Brent geese must be amongst the best known birds in the Channel Islands. Up to 1,500 may winter in Jersey with smaller numbers in Guernsey, Herm and Alderney each year. The main reason that these geese come to our shores is because there are beds of the highly vulnerable eel-grass, one of the birds’ most important food sources here. However, despite spending around eight months with us, how much do we really know about these little, approachable geese? For one thing, how many Channel Islanders actually know that our islands are almost unique in annually hosting populations of two very distinctly different brent geese?
Dark-bellied brent geese (Branta bernicla bernicla) return to us each year in September from the Russian arctic. They breed up in the wilds of the Asian tundra but spend their winter in much tamer environments of British and French beaches, harbours and, at times, farmers’ fields and even golf courses. It is often hard to imagine that the calm little geese we see in winter are the same birds that disperse across a hostile arctic wilderness each spring.
Earlier in the 20th Century, dark-bellied brent geese were quiet rare. The numbers we see now (over 200,000 worldwide) are testament to a successful global conservation campaign. The population began to rise when UK and France banned hunting in 1954 and 1966 respectively. However, things really changed when the flocks migrating through Denmark were given legal protection in 1972. Safe in their breeding grounds, their wintering areas and on their migration stopovers in between, this endearing little goose quickly recovered.
In winter, we see these Russian visitors collecting in our quiet bays and beaches or flocking inland on the high tide in a handful of places (most still roost out to sea). Over recent years, many geese have been given coloured plastic rings by researchers that are easy for birdwatchers to see allowing us to keep an eye on the birds’ activities. These ringing studies, some geese have been caught locally, some in the Netherlands and some in the arctic, show us how long the birds might live, how productive their breeding seasons are (did you know their breeding success is linked to the abundance of lemmings?) and, most importantly, how they distribute themselves along our coastline. Perhaps the most important discovery has been that individual geese return to the same bay or stretch of beach each year and don’t visit other bays. This means that loss of one site might mean the total loss of that site’s geese. They won’t just go to another bay. Put simply, they’ll probably die.
Pale-bellied brent geese (Branta bernicla hrota), the other brent goose present in the Channel Islands over the winter, arrive rather later, in November each year, and are much less numerous. These, as their name suggests, and as can be seen in the photographs, have much paler bellies than their Russian counterparts. Juvenile upper-wings have a barred appearance when the bird is at rest, compared with the more uniform back of adults. Up to 150 can be observed in Jersey, concentrated in St. Aubin’s Bay (look out for them at West Park or by St Aubin’s Harbour), but only a handful has been recorded in the other islands.
Similar ringing studies to those for the dark-bellied brent geese have shown that there are two distinct flyway populations of pale-bellied brent geese, one which breeds in Svalbard and North-eastern Greenland, the other in arctic Canada. The latter population, to which our birds have been shown to belong, currently numbers around 40,000 birds, and has been subject to intensive study by the Irish Brent Goose Research Group and their Icelandic collaborators. When they arrive in Jersey, the geese have undertaken an amazing annual migration, travelling from the breeding grounds over the Greenland Ice-cap, then staging in western Iceland before an onward flight to Ireland, where an amazing 75% of birds gather initially at a single site, Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Peak numbers generally occur there in early October, following which the geese move on, as the eel-grass which attracts them there gets depleted. About 90% of these pale-bellied brent geese will disperse to within the bays all around Ireland for the rest of the winter, but others will travel further, to spend the rest of the winter in Western Britain, Normandy, and here in Jersey. Jersey is, therefore, particularly special as it is near the southern limit of the flyway range, as shown by the re-sighting of marked birds.
The resightings of the pale-bellieds further demonstrate just how site-faithful these geese can be. An example is 3XYY (see photo), which was ringed near Reykjavik in Iceland in May 2006 and has appeared at St. Aubin’s Bay every winter since then. Another is PUWR, seen every winter but one since being ringed in west Iceland in May 2010, passing through Jersey en route to Régnéville in Normandy.
Both these geese are back this winter.
Whilst the numbers of geese in this population have approximately doubled over the past 10-15 years, they can experience low reproduction in years when conditions in the arctic are inclement, as the suitable weather window of time for successful breeding can be very narrow. This was particularly evident after summer 2013, when birds returned to the wintering areas with virtually no young. Birds are highly dispersed whilst breeding, and nests are liable to predation. Brent geese tend to congregate, often in very large flocks, during passage and the winter. The fact that such a high proportion of the flyway population gathers together at a single site in autumn also renders the geese potentially significantly vulnerable to a major problem with their main food source there (eel-grass), and to contagious disease. This year again, very few young birds have been seen in Jersey while, in contrast, the dark-bellied birds appear to have had a very good year.
So, next time you see a flock of this most maritime species of goose, take a good look and see whether you can spot any of these amazing little pale-bellied brent geese, and marvel.
Interestingly, to complete the record, a third brent goose, the black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) lives in the Pacific. This goose too occasionally, but not annually, visits the Channel Islands usually in the flocks of dark-bellied brent, presumably having joined them in the Russian far east.
Read Graham McElwaine’s blog on monitoring brent geese from their breeding grounds (watch out for those polar bears), to the winter beaches here.
October marked six months since the release hatches were first opened in 2014 and five months of living free for the six older choughs. I am, therefore, delighted to report that they are doing amazingly well. Even more pleasing is their decision to return to the aviary to roost with the juveniles each night.
They are behaving exactly the same as any wild chough. Foraging for insects, sheltering on cliff ledges, and fully aware of potential predators. The only difference being that they return for extra food at the aviary when we call them in. Although if you are a Scottish chough living in Islay this isn’t that unusual. Eric Bignal’s work with supplementary feeding is once again being highlighted in the UK media.
Supplementary feeding study of wild choughs living in Islay showed an increase in juvenile survival rates over-winter. Bignal, E., & Bignal, C. Supplementary feeding of sub-adult choughs. British Wildlife 2011: 315-319.
Eric and the Scottish Chough Study Group started a programme of controlled supplementary feeds providing wild choughs with a daily ‘top up’ of mealworms. Survival rates in juvenile choughs during their first winter are very low due to limited availibility of insects at that time of year; insect numbers are lower, ground frosts block access to the soil. After several years of supplementary feeding, the choughs on Islay have increased in breeding pairs from 39 in 2013 to 46 this year (report published in British Wildlife). Still a long way to go to get back up to the 95 they had in 1986, but evidence that this sort of management in the wild can work. Click here to learn more.
This work has been critical in how we planned the Jersey project and we fully expect to continue with some form of supplmentary feeding in the future. At present the Jersey choughs are receiving two feeds a day from staff. Without knowing exactly how many calories each of our choughs are getting from the wild it is difficult to quantify how much extra to give them.
Bean’s bill a tell tale sign that the choughs are probing for insects, but are they finding enough? Photo by Liz Corry
We tried reducing the quantity of insects and drymix per feed by half this month. We gave them a week to adjust, continued to monitor their body weights, and their general behaviour. Constant hounding of staff by the choughs suggested that they weren’t finding enough in the wild. We tried to leave it long enough in order to rule out complaicancy of not getting an easy meal. I’m still not convinced, but don’t have enough will-power to crack the whip just yet.
Invertebrate sampling at Sorel
To try and get a handle on what the choughs are eating out in the wild we have set out pitfall traps and randomly selected sites within the choughs’ current foraging area. These will be checked once a day for five days and repeated every month. This will allow us to assess seasonal variations and help us to indentify the insects we found in the faecal samples that we have collected. This month we are starting to see a lot more beetles in the feacals and pellets as opposed to ants and hawthorn seeds back in September.
Pitfall traps in the ground at chough feeding sites to study insect abundance. Photo by Liz Corry.
Will and our new student, Jennifer, have been creating an identification guide for the invertebrates we are likely to find based on existing studies and what is found in the traps. For image copyright reasons this report will only be for internal use for the time being. However, we would be very keen to see this developed into a much wider available publication for Jersey.
New six-month student placement
New student Jennifer began her six month placement studying the choughs…not the sheep! Photo by Harriet Clark.
Jennifer Garbutt joined the chough team this month for a six month placement on the project. Jennifer has just finished her Master’s Degree at Bristol and hopes to further develop her research skills for a career in conservation.
As a new arrival to Jersey the first few weeks of driving green lanes to follow choughs has been quite daunting, but a welcome challenge.
Jennifer is our first student who has been able to commit to longer than the minimum three-month requirement.
Often by the time you have learnt the ropes it is time to leave. By committing longer term there is undoubtedly a greater benefit for all. We will be inviting people to apply for our student positions in the New Year. The placements are currently full until March 2015. For more information and how to apply please click here or phone 01534 860045.
Maladies, mysteries, and muck
Faecal samples were submitted to Durrell’s lab this month as part of our post-release health monitoring. This coincided with the Wildlife Park’s bi-annual screening programme in which every animal at Durrell is sampled. To save Ann’s, our lab technician’s, sanity we treated the post-release samples as their bi-annual check as well so she only had to do half the amount of testing. Thankfully nothing came back on the results to cause Ann even more stress and the birds seem happy. That said, we did have two veterinary cases this month which have left us all somewhat baffled.
Egg, a five month old female chough. Photo by Liz Cory
On the last Saturday of the month at a supplementary feed Egg (red leg ring) seemed a little off colour. When the rest of the group had eaten and flown off to play on the cliff tops she stayed in the aviary. Her body weight was average and she showed no external signs of injury. She was observed closely for the rest of the day but showed no improvement and was not eating.
Egg was locked into section 1A of the release aviary and the vet was called up to examine her. Both vet and keepers drew a blank. Egg’s faeces showed no sign of infection and there were no other clues to suggest a reason for her depression. She was kept in the aviary for the next two nights with the other chicks roosting next door, and monitored closely. Egg started to eat and her mood had picked up. On the Monday morning she was released back out of the aviary and joined the others straight away. Egg’s condition will remain a mystery. We just hope this is a one off for her.
Our most alarming mystery this month, however, involved Jean (white leg ring). On the morning of the 11th they was no sign of her at Devil’s Hole foraging with the others. We found her perched alone in a roost box in the aviary at 08:20. She flew out in alarm when we approached and joined the others who had also flown over to Sorel by that point. When they were all back in the aviary for lunch Jean’s left eye was closed. When the others had finished eating and flown out she remained perched. We shut the aviary hatches so we could get a closer look without her flying away. It was clear that something was up with her eye and on the vet’s recommendations she was caught up and examined.
Staff noticed something wrong with Jean’ eye so she was isolated for veterinrary care. Photo by Liz Corry
The surface of the eye was very cloudy suggesting severe inflammation and no menace reflex was observed which indicated that Jean could not see with the left eye. Thankfully there was still perfect vision in the right eye. No signs of ulcers in the surface of the eye were noted and no conjunctivitis was observed. Additionally she was not showing any signs of pain and discomfort at this point. Medications were administered topically and orally given in insects, in order to decrease the inflammation to allow a more detailed examination of the eye. This meant that she had to be confined to the aviary for at least five days. Photos were sent off to a veterinary ophthalmologist for a second opinion. Five days later the eye was examined again in more detail as most of the inflammation was resolved. Jean was still unable to see and an opacity was noted in the lens inside of the eye, suggesting the formation of a cataract. The posterior portion of the eye was still not visible and an ultrasound of the eye was performed to evaluate this area – having a portable ultrasound machine allowed the veterinary team to perform this examination at the Sorel aviary after applying a topical anaesthesia on the eye. No problems were noted in this section of the eye and we decided that the cataract formation was the result of trauma to the eye.
Ocular opacity in left eye covering entire lens (left) began clearing up after five days of treatment (right). Photos by Harriet Clark.
Jean continued to be confined to the aviary and given anti-inflammatory drugs for the next three days. Weighing up the options with careful consideration for Jean’s welfare we decided it would be in her best interest to release her again. We would continue to monitor her closely and if we felt there was a concern over her mobility due to the loss of binocular vision we would consider confining her to an aviary permanently. Follow up examinations have showed a decrease in the size of the cataract so there is the possibility that Jean will regain some vision in the future but it is very early to say.
Durrell vet, Alberto Barbon, performing an ultrasound on a Jean’s eye. Photo by Harriet Clark
Having seen her response to a peregrine the day she was initially confined to the aviary we had faith that she would stand a good chance of survival if the choughs continued to act as a group. Choughs are a social animal and remain in continuous contact with each other whether by calling or by displaying a flick of a wing feather. They show each other where to feed and when to stop feeding if a potential threat is approaching be it peregrine or person. She had already gained enough experience to know the lay of the land around the release site and would still roost in the relative saftey of the aviary. If she had a been a bird of prey who is reliant on pin-point 20:20 vision to hunt or a solitary species left to fend for herself our decision would have been different.
We are pleased to say that Jean was released back out to Sorel on the 20th, joined the flock straight away, and has been with them ever since. She has shown no concern when flying or feeding. At first, and with strong winds, she found it difficult to judge distance going through the hatches to get to food inside the aviary. Very quickly she learned to adapt and flew in sideways using her good eye for judgement. I hasten to add that we provide food dishes outside as well as in the aviary, she was just greedy and wanted to go to all the dishes. It is clear that she is an intelligent bird and has the ability to learn to adapt qucikly. Only time will tell if the damage is permanent and we may never know what caused it in the first place. This was a huge learning experience for us, the vets, and avian husbandary in general. Let us hope that November has fewer surprises in store!
Juveniles reunited after Egg and Jean’s mystery illnesses (Cauvette is a little camera shy). Photo by Liz Corry
Aviary maintenance
We have had to add more food shelters to the aviary to protect the choughs from the driving rain which hits in all directions. The roof alone does not provide sufficient protection and, with twice as many birds as last winter, we need extra spaces. Will and Harriet fitted the plywood shelters and watched contently as the choughs put them to good use.
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Juvenile choughs on a windy day in Jersey.
Trick or Treat: Juvenile dispersal
The choughs now seem very settled at Sorel. They have been bathing in the stream at the mouth of Mourier Valley, sheltering on the cliff when it rains, and probing in the Conservation Fields. All of which are new sites for both the juveniles and adults.
Choughs at Devil’s Hole rock face. Photo by Liz Corry
The biggest change came at the end of the month. At 07:30 on the 27th the team went to Sorel and counted 16 choughs. They continued to observe the choughs playing, feeding, preening, until 08:45 when nine juveniles took to the air and flew out of sight over Devil’s Hole (nb: Egg was still confined to the aviary at this stage due to her malaise).
In the last few weeks when they have flown beyond Devil’s Hole we have been able to watch them fly over Crabbé, maybe dip out of sight behind the gun range, then reappear. This time they never reappeared!
The radio trackers set off the best they could trying to follow signals. However, it appears that motorised vehicles and Jersey’s 15mph, winding, green lanes are no match for a chough. Thanks to reports from members of the public, the team were informed that the choughs had reached the south-west of the Island within fifteen minutes of ‘dropping off the radar’. Sticking rigidly to Jersey’s speed limits Harriet made her way down only to find the choughs had gone….back to the aviary.
By 10:50 the nine juveniles were visible flying in west along the coast from Devil’s Hole towards the aviary. They joined back with the adults, who had stayed around the release site, and all came down for their lunchtime feed a few minutes later. Egg was released back into the group at this point. The group spent the afternoon around the aviary, although four adults left for the quarry at 16:30. All the juveniles roosted in the aviary.
The next morning there was not a single chough in sight at Sorel. Phone calls and text messages came in from the public once again, placing the adults around St Ouen’s Bay (perhaps checking out the best spot for breakfast) and the chicks even further south. This time the chicks were not just flying but foraging on the ground around Beauport and Ficquet Bay. This is a really interesting development as this part of the coast was the last known breeding location for Jersey’s choughs over 100 years ago.
Choughs return for supplementary food twice a day. Photo by Liz Corry.
The chicks didn’t stay long, returning to the aviary by 11:00. The adults had returned ninety minutes earlier. They spent the rest of the afternoon around Sorel and roosted in the aviary again.
We think that five of the adults might have spent the night in the quarry. One was spotted flying back from the quarry to the aviary at 16:45, but after sunset it was hard to tell if others had followed suit.
For the next few days leading up to the 31st, the chicks would follow a pattern of leaving Sorel first thing after sunrise, heading to Beauport to explore the headland, then return to the aviary in time for the lunch feed and weigh-in. The adults showed no further interest in leaving stretch of coast between Sorel and Devil’s Hole. See report here
We will have to wait to see if this is going to become a permanent pattern of dispersal with the chicks or whether they were just tricking us. Well it was Halloween after all.
Speaking of which, an interesting article about Channel Island folklore was sent to the chough team recently. It turns out that we might be dabbling in the dark arts! In the Nineteenth Century when choughs were found across the Channel Islands people were very superstitious about the red-legged bird. Why? Witches wore red stockings as a means of identification and, therefore, in the days when logical thought was questionable, choughs were also, by association, witches. The infamous Guernsey witch Marie Pipet, was even said to be able to turn herself into a chough.
Witch burning. Image taken from www.theislandwiki.org
Georges Métvier explained the link in the Dictionnaire Anglo-Normand translated in a Guernsey magazine in April 1883 (de Garis – Folklore): ‘… a certain Sieur Job, the venerable owner of the property found some Marie or Judith in his cow house in the shape of one of these birds, which he wounded in the leg with a pitchfork. Soon after the good woman sent for the doctor, who was called upon to tend exactly the same wound which had been inflicted on the bird, and so ill was she that for 6 months she was confined to her bed.‘
Scientific proof if ever one needed it! Thank you to Sarah Nugent for sending this our way and to Guernsey Birds for reference material regarding the choughs.
Many thousands of seabirds including grebes, divers, ducks, auks, gulls, cormorants and shags spend the winter at sea in the Channel Islands. Even in a good year it is possible that some of these birds may be found dead on our coastline. However, in periods of extremely bad weather or during pollution incidents many hundreds of birds may wash up on the beaches.
Earlier this year over 1,000 dead birds were found on our beaches following a period of extreme weather in the area. In 2013 we had the tragic experience of PIBs being discharged in the Channel and killing many seabirds.
The sight of dead birds like these is never pleasant but it is very important that we record the numbers of birds and their species in order to understand the extent of the incident and to predict what impacts there may be on already threatened seabird populations.
The birds may have rings or other identification devices and reporting these will increase our knowledge of the birds’ ecology as we can map where different species spend the winter or chose to moult and understand how long they can live.
If you find a dead seabird please report it immediately to Birds On The Edge at birdsote@gmail.com or phone Glyn Young at 01534 860032 or Cris Sellarés at 07700 337077 with the following important information:
1)The species of bird or size, colour of the head, body, beak and feet if species is unknown;
2) The date that you found the bird and your contact details if you are happy to share them;
3) Information on its location (e.g. which beach and nearest landmark such as slipway or café);
4) A picture taken from your phone or camera, if you can;
5) Any rings or other tags that it might have. If ringed, please write down the ring number and address.
Gulls tucking in to discarded food or flocking around landfills has become a familiar sight. Now data from the Pacific north-west of Canada spanning 149 years has shown that substituting fish with less nutritious food is linked to population declines and lower fertility in glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) a close relative of the herring and lesser black-backed gull.
Louise Blight from the University of British Columbia and her colleagues looked at 270 gulls’ feather samples from museums, taken between 1860 and 2009. Using the ratios of heavy isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, the team pieced together the dietary habits of these seabirds, all of which had lived in the Salish Sea region off the coast of south-western Canada and the north-western USA.
They found a decline in heavier carbon isotopes, indicating that the gulls shifted from a fishy source of carbon to a terrestrial source. A decline in heavier nitrogen isotopes implied that their diets had also shifted to a less nutritious staple; most likely lower marine invertebrates and corn-based organic food waste.
This change in diet coincided with over-fishing in the region in the early 1900s, after which the gull population dropped.
“The stable isotope work shows a decrease of fish in diet over the time frame where forage fishes have declined”, says Blight.
Fish or chips
Overfishing has meant that one of the gulls’ favourite fish species, the highly nutritious eulachon (a smelt species), is now considered threatened in the Salish Sea area. Another former staple, the Pacific herring, no longer forms the large aggregations that gulls once feasted on.
But between 1960 and 1986, the gull population increased, perhaps because more readily available rubbish, although less nutritious than fish, was helping to support the population. “Our field observations show that many pairs are feeding their chicks on sand lance and herring, and that some pairs feed their chicks on things like chicken or French fries,” says Blight.
This shift to a poor-quality, low-protein diet could be linked to reduced reproductive success in the gulls. A previous study by Blight showed that gulls have been producing smaller and fewer eggs over the last few decades, which she believes is consistent with a decline in diet quality around egg production time in the early spring.
“Rarely will you visit these garbage dumps without seeing multiple gull species. You will even see them at transfer stations or intermediate garbage staging areas,” says Joe Gaydos, Director and Chief Scientist at the SeaDoc Society, a Salish Sea research organisation based in Eastsound, Washington.
The glaucous-winged gull is a generalist feeder, meaning it can survive on a wide range of different food sources. While there is some evidence that switching to a trashy diet has helped gulls through tough times, overall, the data reveals a worrying decline in numbers. “Their populations should not decline as quickly as specialist feeders. The fact that generalists like gulls could be in decline is definitely worrisome,” says Gaydos.
This research will be published in Global Change Biology and the abstract can be read here
Paul Veron heads a Guernsey-based project (website and Birds On The Edge report) looking at long-term ecology of gulls in the Channel Islands. Paul is particularly looking at what will happen when the Chouet Landfill site is closed and the gulls across our Islands lose access to a major part of their food supply now that there are so few fish available to them.
The Jersey toad or crapaud has long been associated with the Island and Jersey Islanders – Jersey is the only one of the Channel Islands with any species of toad. Decades have passed, however, since toads have been present in “scarce credible” numbers “crawling over the rocks like an army” (as quoted by Frances Le Sueur).
In 2004, while with the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent, I began a three-year PhD study on Jersey toads, investigating their ecology, populations and genetics – as well as anything else that might account for observed reductions in numbers on the Island. I found that they behaved very differently to toads in England and parts of France, breeding much earlier and using different (much smaller) ponds on average. A central reason for the toads’ decline in Jersey has probably been the shift away from traditional agricultural reservoirs to mobile stock watering tanks, coupled with the fact that demands on the Island’s water supply are heavier so any ponds dry up more quickly in the summer. Jersey toads are now almost completely dependent on Islanders’ garden ponds and occur mainly in parts of Jersey where people have suitable clusters of ornamental ponds in which they can breed. This also makes them susceptible to road mortality and isolation from nearby populations when new developments occur and/or roads are constructed.
I was asked by an old colleague if I had any genetic samples from Jersey as a new species of toad (Bufo spinosus) had been described that was found in parts of nearby France as far north as the Contentin Peninsula. With no expectation of anything other than contributing to an ongoing study, I sent off some “old” genetic samples from my PhD research to Pim Arntzen at the Naturalis Institute in the Netherlands, where much work on the conservation genetics of European amphibians is carried out…. Some while later, the news arrived that the samples had proved “interesting” and that a morphological study was needed to establish what species the Jersey crapaud really was! So, in Spring 2013, I returned to Jersey and, with the help of Department of the Environment staff, took measurements of toads from various parts of the Island…. all on the day before the dramatic snowfalls of that year that Islanders will certainly remember. Those morphological data were also sent to Naturalis and analysed along with data from the earlier DNA.
Fast forward to October 2014 and Pim, mine and colleagues’ paper revealing the Jersey crapaud as a new species for the British Isles was published in the Herpetological Journal. Toads in Jersey are indeed Bufo spinosus, a species that split from the usual “common” toad (Bufo bufo) some nine million years ago with the rising of the Pyrenees. The species evolved in Iberia and has since spread south into North Africa and north through Western France as far as Jersey – but nowhere else in the British Isles. So Jersey toads share more of their history with toads from Algeria and Spain than they do with English toads!
Bufo spinosus grows bigger than B. bufo, irrespective of latitude, and has evolved to take advantage of smaller ponds that dry out over summer (as are found in Iberia, for example) in dryer, often open habitats. B. bufo prefers large, deep permanent lakes and woodland areas. So when toads arrived in prehistoric Jersey and encountered dune slacks and maritime heaths, they would probably have been perfectly at home. Only recently have larger water bodies such as reservoirs become much of a feature in the Jersey landscape.
The ability of Jersey’s B. spinosus to adapt to smaller breeding ponds and open landscapes has probably been a factor in allowing them to use Islanders’ ornamental ponds for breeding. Armed with this new knowledge, we can better make decisions to help conserve the crapaud in Jersey and ensure that it is still around to be associated with many more generations of Jerseymen!
Download the paper A new vertebrate species native to the British Isles: Bufo spinosus Daudin, 1803 in Jersey here
A new study has shown that, as is widely known to readers here, bird populations across Europe have experienced sharp declines over the past 30 years, with the majority of losses from the most common species. However, what is less well known is that numbers of some less common birds have risen. The study, published in the journal Ecology Letters, reveals a decrease of 421 million individual birds over 30 years. Around 90% of these losses were from the 36 most common and widespread species, including house sparrow, skylark, grey partridge and starling, highlighting the need for greater efforts to halt the continent-wide declines of our most familiar countryside birds.
One of the study’s authors, Richard Inger from the University of Exeter, said: “It is very worrying that the most common species of bird are declining rapidly because it is this group of birds that people benefit from the most.”
“It is becoming increasingly clear that interaction with the natural world and wildlife is central to human wellbeing and significant loss of common birds could be quite detrimental to human society.”
Birds provide multiple benefits to society. They help to control agricultural pests, are important dispersers of seeds, and scavenging species play a key role in the removal of carcasses from the environment. In addition, for many people birds are the primary way in which they interact with wildlife, through listening to bird song, enjoying the sight of birds in their local environment, feeding garden birds and through the hobby of bird watching.
The majority of the declines can be attributed to considerable losses from relatively few common birds, but not all common species are declining. Numbers of great tit, robin, blue tit and blackbird were all shown to be increasing. Populations of rarer species, including marsh harrier, raven, common buzzard and stone curlew have also shown increases in recent years: this is likely to be the result of direct conservation action and legal protection in Europe.
Head of Species Monitoring and Research at the RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science Richard Gregory said: “The rarer birds in this study, whose populations are increasing, have benefited from protection across Europe. For example, white stork and marsh harrier receive among the highest level of protection in the EU – this is why their numbers have increased. The conservation and legal protection of all birds and their habitats in tandem are essential to reverse declines.
“This is a warning from birds throughout Europe. It is clear that the way we are managing the environment is unsustainable for many of our most familiar species.”
Conservation efforts tend to be focused on rarer species but the research suggests that conservationists should also address issues affecting common birds, for example those traditionally associated with farmland. The decline in bird populations can be linked to modern farming methods, deterioration of the quality of the environment and habitat fragmentation, although the relative importance of these pressures remains unclear.
This pattern has been highlighted in Jersey where the very high profile gains like the newly arrived marsh harrier, common buzzard and little egret, and returning species like peregrine and sparrowhawk, are offset by the losses like yellowhammer, reed bunting and cuckoo and declines in many others including stonechat, linnet and skylark.
The study brought together data on 144 species of European bird from many thousands of individual surveys in 25 different countries, highlighting the value of the different national monitoring schemes increasingly working together. The researchers suggest that greater conservation funding and effort should be directed to wider scale environmental improvement programmes. These could include urban green space projects, and effective agri-environment schemes, which, informed by lessons learned from past schemes, should aim to deliver real outcomes for declining bird species whether they are rare or common.
Well, it had to happen. After staying patiently around the release aviary at Sorel for several months, the choughs have begun to explore the Island’s coastline. On Monday (27th October) we received the first reports of choughs away from the north coast. At first slightly sceptical, it quickly became obvious that all 16 birds had left to do some exploring. It also, very quickly, became apparent that the birds were not all together.
The 10 young birds (all reared this year) had gone down to the Island’s south-west, to cliff sites where choughs once bred. The chough team had recorded all the birds at Devil’s Hole shortly after dawn so were surprised to hear that they were now several miles away. The older six birds had also gone on an expedition but only got about half way along St Ouen’s Bay before heading home. The team caught up with the very settled young birds and watched them head north again in time for lunch! All the birds remained at Sorel throughout the afternoon and roosted there.
Come Tuesday, we were interested to see what would happen. The 10 flew south again and were tracked quickly. Again they flew home for lunch. On Wednesday we lay in wait for them, watched them leave the north coast and saw them arrive in the south-west. We also timed them leaving and arriving back ‘home’ for their lunch. The pattern seemed set and we have a good idea of the route they were taking and the landmarks they were using. The commuting flights were taking around 15 minutes although an impressive 11 minutes was recorded on Thursday.
While the younger birds were roaming a little like a gang of teenagers the older birds were pretty well staying put. Except for a brief wander west along the north coast. The pattern seemed set. Until Sunday, when, in heavy early morning rain, no one moved! It will be interesting to see what happens next. We wondered exactly how the 10 found the traditional sites in the south-west when, thanks to the team, we knew roughly where the birds were each day and couldn’t see when they had had time to find the new spots. Then, we thought, if they soar (as they often do) above Sorel they can see all the Jersey coastline. Is that how they knew where to go? It makes sense too when you realise that the commuting flights are direct and not following the coastline.
We received several very important sightings of the birds during the week and would not have put the whole story together without them. We are grateful to everyone who sent in sightings through the website, by phone or through social media. The wanderings are, no doubt, going to increase from now on so please carry on with the sightings. Even with transmitters on the younger birds we can lose track of them if they are moving fast. Your sightings can help us piece together the birds’ activities and the routes taken. You can use the webpage here, through the Birds On The Edge email address birdsote@gmail.com, social media, directly to the team or through Jersey Birds.
Following the very successful Inter-Island Meeting, Birds On The Edge invited Vic Froome to contribute with news of concerns facing birds and the environment in the Bailiwick of Guernsey and to highlight the important Channel Islands conservation work being undertaken in the ‘northern isles’.
In his first posting here, Vic highlights some of his favourite groups of birds and habitats in the Bailiwick and the challenges his islands face.
Marine birds and other wildlife
Gannets have been studied on the Alderney colonies of Ortac and the Garden Rocks (Les Etacs) since 1947, the longest regular annual ringing of this species in the British Isles. The gannet population is currently estimated at more than 7,500 pairs and, while still increasing, is not without its constant threats, notably through discarded plastic, ropes and netting that often leads to horrible deaths in the colony.
Gulls too have been studied around our coasts for years and a new ringing station on Guernsey’s Refuse Tip has been in place for six years in association with the North Thames Gull Group (the London canon ringing group), and us Islanders. Large plastic, numbered, rings are fitted on the gulls that one can read by eye, binoculars, or telescopes. To date, 7,000 herring gulls, 3,000 lesser black-backed and 400 great black-backed gulls have been ringed.
100,000 gull sightings have been returned to Paul Veron making this a quite stunning project in the Channel Islands or anywhere.
On Alderney’s Burhou, nesting lesser black-backed gulls have been studied too for 20 years. This year this island has more than 1,300 pairs of lesser black-backeds, as well as good numbers of storm petrels and puffins. Shags and cormorants are also studied around our Islands, but it can be quite a messy job!
Sark, Herm, Jethou, and their islets, have puffin, razorbill, guillemot, fulmars, all the Channel Islands’ gull species and the only known colony of little egrets in the Bailiwick. The guillemot colony may even be increasing.
Rats are, unsurprisingly, present and represent a major threat to our seabird colonies. Following the success of rat eradication projects in the Isles of Scilly and on Lundy, we are now looking into a brown rat reduction plan. This problem is now so acute that some of the major islets are bare of breeding species, and we are sure that those well hidden species which nest in burrows are suffering as well.
One of my favourite birds is the kittiwake: they look magnificent when out in the big seas. This gull is synonymous with our oceans, but their food source is becoming worryingly depleted and declines in this delicate gull are being recorded throughout our area. Until recently easy to see, this lovely bird is now extinct as a breeding species in the Channel Islands.
Our seas around us have migration under the water as well with important numbers of cetaceans and fish. Dolphins, minke whales, seals, basking sharks, catfish and mullet are just a few we host.
The intertidal zone
Brent geese come back to our Islands for the autumn, winter and spring seasons. A major part of the diet of these geese is eel grass. Eel grass beds, like seaweeds, hold a habitat/world all of their own at high tides and many species live and breed here – a true paradise on their own.
Our Islands’ foreshore and intertidal zones have to be protected as they are so special. But, even locally, knowledge of these areas is poor and they are little studied or given publicity to educate the general public, government, and the media. Our Ramsar areas must be constantly researched and updated to alert us of any changes that are happening. We need much better information about our all our marine habitats before future electric generation plans come to fruition.
Wading birds
We, in Guernsey, have carried out 40 years of monthly beach wader counts for the BTO and collected a tremendous amount of scientific data. For me, these birds look beautiful, but sadly, through constant disturbance of many kinds, many species that we were famous for in Guernsey, winter visitors and breeding populations alike, are now EXTINCT, and we feel impotent to do anything about it.
Another problem of our coasts is “RECLAMATION” – this is often simply tarmac, where wildlife used to be. Now we see turnstones running around our harbours on tarmac where once they had beaches. We still have some shingle banks for now, special places that are very effective for coastal protection and breeding and feeding birds, flowers and other plants. These banks are a habitat of their own, and we have them here: let’s love them, and look after them.
Raptors
It is 45 years since DDT and other insecticides were sprayed all over the world but only now are we getting many of our raptors back. Peregrine, marsh harrier, buzzard, sparrowhawk and long-eared owl are nesting again in Guernsey. All we need now is to get our farming practices sorted to allow/encourage our winter visitors to come back: short-eared owls, merlins and hen harriers. Ground feeding birds will come too.
Our Island home
Let’s clean up our act and reduce waste: stop it from hitting our shores and littering our land. What more can we do to help our nature? Plant wild flowers in our gardens that have pollen, attract butterflies and give us, colours and seeds. Let’s plant fruit trees, wild and propagated. Let’s dig ponds for our birds, frogs and newts. You will be amazed at how much enjoyment you will get, and your “tick list” will go through the roof!
Swifts
Swifts are another bird that is suffering, this time it’s because of “OUR” clean and tidy lifestyle. They need places to nest and places to feed. Remember, those wildflowers you plant will attract insects and what do swift, swallows, and house martins eat? Those insects!
In August 2012 Birds On The Edge was delighted to announce the return to Jersey of a much missed resident, the cirl bunting. Unlike the chough, these songbirds came back without any assistance. That they are still here, perhaps, is, however, the result of a lot of hard work and dedication (see report from October 2012).
In July last year, we reported that the bunting pair had successfully raised at least one chick. So, are they still living here in Jersey? Are they hanging on?
The pair and another bird presumed to be their fledged chick were seen regularly at their east coast haunts into the winter. Often at the seed put out in special feeders by Richard Perchard (following advice from the RSPB Cirl Bunting Project) aimed at helping the buntings get through the winter when, through changes in land use, they might struggle. The feeders are topped up and cleaned every third day, or more frequently in bad weather.
While the eastern birds remained in the territory we were very surprised to find two males at Noirmont on 26th of October last year. These two, unexplained, males stayed around at Noirmont well into November before disappearing.
Cirl buntings are, at least in the UK, typified as being highly sedentary. Many only move a few kilometres in their whole life. While other populations in Europe are very migratory, all are dispersive – that is individuals may wander, often lengthy distances, away from the breeding areas. Dispersal like this is well known in most birds and often follows successful breeding seasons when numbers are high, or when food supplies may be low. Migrant birds have set breeding and wintering areas and, while they may look very much at home, are unlikely to be looking for somewhere new to breed (think of all those contented brent geese, they never hang around in spring). Dispersive birds, on the other hand, may well be looking for a new home and this is how most species spread out around the world. It’s how birds take up home on an island like ours.
We don’t know where the birds at Noirmont were from just like we don’t know where the breeding pair in the east came from. On 2nd January this year, a female was watched at one of the feeders and both she and a male were seen feeding there a week later. The pair was monitored, but not too closely for fear of disturbing these vulnerable birds, throughout the spring and everything looked good. Three birds were seen in July not very far from the pair. Another pair, another chick? Well, a definite chick was seen at the well-known site a few days later adding to the possibility of two pairs. In August it was confirmed that there were two pairs and both had young. Fourteen birds (four adults and 10 juveniles) were counted across the whole site on the 14th! Nine birds were seen again on 13th October.
Richard has seen up to three ‘pairs’ at the feeders this month but it is possible that these ‘pairs’ may include sibling juveniles sticking together.
Exactly how many buntings there are in Jersey remains a bit of mystery, but they are surviving and even thriving it seems. We could try to catch and mark them but this might easily upset these nervous birds and stop the recolonisation in its tracks. Disturbing them through visiting the site too often might also cause the birds to leave. What the increase does mean is that Richard might have to put more food out to help the growing flock through the winter!
Interestingly, a juvenile cirl bunting was seen at Noirmont on 20th October. One of ours leaving us, a new one coming in or one just passing through? Check up on the Jersey Birds website to see if any more turn up.
To celebrate the arrival of many migrant and wintering birds, we would like to invite you to a birdwatching promenade by the conservation fields near Sorel.
We hope to see and admire the many species that have been arriving on the Island and are flocking to the bird crops. We have planted these crops to provide food for the birds over the winter and at the moment they are attracting a wealth of migrant and wintering birds. Join us in this walk to find them and participate in a discussion about the conservation efforts being carried out to save birds and other wildlife in Jersey.
Featuring: A variety of species such as meadow pipit, linnet, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, song thrush, and even some elusive ones such as stonechat, skylark and Dartford warbler.
The main reason that these geese come to our shores is because there are beds of the highly vulnerable eel-grass, one of the birds’ most important food sources here. However, despite spending around eight months with us, how much do we really know about these little, approachable geese? For one thing, how many Channel Islanders actually know that our islands are almost unique in annually hosting populations of two very distinctly different brent geese?
