Task Coppicing is the practice of cutting trees and shrubs (typically willow and hazel) to the ground in order to promote a fresh re-growth of the shoots and stems and prevent the woodland floor from drying out. A further result of a coppice is that it allows more sunlight to flood the woodland floor – allowing more vegetation to grow. The varying heights of the willow branches (‘rods’) also attracts differing species of animals.
Hazel is a very popular wood for creating living structures such as pergolas, arches, fences and tunnels. By cutting the branches, the willow rods will also grow stronger and straighter, which makes them more suitable for creating structures.
We will be using the material we cut to create a ‘dead hedge’ living structure. This will make good use of what we cut down, as well providing an aesthetically pleasing new habitat for wildlife.
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added (or removed) to/from the Wild About Jersey email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
The site Please see map screenshot (below) for where to park on the day. We will be working in small woodlands called Le Don Nerou and Le Don le Gallais in Vallee des Vaux, St Helier.
Jersey Phone Directory Map 9, 13X
Time Meet at 10.15, ready to start work at 10:30. We will finish work at approximately 12:30 to give us the chance for a catch up over a cuppa.
Parking See map above.
Tools needed All the tools/equipment will be supplied, but please do bring your own gloves if possible.
Clothing needed Please also keep an eye out for the weather forecast and dress appropriately. Waterproofs may be required, and outdoor footwear or wellies are recommended.
Children All are welcome, although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are accompanied by an adult. Due to the uneven ground, a reasonable level of fitness is required.
Refreshments
*Please make sure you bring your own mug or reusable cup*
Homemade cake and a cuppa will be available from Kim to reward the workers after the task.
Task Le Petit Pré is perhaps one of Jersey’s least well-known Sites of Special Interest; however, despite its small size it is very important for the diversity of wild species that can be found there. Willow is encroaching on the site’s special wet meadow and we need to make sure it doesn’t take over! Using small hand cutting tools we will cut willow back from the southern side of the meadow and use it to create dead hedges for wildlife to enjoy.
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added (or removed) to/from the Wild About Jersey email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
The site Meet at Riley Field carpark, located opposite Trinity School.
Jersey Phone Directory Map 10, AA9 Google maps here
Time Meet ready to start work at 10:30. We will finish work at approximately 12:30 to give us the chance for a catch up over a cuppa.
Parking There is parking in the Riley Field carpark, located opposite Trinity School.
Tools needed As usual, we can provide some tools and gloves but if you have any small hand cutting tools such as loppers and saws and gardening gloves please bring them along.
Clothing needed Please bring gardening gloves and note that it maybe wet for this task so please bring welly boots and waterproofs.
Children All are welcome, although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are accompanied by an adult. Due to the uneven ground, a reasonable level of fitness is required.
Refreshments
*Please make sure you bring your own mug or reusable cup*
Kim the Kake will be on hand to reward the workers with her homemade cake and a drink when work is finished. See you there!
State of the World’s Birds 2022 paints most concerning picture for nature yet
BirdLife’s newly launched flagship State of the World’s Birds report paints the most concerning picture for the natural world yet, with nearly half of the world’s bird species now in decline. While further underlining that we are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis, it also highlights the critical solutions we desperately need to save nature – we now urgently need the political will and financial commitment to implement these at scale and at pace.
From albatrosses soaring gracefully over the high seas, chicken-like maleos digging nests deep in remote rainforests to emperor penguins fishing to depths over half a kilometre underwater and peregrine falcons nesting high on skyscrapers towering over great metropolises, birds can be found almost anywhere on earth and are a key indicator of the health of the planet.
As a world leader in conservation science, BirdLife publishes its landmark State of the World’s Birds report every four years. The report is an extraordinary summary of data tirelessly collected by researchers, conservationists and citizen scientists alike, highlighting the plight of the avian world, the key threats it faces and the urgent measures needed to protect it. Given bird calls echo across nearly every corner of the world, it tells us more than just the health of this extraordinarily diverse group, but also that of nature as a whole.
However, the latest edition of State of the World’s Birds paints the most concerning picture for nature yet. Nearly half of the world’s bird species are now in decline, with only six per cent having increasing populations. One in eight species (or 1,409 species in total) are now threatened with extinction. Nearly three billion birds are estimated to have been lost since 1970 in North America alone, and a further 600 million have been lost in the European Union since 1980, an area five times smaller.
Although long-term population data is far more comprehensive for species in these regions, signs point to similar catastrophic declines elsewhere across the globe. For instance, since 1850, forest and wetland specialist species in Japan are estimated to have declined by a staggering 94 and 88 per cent respectively, while populations of Kenya’s raptor species have declined on average by nearly three quarters since 1970.
“We have already lost over 160 bird species in the last 500 years, and the rate of extinction is accelerating,” says Lucy Haskell, Science Officer for BirdLife and lead author of State of the World’s Birds. “Historically, most extinctions were on islands, but worryingly there is a growing wave of continental extinctions, driven by landscape-scale habitat loss.”
The drivers of declines
Beyond highlighting the dramatic declines of birds, the report also outlines the key factors driving them. Across the world, birds are impacted by an array of different threats, nearly all of which are caused by human actions. Agriculture – both through its expansion into important habitats and the increasing use of machinery and chemicals as it intensifies – is the leading threat to bird species, impacting at least 73 per cent of threatened species.
In Europe, this has resulted in an over 50 per cent decline in abundance of the continent’s farmland birds since 1980 and, further south, the conversion of grasslands to croplands has resulted in an 80 per cent decline in the population of the Liben lark (Critically Endangered) in just 15 years. Endemic to Ethiopia, there are now fewer than 50 breeding pairs of the species restricted to just two sites, and it is feared it may become continental Africa’s first bird extinction in modern times unless there is rapid conservation action.
The unsustainable logging and management of forests is another significant threat. Over seven million hectares of forest are lost every year – an area larger than the Republic of Ireland– and this impacts nearly half of the world’s threatened bird species. Species that depend on large, old-growth trees are particularly affected, such as the harpy eagle, the world’s most powerful bird of prey. Resident of the rainforests of South America, where it hunts on prey such as monkeys and sloths, 90 per cent of the trees it prefers for nesting are targeted by logging, and it has recently been uplisted by BirdLife to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Worryingly, climate change is already having a substantial impact, affecting 34 per cent of threatened species. Already driving unprecedented levels of storms, wildfires and drought, its impact will undoubtedly increase rapidly over the coming years. Alongside this, threats such as bycatch from fisheries, overexploitation and invasive species, which throughout history have been the leading cause of avian extinctions, continue to drive population declines.
A critical moment for a brighter future
While these findings are no doubt extremely concerning, State of the World’s Birds also highlights the most important solutions for saving nature. This comes at a crucial time as governments prepare for the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity meeting (CBD COP 15) in December, where the Global Biodiversity Framework – a 10- year strategy for nature – will be finalised and adopted.
“Birds tell us about the health of our natural environment – we ignore their messages at our peril,” says Patricia Zurita, BirdLife’s CEO. “Many parts of the world are already experiencing extreme wildfires, droughts, heatwaves and floods, as human-transformed ecosystems struggle to adapt to climate change. While the COVID pandemic and global cost of living crisis have undoubtedly diverted attention from the environmental agenda, global society must remain focused on the biodiversity crisis.”
The most important solution for the largest proportion of threatened species is to effectively conserve and restore the critical sites that birds depend upon. BirdLife has identified more than 13,600 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), which form the core of a wider network of Key Biodiversity Areas. Given there is increasing momentum for a commitment to conserve 30 per cent of the world’s land and sea area, it is vital these sites are used as a blueprint for the designation of protected areas. Alongside this, addressing other key threats, such as eradicating invasive species from remote islands, and implementing species-specific conservation actions is also vital to many threatened species.
Cause for optimism
Promisingly, despite the desperate state of the natural world, birds also provide a cause for optimism, showing that with effective conservation efforts, species can be saved and nature can recover. Since 2013, 726 globally threatened bird species have directly benefited from work by the BirdLife Partnership. Advocacy by BirdLife Partners has also helped 450 IBAs be designated as protected areas, including 2022’s establishment of Ansenuza National Park to protect Argentina’s Mar Chiquita Lagoon, following extensive work by Aves Argentinas (BirdLife Partner), in turn protecting half a million migratory waterbirds, including the Andean flamingo (Vulnerable).
“There is no denying that the situation is dire, but we know how to reverse these declines. Our research shows that between 21 and 32 bird species would have gone extinct since 1993 without the conservation efforts undertaken to save them,” says Dr Stuart Butchart, Chief Scientist at BirdLife International. “Species like the echo parakeet, California condor, northern bald ibis and black stilt would no longer exist outside museums were it not for the dedicated efforts of the many organisations in the BirdLife Partnership and beyond. If we give nature a chance, it can recover.”
Protecting birds also reaps fantastic rewards for humans too. Birds pollinate plants, control agricultural pests and large seeds over vast distances – critical to the long-term carbon storage of rainforests. Protecting and restoring natural habitat is also one of the most cost-effective way of tackling climate change. Alongside this, there is growing evidence linking healthy bird communities to our own wellbeing.
While 2022’s State of the World’s Birds undoubtedly highlights that we are in the midst of an unprecedented biodiversity crisis, the report’s examples prove that conservation works. It is now imperative that nature is put at the forefront of political and economic agendas, and that these solutions are implemented rapidly and at scale.
Download the report State of the World’s Birds 2022here
Task Join us for the first task of this season to get stuck into some habitat management work at Les Creux. Help rake and clear bracken which has become overly dominant and remove an amount of brambles from dry stone walls
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added (or removed) to/from the Wild About Jersey email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
The site Meet in Beauport car park, St Brelade
Jersey Phone Directory Map 12, H19 Google maps here
Time: Meet ready to start work at 10:30. We will finish work at approximately 12:30 to give us the chance for a catch up over a cuppa.
Parking There is parking at the Longbeach car park, La Rue a Don, Grouville.
Tools needed We will provide some tools and gloves but if you have any of your own then feel free to bring them along.
Clothing needed Please dress for the weather and wear sturdy footwear.
Children All are welcome, although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are accompanied by an adult. Due to the uneven ground, a reasonable level of fitness is required.
Refreshments
*Please make sure you bring your own mug or reusable cup* We are delighted to welcome back our very own Kim the Kake, who will be on hand to reward the workers with her homemade cake and a drink.
By Glyn Young for Jersey Invasive Species Week 2022
I cannot remember not being interested in (ok, obsessed with) the world’s birds. I’ve long wanted to see as many as I can, wherever I can. I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve been able to get close to birds as a profession too. In fact, my profession has changed my involvement with birds from simply watching them to wanting to save them from dying out, to help the rarest of the rare from becoming extinct. Working at Durrell has involved me with some serious problems and three times I’ve worked with birds considered the rarest on earth. That they aren’t the rarest now is not because they died out but because Durrell and its partners succeeded in getting them through the crisis. They are still rare but there is hope.
At Durrell, we typically become involved with a species when it is already very rare and it is considered that our involvement can help it turn the corner. Planning a recovery project requires us to look at three key things: pressure, state and response. That is, why is our bird so rare and what are the drivers of its decline? How many are there and exactly where do they live? And then, what can we do to change the future for the species? However, while we need to map our species’ current distribution, count how many there are and then determine what we can do for them and who we will work with, we generally have a pretty good idea what is making them so rare.
We think of habitat loss and conversion, of hunting and persecution as drivers of bird decline. But inevitably, invasive alien species (IAS) are going to be in there somewhere. So many of the world’s animals and plants are now being pushed towards extinction by alien species, the ones we call invasives or often, quite correctly, exotic species. All species that are not native and have come from somewhere else, introduced either deliberately or accidentally, are exotic, whereas only those that have a negative impact on native species by outcompeting with them or directly killing them or their eggs and young are called invasive species. The trouble is, it’s often very hard to tell whether an exotic species is harmless or whether you just haven’t looked closely enough (ruddy ducks in the UK were once considered a benign introduction and we know what happened with them).
At Durrell, my work has been to look at the pressures on and the state of a bird population and then use the findings towards establishing the responses. The first bits we might lead on, but the responses are more likely to involve a wider group, partners with their own particular skills like Island Conservation. Increasingly, where the role of one or more invasive species is key to our bird’s situation, we will work with partners who may be directly involved with reduction, or hopefully total eradication, of the invasive threat. If our bird lives on a small island, threatened by rats, or cats or a whole host of other invasives, its best chance of survival will be the complete removal of all the invasives. And here, Durrell may work to ensure the survival of the native species while its habitat is made safe by our partners. This is where we’ve been involved in recent years in the Galápagos.
I first cut my teeth in Mauritius in the 1980s where I joined our small team on the island working with birds on the very edge of extinction. My tasks were in observing and recording nesting echo parakeets (less than 20 birds in the world) and taking young into captivity. This was the first known nest in many years. I also made notes on pink pigeons and Mauritius kestrels, two further species with wild populations of under 20. Although a dire history of habitat loss, hunting and pesticide use had pushed these birds into ever smaller areas of forest it was the non-native rats, cats, mongooses, monkeys, mynahs and dense thickets of privet and guava in the forest remnants that would finish the job. Today, these birds can be found in much healthier numbers through some serious hard work and the establishment of captive populations. I also made trips out to Round Island shortly after the removal of goats and rabbits, animals put out there as food for ships and responsible for the near extinction of several reptiles and plant species extinct on the main island, and the last populations in the country of several seabirds. The mammals went in the nick of time and the saved reptiles and plants have gone on to repopulate other recovered islets.
From Mauritius, in 1989, I searched a lake system in Madagascar for Madagascar pochard. This lake, Alaotra, was the only known site of the duck which, although formerly widespread, had been considered common here only a few years before. But that was before a whole series of exotic fish were released into the lake. Fish that went on to see the loss of many native species as they out-competed many and disastrously altered the habitat needed for many others. We couldn’t find the previously common pochard or find any hope of its survival and declared it ‘probably extinct’ in 2004 despite constant effort. To say that I was excited on its rediscovery in 2006 would be an understatement!
Changing emphasis to Madagascar’s west coast in 1992 I began to focus on the Madagascar teal. Even this mangrove specialist faced threats from rats and cats – we found cat tracks in mangrove islands cut off at high tide. Through this work I was sponsored by New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) to visit many of their bird restoration projects in 1996. New Zealand has a long and awful history of invasive species and so each programme included work with invasives – some expected like brown teal (rats, cats, stoats etc), some more specialised like blue duck (rainbow trout) and some much less obvious like black stilt (lupins). Who would have guessed that lupins could be such a threat!
I was quickly on the scene when around 20 wild Madagascar pochards were found in a distant, fish-free, mountain lake in 2006. With little hope of long term survival, with partners including Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust we collected eggs in 2009 to start a captive population in Madagascar. The Durrell run breeding centres have bred many ducks and we began to return birds to another lake in 2018, a lake that they’ve been breeding at ever since.
In 2006 I also spent time surveying the remnant population of Saint Lucia’s white-breasted thrasher. A species that had also been considered extinct in the past until found in areas of eastern dry forest earmarked for development. While the final straw for this species might have been the development, it was the introduction of mongooses that had pushed it towards oblivion. The mongooses had done a good job on a lot of other native animals too.
The year before, in 2005, I began working in Isabela in the Galápagos. Durrell had been invited to look at the mangrove finch, the rarest bird in the islands and one that had not been recorded breeding in several years. The entire population of this finch, well under 100 birds, was living in a couple of tiny mangrove patches. Mangroves full of rats which we quickly proved were eating the eggs. The rats were removed, and the finches bred again. Our excitement was, however, short-lived as another invasive species, the parasitic vampire fly took over and killed chicks that the rats had previously prevented from ever hatching. No one has yet stopped the flies but they are working on control methods. In the meantime, other agencies in the Galápagos have taken on our work and the mangrove finch is still there. Isabela is a very big island and despite an incredible effort to remove a large and destructive population of goats, rats can only be kept out of the mangroves and survive elsewhere on the island.
In 2007 I was asked by the Galápagos authorities to look at the Floreana mockingbird. This incredible bird was the inspiration behind Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. However, since Darwin met the mockingbirds on Floreana, the population had died out through loss of natural vegetation, eaten by cattle, goats and donkeys and predation of nests by rats and of adults by cats. The loss was not complete though as a few mockingbirds remained on two tiny islets. The challenge, to get them back safely on to the main island. We took on the challenge but, despite some great plans and plenty of research, only the complete removal of Floreana’s unwelcome mammals would allow the return. And that’s where we are right now, the removal is scheduled although it was delayed by the pandemic. Durrell has taken on safeguarding Floreana’s many native finch populations to make sure that they aren’t caught up in the rodent and cat programmes. We have two aviary complexes ready on the island and have trialled catching large numbers of finches, holding them in the aviaries, releasing them and tracking them later. All bodes well for Floreana, the mockingbird and other native animals and plants. Later in 2022 we will start drawing up plans for the return of 13 missing animal species.
So, that’s work. What about free time? Well, it’s surprising how the two can meet and it’s lucky that I have a family happy to go along. And that they like seeing wild bird populations (often puffins it seems) and learning what it takes to ensure that these will survive. We don’t dislike rats, cats, mongooses, cichlid fishes and lupins etc but we know we need to keep them away from the birds.
16-22 May is Jersey Invasive Species Week. There will be plenty of social media interest during the week #INNSweek #getINNSvolved and a series of events, lectures and field visits highlighting invasive species on the Island and their impact on our native species and the environment. All lectures and events are free to watch or join but you will need to book your place. There are QR codes to book the events here; however, you can also use the link here:
Monday 16th May –Introduction and impacts on terrestrial environment. Lunchtime Lecture by Cris Sellares at the Société Headquarters, 12:00 “Introduced Terrestrial Predators in Jersey and Biosecurity Around Seabird Colonies”
Tuesday 17th May –Impacts on freshwater environment. “Walk in the Park”, led by Tim Liddiard at Noirmont 14:00
Wednesday 18th May –Impacts on marine environment and small islands. Lunchtime Lecture by Chris Isaacs at the Société Headquarters, 12:00 “Marine Invasives Through the Lens”
Thursday 19th May –Impacts on people and urban environment. Lunchtime Lecture by Josh Smith at the Société Headquarters, 12:00 “Double Trouble: Invasive Species and Climate Change”
And: “How to use iRecord” at Hamptonne 18:30
Friday 20th May –Biosecurity. Botany Walk with Anne Haden, 18:00 at Corbière
Saturday 21st May – Activities. Invasive Species Fair – Stall Day at Francis Le Sueur Centre. 9:30 – 14:30
And: Botany Walk with Tina Hull at 14:30 from the Frances Le Sueur Centre
Archirondel went on a ‘girls’ trip’ to Guernsey at the end of March. Photo by Chris Wilkinson/Facebook.
Channel Island Choughs
The dream finally became a reality this month when two Jersey choughs were photographed in Guernsey. We first discovered the birds had left the island through a post on social media. A post on Guernsey Birdwatching’s Facebook page showed a selection of images and video from a very excited birdwatcher. The images clearly showed the leg rings enabling us to identify Archirondel and Portelet as the two tourists. These are two young, non-breeding females and as such have the freedom to explore.
The last time we recorded Archie and Portelet at the supplemental feed was on 22nd March. After some frantic armchair detective work we discovered that they visited Sark too on 23rd March and were then next seen on the 25th in Guernsey.
The report from Sark is a wonderful description of what it’s like when you spot a chough in flight for the first time:
“I went out to do the mowing at 3.30 pm and thought I heard a jackdaw which we do not usually see in Sark. I looked up and saw a black bird disappearing over towards Derrible Bay (fingers on wings were visible) but it was only a fleeting sighting. A bit later at 4.45 pm when I had finished the mowing I heard the call again and two choughs flew right above me and I realised that it wasn’t a jackdaw but a chough’s call. The red bill of one could be clearly seen but because of the shaded light I could not see whether rings were present on the legs. An altogether more slender bird than the crow and smaller. They turned right and flew down the meadow as if heading off east towards the harbour in a tumbling flight and then veered abruptly and flew off towards the north but heading back towards the east coast.”
A Jersey chough flying high in Guernsey. Photo by Dan Scott/Facebook.
The pair stayed in Guernsey over the weekend foraging around Pleinmont near Portelet Bay! Portelet, the chough, returned to Jersey along with Archirondel on Monday the 28th. Quite literally a girls weekend away in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Image from Google Earth.
We envisaged this could happen when we first planned the reintroduction. It’s not unheard of for UK choughs to spend time foraging on both mainland and a nearby offshore island. This trip might have been a one off, equally it could be the start of a new foraging pattern for Jersey’s choughs.
There is certainly suitable foraging habitat on offer in Guernsey. Pleinmont looks very similar to Les Landes and Grosnez in many respects, but it is too soon to talk breeding opportunities. We need more males for that to happen. No pressure on the breeding pairs then!
Pleinmont in Guernsey appears to provide suitable foraging habitat for choughs. Image from Google Earth.
The 2022 breeding season is underway
March madness came into full force when the breeding choughs began nest building, or nest refreshing for the experienced pairs. Ex-volunteer, Neil Singleton and his wife Ali were treated to an impressive display of ‘flying wool’ when they visited Sorel towards the end of the month. Timed well with the return of the sheep.
Choughs collecting wool for their nests at Sorel. Photo by Neil Singleton
I suspect these birds were heading to the quarry although the Plémont pair could have been involved too. They tend to stay local and collect horse hair or wool for Grosnez to Grève de Lecq. It might look like easy cargo, but I have seen a fair few accidentally drop their wool between Sorel and the quarry. Usually when they get distracted by a peregrine or gull or keeper walking below carrying insects!
Blurry but the intentions are clear. Photo by Neil Singleton.
Plémont sea crows return
Minty and Rey have returned to Plémont to refresh last year’s nest before Rey begins egg laying. The sea crows (to use an old Greek nickname) can often be heard foraging around Plémont headland and seen flying to and fro in search of food. During the nesting season, French choughs are known to spend most of their time within 300 metres of the nest site. If the habitat is suitable, i.e. lots of soil and/or dung invertebrates, the chough pair will be successful.
Minty can afford to spend some time chilling out right now. Once Rey starts incubating, he has the responsibility of finding food for the both of them. Maybe that is why he was happy to do a bit of sunbathing down at Plémont.
Minty taking time out from nest building to sunbathe. Photo by Charlotte Dean.
The Troublesome Trinity Two
Pinel has returned to Trinity taking his new female, Vicq, with him. They have been visiting the same places as last year such as Peacock Farm and East Ridings Stables. They appear to have chosen to nest in the same building he used the year before with his previous partner. Maybe he sees the potential in the property to become a family home?
Last year the pair abandoned early and weeks later the female disappeared. Hopefully he will have more success this time with Vicq who hatched three chicks in 2021. Sadly, the chicks died before fledging but it shows she can do it.
We are working with the property owner to monitor the situation and see if we need to assist in any way. The owner is very wildlife-friendly which is a big bonus and we have set up a camera-trap in the building, swapping out memory cards on a weekly basis.
Playing in the sand pits
Another chough pair we are keeping an eye on are Danny and Jaune. We had reports of choughs in Simon Sand and Gravel Ltd. down on the west coast. Choughs have also been seen around Corbière this month so the assumption is that they are looking for a suitable nest site but since they are still sub-adults it is doubtful that they will breed this year.
We are delighted to be running this training session in person again and to be joined by Dr Robert Ward, Data and GIS Officer, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation who will be presenting at this event. Rob studied our local grass snakes for his PhD. He is extremely knowledgeable on Jersey reptiles and how to get the best chance of seeing reptiles locally.
What is Reptilewatch JE?
Reptilewatch JE is the successor to the National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme (NARRS) which ran in Jersey from 2007 to 2018. During this time volunteers provided a great deal of information which has been used to inform the design of Reptilewatch as well as influence efforts to protect the species.
Reptilewatch JE is a project that aims to gather sightings of Jersey’s reptiles to help assess their conservation status, distribution and habitat requirements.
By taking part in the Reptilewatch scheme, you will be contributing important data to inform the ongoing conservation of these incredible creatures and helping inform future policies.
How can you help? There are opportunities for everyone to get involved. Depending on your interest, available time and experience you can currently get involved in two ways. • Level 1 – spend 30 minutes looking for reptiles No experience or training is required. • Level 2 Wall lizard – carry out six visual surveys, each taking 30 minutes No previous experience needed but attendance at this training session is required.
Schedule of the day (provisional): • Welcome and Introduction • Reptile Identification – how to identify reptiles and some of the other animals you might encounter • How to get involved Level 1 and how to record your findings • How to get involved Level 2 -Wall Lizard and how to record your findings • Field Session • Opportunity to sign up and network with other volunteers.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Find out more about Reptilewatch JE or the other Wild About Jersey initiatives on gov.je.
Please don’t forget to wear appropriate clothing and footwear for the field session.
If we are lucky enough to have good weather on the day, please bring a hat and appropriate sun protection and some drinking water. Also, if you have any close focusing binoculars, please bring these with you.
Please take a COVID lateral flow test before attending. Please don’t attend if you feel unwell or have a positive COVID test result.
The Arrival of the Puffins is a unique festival that highlights the plight of these wonderful birds and the key role Jersey has to play in in order to protect and save the puffins and other seabirds.
Join us to celebrate the arrival of the puffins of Jersey back to their breeding cliffs, as well as the arrival of the willow puffins to the National Trust grounds at Plémont.
There are a series of activities as well us the unveiling of the magnificent puffin – willow sculptures that have been created to highlight these challenges. This event is open to everyone so please come along and join us!
You can drop by anytime between 11am and 1pm and you will find opportunities to watch puffins and other seabirds (if they are about!), walks of the Seabird Trail, and live music to celebrate the puffins and other sea folk.
Programme: – Between 11am and 1pm: Puffin Watch at the Stone Circle – with Alli and Neil from Birding Tours Jersey. Just drop by, scopes and binoculars will be provided. – At 11h and at 12h: Live music next to the willow puffins, with Aureole Choir and local folk band Sonneux. Be ready to sing along, lyrics will be provided! – At 11.30h and 12.30h: Seabird Trail taster walks with local birding expert and photographer Romano da Costa. Bring your binoculars and cameras if you have them.
See you at Plémont on Sunday, and hopefully the real puffins will be there too!
Sculptures built in partnership with Geomarine. Event kindly supported by JDC (Jersey Development Company).
Task Come along for a morning of invasive species removal with the National Trust for Jersey!
As part of the Trust’s ongoing invasive species management efforts, we will be removing purple dewplant from various locations along St Ouen’s Bay, to limit the spread of this invasive species.
If you have any questions, or if you wish to be added to the Wild About Jersey email list, please contact either Julia Clively (tel: 441600; j.clively@gov.je) or Jon Parkes (tel: 483193; jon.parkes@nationaltrust.je).
Booking: You will need to book a place to take part in this task here
The site Meet at The Wetland Centre, La Grande Route des Mielles, St. Peter.
Jersey Phone Directory Map 6, F12 Google maps here
Time: We aim to start at 10.30. We will be finished work around 12.30 and plan to be off site by 1.00.
Parking There is parking across the road from the Wetland Centre.
Tools needed Some tools will be supplied but please bring gloves and a small garden fork if you have one.
Clothing needed Please dress for the weather. We can supply a pair of gardening gloves if you don’t have them.
Children All are welcome, although we do ask that volunteers under 16 years of age are accompanied by an adult. Due to the uneven ground, a reasonable level of fitness is required.
Refreshments *Please make sure you bring your own mug or reusable cup* The legendary Kim the Kake will be on hand to provide refreshments when the work is done.
Sunday 11th December 2022 – Vallee des Vaux, St Helier 10:30-13.00
