,
Et touos les mêles mé sûffl’yent beinv’nue,
La grive, lé vèrdreu et l’mouosson.
Et l’rossîngno (tch’est un pînchon).

I’y’a étout lé rouoge linnot,
Lé pique-en-bouais et l’vèrmîngnon,
Lé p’tit raîté – eune vraie dgilouette –
Et la mîngnonne dé cardrinnette.

Dans ma bouaîs’sie j’sis bein èrchu,
Ch’est si pliaîthant d’ouï la musique –
Tout l’ouaîthelîn chante à forte vouaix
A londgeu d’jours parmi les bouais.

J’voudrêmes èrvaie la bouonne caûvette;
J’voudrêmes èrouï étout l’alouette,
Auve sa couôthinne, l’alouette dé mielle,
Par nos falaises rotcheuses et belles.

Pis y’a la d’mouaîselle du Ouaisné,
Lé poffîn épis l’cormouothan;
Y’a l’êteurcélet des mathais,
La rouoge-coue et lé p’tit jaûnouais.

Dans ma bouaîs’sie j’sis bein èrchu,
Ch’est si pliaîthant d’ouï la musique –
Tout l’ouaîthelîn chante à forte vouaix
A londgeu d’jours parmi les bouais.

Birds On The Edge wanted the song to be an educational project, as well as a piece of community art so they are pleased that Le Rocquier School students are involved.

Rick Jones, Durrell Communications Officer says:
“We are delighted that as well as cultural history, Badlabecques are promoting a love of natural history, and taking it to the younger generation. Jersey’s heritage is interwoven with its landscapes, and Birds On The Edge will restore and protect natural areas of the Island’s beautiful coastal regions for posterity. What better way to celebrate this, than to give it an authentic soundtrack!”

Phillip Slater, Head Teacher at Le Rocquier School says:
“Recently at Le Rocquier we have been focusing on the importance of Jersey’s native language, Jèrriais, as well as our natural history. Above the entrance to our hall we have placed our school motto “Our School, Our Education, Our Future” in Jèrriais. We are also developing Jèrriais extracurricular classes and we have also been looking to encourage the speaking, and indeed singing, of Jèrriais in as many ways as possible.”

Kit Ashton, founder and lead singer of Badlabecques is also proud of the song:
“This is exactly what Badlabecques is all about as a band – celebrating our beautiful island, our heritage, and our community through music that is hopefully both entertaining and meaningful. I love it!”

Song details

Released 4^th April 2013
Recorded and mixed at Le Rocquier School, Jersey, featuring students from Year 8.

Download of the song Ma Bouaîs’sie in your choice of high-quality MP3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire here.

BIRDS ON THE EDGE is delighted to announce that the first red-billed choughs have been introduced to the temporary aviary at Le Don Paton, near Sorel Point, on Jersey’s north coast. The four birds currently residing in the aviary arrived from Paradise Park, Cornwall, by air (although not under their own power) on Thursday, 14th of March. They were initially taken to Durrell Wildlife Park for medical checks and fitting of transmitters and identifying leg rings. The choughs were accompanied by David Woolcock from Paradise Park who helped settle the birds in.

One of the choughs, George, will not be released, due to a permanently injured leg. George has been introduced in order to help habituate the new arrivals by example, due to his familiarity with people and routines. Choughs are intelligent birds, and it is hoped they will mimic George’s ‘trained’ responses, once they see him obtaining food in return for desired behaviours. George’s training has been modified to accommodate his physical limitations and can be seen on video here with his former keeper, Sarah Jayne Gribben from Paradise Park who got him to the level he is at now.

The birds were introduced to their temporary accommodation later on Thursday, and are settling in well, despite the wintery conditions in the Island differing slightly from those in Cornwall, which unlike Jersey, saw no snowfall. They are currently held under in-situ quarantine conditions, in accordance with States of Jersey regulations. A further three choughs from Durrell Wildlife Park will be moved to Le Don Paton in around a week. These slightly older birds also came from Paradise Park initially, and have been on display to the public at Durrell for around twelve months.

The project partners, Durrell, National Trust for Jersey and the States of Jersey Department of the Environment, would very much appreciate your cooperation in urging the public not to approach the aviary, or disturb the birds in any way whilst they are acclimatising. The aviary can be seen from public footpaths and National Trust land. Choughs are sensitive birds, susceptible to stress. The current residents are shy and as yet, not orientated with their surroundings. The success and timing of the project is dependent on happy, healthy birds being released in the best possible condition. We would greatly appreciate your understanding on this matter.

BIRDS ON THE EDGE is very grateful to Paradise Park for their continued help with this project and to Waddington Architects for designing the aviary and helping it through the planning process. We remain grateful too to everyone who attended the Sunset Concerts in 2012 and generously provided the funds needed to pay for the aviary. Colin Stevenson, Gregory Guida and the trusty Navajo flew the birds in from Cornwall and even had to clear snow from outside the hangar in Jersey in order to fly out!

Our Sept Îles correspondent Regis Perdriat from the LPO Station at Île Grande in Brittany reports that the choughs are still out on the islands. The last 3-4  surveys, have seen the choughs feeding on the same islet (the circle on the photos). The red spots show some of the places where the three birds were found before now. The choughs were even observed to chase away a raven that came around to have a look.

The single, unringed, chough that visited Lundy Island in the UK’s Bristol Channel is still present on that island too. Read updates here

Report from Liz Corry

Captive choughs at Durrell

Gianna was caught up for x-rays on the 18^thafter a long course of anti-inflammatory drugs (Metacam) had made little improvement on her condition. The x-ray showed a fracture in one of her digits on the left foot that had tried to heal unsuccessfully. This explained the large amount of swelling that had developed around the digit. The vets applied a bandage to the foot designed to provide pressure relief on the joint and encourage her to use the foot. To prevent the muscles and tendons becoming locked up in one position the bandage will be changed weekly and alternate between having the foot in a flat position and a gripping position. Gianna was put back on a course of Metacam given in waxmoth larvae and kept in the shut off cage until treatment has finished.

Progress of the release aviary

As expected with any project there have been the inevitable delays. Gale-force winds and rain stopped play on couple of days, but Trevor and his team have continued to battle away. The polytunnel hoops are in place as are the framework for the shed. Various holidays this month meant that work stopped on the 15^th and will resume in the first week of January. Durrell’s Bird Department staff visited the site on the 4^th to see the build and offer moral support to Trevor and Jason in the form of gingerbread. I think it did the trick, except now they are placing orders!

From RSPB

2013 is shaping up to be a special year for Northern Ireland’s only breeding pair of chough. The pair spent this Christmas at home, a first for the country’s rarest breeding bird.

In 2012, for the first time, the chough bred on the RSPB’s Rathlin Nature Reserve where the RSPB are managing a large area of land for chough and where the birds can be seen feeding throughout the year. In previous years the birds have left the Island around late October and disappeared from the north coast until February when they return to prepare for a new breeding season.

Chough outside of Northern Ireland usually spend the winter roosting on or near their nest site. However, in the past the Rathlin birds seem to have fancied a change of scenery and despite the best efforts of the RSPB, their location in winter has remained a mystery.

The RSPB think the young from the previous two years are spending winter apart from the parent birds, on grounds somewhere on the north coast.

Michael McLaughlin, RSPB Agri Environment Officer commented, ‘The reason the birds are staying this late in the year is most likely due to the great work of several dedicated landowners on the north coast who take on targeted chough habitat management.’ This type of specific land management is carried out with the help of RSPB advisors, through DARD (Dept of Agriculture and Rural Development) Agri Environment Schemes and gives a lifeline to some of Northern Ireland’s rarest species, including the chough.

In the summer and winter chough are most often seen at Rathlin on land managed for them under the scheme, which provides excellent feeding and entices them to spend the whole year at home instead of moving away for the winter. The RSPB’s reserve on Rathlin is perfect for these birds, the reserve is also extremely important for other species including corncrake, breeding seabirds, plants and the illusive hare.

Read more about Rathlin Island here

Update from Regis Perdriat LPO Station at Île Grande in Brittany

There has been much interest in Jersey with the three choughs that appear to be setting up home in the Sept Îles Reserve. As potential colonists at the reserve, their choice of feeding habitat is interesting and is being monitored closely. The three birds move between two of the islands, Bono and Île aux Moines and feed mainly in the areas of maritime grassland or “silene maritima” lawn. There are still good areas of this habitat in patches along the Jersey coastline so it will be interesting to see if birds prefer this habitat in Jersey or whether they prefer something more agricultural. There are particularly obvious similarities between the photographs taken at the Sept Îles and Les Landes and Petit Plémont.

Read more about the Sept Îles choughs here

Red-billed choughs on the Sept Îles Reserve, December 2012. Film by Armel Deniau – LPO