This month saw the further extension of our Farmland Bird Monitoring programme. Four new sites, relatively close to each other in St Martin, were brought in to the overall scheme. Birds recorded at each of the sites will be entered into the project database but will also be used for farmland management trials aimed for 2014 as part of a joint project by the Department of the Environment and Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. These four farmland sites join two woodland sites (at Rozel Manor and Le Saie) in the trial.
The four new sites are at Ville es Nouaux/La Fosse (a single 1,037m transect), Rozel Mill (1,203m transect), Gibraltar/St Catherine’s (1,027m transect) and at La Coupe/Fliquet (1,170m transect).
The new sites bring the total number of monitored sites in this programme to 20 with two of those having two separate transects (22 transects in total). We count all the birds along 25,439 metres of transect every fortnight. That’s 15.8 miles birdwatching at least twice a month in all weathers!
During this month we have also recorded two new bird species on the transects. On 2nd June, Harriet Clark recorded a very rare common quail on the new transect at Gibraltar/St Catherine’s. Quail are a migrant species breeding in Europe and wintering in Africa. Sadly, quail are becoming rarer through hunting and loss of suitable breeding and wintering habitat. We record single birds in most years in the Channel Islands but they are still a very good sighting. Harriet’s quail became the 159th bird species recorded during the monitoring project.
The 159th species was very quickly followed by the 160th. We finally found an oystercatcher! Oystercatchers can be heard at some sites during every single visit, but, as they are typically either at the base of the cliffs or flying at sea (they are very, very noisy and their voices carry) but, as they aren’t really using the site we are monitoring, they haven’t been counted. However, on 11th June, Tim Liddiard found an oystercatcher actually walking on the path we use as the Les Blanche Banques transect. This bird was presumably one of the pair nesting at the nearby sandpits.
From Claire Mucklow, RSPB’s Cornwall Projects Manager
The last week has been one of both tremendous highs and lows for the chough team in Cornwall. They were very sad to have to report the loss of the wonderful male chough from Southerly Point on the Lizard. Just over a week ago a volunteer witnessed two choughs locked in combat for the most part of the day, and it appears that the new younger bird has ousted and possibly killed the older male. He may not be dead but he has certainly been usurped. Claire says “I always joke ‘they will live forever’ when people ask me how long the pair at Southerly Point will be around, but sadly choughs are not invincible and nature in all its rawness has won the day. An end of an era, and the loss of a very special bird”.
What a legacy that chough and his mate have left Cornwall with though. Since they returned in 2001 they have brought so much joy to those lucky enough to spend time with them and a real sense of Cornish pride enveloped them. The pair together raised 44 chicks and many of those birds have gone on to breed themselves, securing a future for choughs in Cornwall. Proper job!
But, there is a happier, and unexpected, twist to this tale. The new male, a bird often seen in the company of the Lizard pair, has adopted the old male’s new chicks – extraordinary as normally a bird would try to kill any chicks that were not his. This is new behaviour, possibly not previously recorded for choughs. The female having invested so much time and energy in her new brood has accepted this new male and together they are feeding her two chicks, which are around two weeks old. Here’s hoping the female and her new mate will live for many a year.
There is further news of chicks in Cornwall where there are already chough fledglings this season; five more youngsters took to the skies last week in Penwith. The crazy weather has really affected this year’s breeding season and, with six weeks between first and last broods, the last chicks will not fledge until early July. The total number of young for this season so far is 16, two broods of five, and three broods of two. There are a further three pairs of choughs that have shown signs of breeding but they are too young this year.
Follow news of Cornwall’s choughs on the project website here and on Twitter at @cornishchoughs. Find where to watch wild Cornish choughs here
Training this month experienced another learning curve for both choughs and keepers. During training sessions the birds were becoming sluggish and/or lacked motivation. Keepers noticed that with the change in season more and more insects were starting to emerge. The choughs were spending more time probing the ground between sessions and we quickly realised that the birds were just not hungry enough to bother finding out what the whistling keeper was bringing them. With food rations imposed the motivation returned!
At the same time another behavioural issue arose. As the group becomes more settled in the aviary their personalities start to show and social structures form. When training first began every bird was in the same position. Once they understood what was expected of them and what reward they would receive they would flock to the target boards. Now with a pecking order established (pun fully intended) the dominant ones make sure that the shy ones wait their turn. Which means either very little or no reward at all for some birds and the desired behaviour is not reinforced. To break this pattern more target boards were added to the aviary to spread around the food reward. It took a day or two for the birds to realise they didn’t have to go to one spot for food. Once these considerations were taken into account the choughs’ response time between whistle and reward improved dramatically.
There was another dip later in the month when two of the seven choughs had to be separated from the group. These two will not be released as they don’t have radio transmitters. Through positive reinforcement training and a lot of sheer luck the two choughs were shuffled across into section 1A. This is where the first target board was set up and the group have formed a strong association with it. The first few days of training after the separation saw the group of five fly down to the shelves outside and peer in at the target board bewildered by the mesh blocking them. They gradually learnt that they could use other target boards and training is back on track.
As well as flying on command the birds have been undergoing training to jump onto scales and weigh themselves. Their first response to the weighing scale being introduced was to fly to the shelving and peer down in judgement. Soon their desire for food overcame their conflict with change and they jumped on the scales. It takes patience and a basic grasp of maths for the keeper to obtain individual weights when five will jump on at once. However, this was achieved and we learnt that the choughs have maintained healthy weights.
Radio-tracking update
Around the middle of May keepers found a couple of feathers on the floor of the aviary. This isn’t particularly unusual in a group of that size. However, as the days went on and more were found, alarm bells started ringing. Checking in with the juveniles at Durrell a similar case was being seen and the alarm bells grew louder. It was suspected that the juveniles were going through a moult. Shedding feathers results in shedding radio transmitters and on the 26thMay this was nicely demonstrated by ‘Red’ losing her transmitter. Both birds carrying dummy tags have also dropped them. The first was likely due to over preening of the tail feathers the second which happened more recently was through a natural moult.
Normally choughs will not moult until their breeding season is finished. The earliest we have recorded moult for juveniles at Durrell was July. There are a few possible reasons for an early moult, such as abnormal weather patterns, transmitter attachment causing excess preening, and nutritional factors. Either way the team now needs to consider what this means for the timing of the release. Moulting can be a relatively stressful time for a bird and their welfare is top priority. A delay in release is inevitable, but the question being addressed now is ‘for how long?’
Choughs at Durrell
Captive breeding behind the scenes
After an agonizing wait, for both parents (Tristan & Issy) and keepers, the first chough eggs hatched around the 16th May. Two chicks could be seen on the nest camera monitor begging strongly and the parents were feeding well. The next day a third chick was seen, then a fourth the following day. Extra insect feeds were taken to the aviary from around 7am until 7pm each day. Feeds consisted of mealworms, small crickets, and ants/ant larvae.
On the 19th there was some concern as only two chicks could be seen actively being next to an unhatched egg were. The quality of the camera image at that time was not very clear so the nest was left undisturbed.
However, on the 21st keepers noticed flies hanging around the nest. Concern rose and a decision was made to check the nest. Unfortunately one decomposed chick and an egg were found in the nest. Two other bodies were found on the floor of the aviary. The fourth chick was not recovered. Post mortem analysis by Durrell’s vets showed evidence of a respiratory infection. Further analysis is underway to identify the exact infection. This of course if a huge disappointment for staff considering the efforts undertaken by everyone to achieve success this year. There is a slight chance that Tristan and Issy might lay again, but it would be very late in their season if they did.
Arthur and Gwinny’s nest was checked at the same time and found to be empty. It appears that they have done nothing except build the nest this year.
Update on George
George continues to be held in the Durrell Veterinary Centre whilst his health issues are being treated. The quarantine period finished on the 22nd so in theory he can now be moved into Durrell’s collection at any time.
It was noted that when George finished his course of painkillers he began to hold up his foot again and looked in discomfort. He was immediately put back on medication and re-examined under anaesthetic by the vets.
There were a couple of pecking sores on his left foot and new cracks in the skin. The vets think the fractured middle digit might fall off naturally through necrosis and would prefer this than invasive surgery.
The main focus of this examination was to treat the bumblefoot on the right foot. The vet removed the scab, drained the infection site, cut away excess tissue, and sutured the skin tighter together. This had the effect of reducing the foot pad to a more normal size. With the aid of a pressure bandage it was hoped that George would begin to use his foot normally again and gradually correct his posture. However, upon waking up from the anaesthetic George showed an intense dislike to the bandage and made every effort to remove it. After five days of mental anguish George had the bandage removed. The wound was still healing but as it wasn’t presenting any problems, the bandage was left off and antibiotic ointment applied.
About ten days later George had pulled out his claw on the injured digit of the left foot. There was not much that could be done for this except make sure any bleeding had stopped and clean the wound. A week after that he tore the skin on the end of this digit. The vet sutured the wound with two stitches and George was put back on a six day course of antibiotics and painkiller. However, for all our concerns, George is a born fighter and was moved into the display aviary at the start of June to continue his recovery.
Following the remarkable rediscovery of bee orchid in St Ouen’s Bay last year another orchid species thought to have become extinct locally has been rediscovered.
Early spider orchid Ophrys sphegodes was first found in Jersey by Lester-Garland in 1910 and was last seen in 1929. The location of the newly found plant is over a kilometre away from the original location so possibly the seed has blown in from France. Or maybe, since the soil around it had been disturbed, the seeds were brought up and able to germinate. As the name suggests this delightful orchid usually flowers earlier than May, but due to the wet weather this year the season is late. Early spider orchid is rare in England and only seen in a few locations along the south coast. The blue markings on the front of the orchid can vary slightly, but it is these lines that give the ‘spidery’ look, hence the name.
‘It’s an incredibly exciting discovery and all the (National) Trust staff and many Island botanists are thrilled by this find. Finding it was a complete fluke as we were out leading a nature walk at the time. We had taken the kids to an area where we know there are a lot of green lizards and it was during this search that I spotted this rather unusual looking orchid. At first I suspected it might have been a bee orchid, as one was discovered further up the Bay last year, however something about it didn’t look quite right, so I got out the ID books and there it was – this very special early spider orchid’.
A team from The University of Liverpool and the Alderney Wildlife Trust made the first of what will be many visits to Alderney’s seabird colonies on 20th May. The team started the process on Burhou capturing shags, a declining seabird of which Alderney has a significant number. Once caught, each bird will be fitted with a small waterproof GPS data-logger aimed to uncover much about the birds’ lifecycle, their feeding and foraging habits and the potential impacts that marine developments, such as renewable energy installations, may have. It may also throw light onto issues such as fishing practice and marine pollution incidents within the English Channel.
After some intense sessions trying to catch and tag the somewhat elusive shags, the team will move on to tagging the much more accessible but aggressive northern gannets. This will be done with the help of the Channel Island Ringers and other organisations. By monitoring two species at once, one which tends to feed close to its nesting site (the shag) and the other which can travel well over 200km on a single foraging trip (the gannet), it is possible to get a much broader picture of how our breeding birds use Channel Island, French and UK waters to survive. Both bird species fly between roosting and feeding sites and capture their prey by diving into the water column. This means that they could encounter wind turbines while flying above the water and tidal turbines while foraging below.
Each GPS tag will stay on the birds for approximately five (shags) or 10 (gannets) days before the team returns to retrieve them. These tags will not cause the birds any discomfort and will fall off by themselves after a few weeks if not retrieved as planned. The information the tags contain can be downloaded and, it is hoped, contribute to a growing body of information which is forming the basis of a PhD being undertaken by Victoria Warwick-Evans.
A trial project undertaken in 2011 saw 23 GPS data loggers attached to northern gannets breeding on Les Étacs, Alderney. Within six days, 17 of the loggers had been retrieved, revealing the locations of 34 foraging trips. Interestingly individuals seemed to specialise their feeding in different areas with some flying to the south coast of England, some southwards to Jersey and others heading east towards Le Havre on the French coast. Amazingly on one occasion a gannet made a 340km round trip, and several made two trips to the South Coast of England within 72 hours. Preliminary analysis suggests that Alderney’s gannets make longer foraging trips than those breeding at some UK colonies but are comparable to the distances travelled by their closest neighbours breeding on Les Sept Îles, Brittany. Evidence also suggests that there is little overlap between the foraging sites of the gannets from Brittany and those from Alderney: the French gannets tend to stick to the western English Channel whereas Alderney’s appear to feed more towards the eastern end of the Channel.
Victoria from the University of Liverpool says that she is “thrilled to be part of a team studying the intricate foraging behaviours of these impressive seabirds, and excited to have the opportunity to use this data in the development of models in order to predict any effects that offshore developments may have on these seabird populations.”
Tim Morley, Ecologist from the Alderney Wildlife Trust says that “the chance to better understand the life of our seabirds during the breeding season is something that excites us at the AWT, and we are privileged to be working with the University of Liverpool team in this venture. The results will be a key focus of our future conservation efforts amidst growing concern over marine pollutants, fishing practises and the intensity of traffic through the British Channel”.
The project is being run by The University of Liverpool, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy (ACRE), with the support of the Alderney Wildlife Trust.
Birds On The Edge and Action for Wildlife held their first spring walk along Jersey’s stunning north coast on Saturday (18th May). Starting near Devil’s Hole and walking east toward Sorel Point, forty people joined us to see how the project has been faring in its first full year. What was most impressive, however, was that we managed to choose the best day of the year so far!
Sally and Cris from the National Trust for Jersey and Liz and Glyn from Durrell were able to show the tour and explain about the sheep grazing programme, the miles of bracken and efforts to reduce its coverage, the causes of local bird declines, the conservation fields and crop rotation, hedge planting and the choughs themselves waiting patiently in their aviary at Sorel.
While the sheep and the choughs put on a good show, wild birds were in rather short supply. That is, of course, why the project is so necessary. One singing meadow pipit and only the occasional overflying linnet highlighted what has happened to birdlife on the Island’s coastlands. Although single raven, kestrel, common buzzard, marsh harrier and even a green lizard were also spotted by the keen-eyed in the group it was obvious on such a fine day that the coast needs more wildlife. Lets hope that future walks, the next will be this autumn, show continuing improvements in bird and lizard numbers as the fields and grassland are restored.
The tour finished back at Devil’s Hole and most participants took the opportunity to further enjoy the sunshine with lunch outdoors at The Priory. On Sunday the rain came back!
Check this website again for details of future walks and see how the project is getting on.
At the start of April the juveniles at Durrell nominated for release were transported to Sorel. Catching them up out of the main display aviary proved a little trickier than first thought!
Having witnessed the breeding pairs being trapped and having vague flashbacks to the year before (if birds indeed do that) the juveniles were apprehensive to say the least. Keeper sat with baited trap and baited breath waiting to catch up four out of the seven birds in the aviary. Day 1 was fruitless. Day 2 saw B6974 and B6978 caught up (technically B6973 was also in the shut-off but evaded capture). Finally – Day 7, albeit with a two day break, saw the last two captured; B6973 and B6977.
All four juveniles had to undergo visual health checks by the vets before moving to Sorel. Three had already been fitted with radio transmitters so this was an opportunity to check attachment and the birds’ feather condition. B6977 was fitted with a radio transmitter and all four had Channel Islands metal rings attached to their right legs. Two of the birds had their existing plastic rings swapped for a different colour to avoid duplication with choughs already at Sorel.
During the catch-up process it was noticed that B6975 had lost her dummy radio transmitter. From previous observations we think the transmitter had fallen off in the past couple of weeks. On examining the bird there was a new feather growing where the transmitter would have been glued on. The adjacent feather, which would have been tied to the antennae, showed signs that the tag, once unstuck, moved down the feather shaft and fell off. This transmitter had been attached for over five months, so it is not a grave concern, but is of interest. The birds with the real transmitters attached will naturally moult within this time period anyway.
When the Durrell birds were moved into Sorel there was a lot of interest from the other, Paradise Park, birds. No aggression was observed just lots of vocalising. This was a positive sign that the two groups would get on once mixed. After a few days living next to each other and adjusting, the hatches between 1A & 1B were opened to allow the groups to mix.
The Durrell birds seemed more interested in their new surroundings than in interacting with the Paradise Park birds. The Durrell male (green) was seen to order around a few individuals at the start, but no one was chased or blocked from getting to food. This may have had a lot to do with them being juveniles and not breeding pairs.
However, we did notice male and female ‘pairings’ even at this early age. Black and Orange from Paradise Park hang out together and Green and Mauve from Durrell do likewise. We have also seen them pick up and carry around twig-like vegetation. One bird has gone a step further and carried material up to the top of a shelter box. A fruitless task since the wind clears anything within seconds, but at least it keeps them occupied!
Durrell vets have visited the aviary on a couple of occasions this month. On the 10th the Paradise Park group had to be caught up to be given Ivermectin injections. They also had blood samples taken whilst in the hand. All juveniles had put on approximately 20g in weight since arriving in Jersey. Weight gain was expected but needs to be monitored if the training is to be successful.
George, the tame adult, had not put on any weight and started to become more of a concern towards the end of the month. He was spending more time lying down even when the keeper was present. It was difficult to know whether he was depressed from being alone (he still hadn’t ventured into the polytunnel with the others) or through a physical illness. When the hatches between 1A and 1B were opened he became a little perkier since he could mix with the Durrell juveniles next door to him. However, as the juveniles became braver and spent more time in the tunnel George was back to being alone again except at feed times or when sheltering from bad weather.
George’s mobility looked to be declining and he was immediately put on a course of an anti-inflammatory drug given to him in his insect feeds. This made a brief improvement until the course finished. On two occasions after that he grazed his toe on the left foot. Fear of infection and further decline in condition meant that George had to be moved back to Durrell to be housed in the Veterinary Centre.
Under anaesthetic, several X-rays were taken and George’s feet were examined. He came to Jersey with bumblefoot on his right foot. This is a bacterial infection and inflammatory reaction affecting feet. George’s rotated left leg means that he will load more on his right and has probably aggravated if not caused this issue. A swab was taken from the site of the bumblefoot. In house Lab analysis identified the bacteria present and George was put on a course of antibiotics as well as the anti-inflammatory medication. Bio-security legislation requires George to undergo a quarantine period whilst with the vets before he can be moved into one of Durrell’s aviaries. He gets a lot more attention in the Vet Centre than at Sorel so his mood quickly improved although his physical condition is still a struggle. We will review his situation once the antibiotics have finished.
Pre-release training
The choughs are being trained to fly in and out of the release hatches (within the aviary)on a whistle command and rewarded with food. This is to ensure that during the early stages of the soft-release the birds will come back to the aviary and that they can be safely locked in overnight. They will learn that the aviary is a safe shelter and holds food resources if they struggle to locate any in their first few months exploring the coast. In the long term this should also help with monitoring their condition after release.
To achieve this, the aviary has been designed to let keepers train the choughs to go through an internal set of hatches before attempting the external release hatch. There are large target boards on the food stands and two tables in the polytunnel (kindly donated by Tony Pirozzolo at Café Firefly). Hopefully the birds will start to associate these boards with food and will easily spot them when flying around after their release.
The birds responded well when they had access to the first half of the polytunnel. Whilst still nervous of the keepers they would fly in for food once the keeper had blown the whistle and left. When they were given access to the entire polytunnel they started to become less responsive.
Radio-tracking and behavioural studies
There have been several practice sessions this month on how to radio-track choughs. More importantly, learning how the Jersey landscape affects radio frequencies and discovering the practicalities involved. Initially this involved checking that the transmitters on the birds were working and seeing how far the signal will travel. When feeling a bit more adventurous this progressed to seeing if keepers could track down a live moving target. Durrell staff, with transmitter in hand, kindly volunteered to be ‘choughs’ and hide somewhere between Sorel point and Devil’s Hole. They took the role to heart by belly-crawling through gorse bushes and sitting on cliff tops. Despite all their efforts to deceive the radio-trackers they were all found and pretty quickly. Next test….paragliding volunteers!
Jess Maxwell, a Durrell intern student, is assisting with the field project and undertaking a behavioural study for her degree. Her observations started this month and will continue post-release. These studies involve Jess sitting in a field for two hours each day which is why Jess is very grateful for the recent weather improvements. She is studying the group dynamics to see if they behave the same pre- and post-release and try to assess what is the ideal cohort size for release. Hopefully this work will be replicated with future releases and the data can be used to evaluate the ongoing project.
Choughs at Durrell
With the last of the release birds being moved out of the display aviary we are now left with three birds in there including Gianna. These choughs have been joined by a pair of breeding toads who have decided to spawn in the choughs’ ‘pond’! Keepers have provided the choughs with water bowls to deter them from going near the pond. At the time of writing we now have tadpoles.
Our two breeding pairs of choughs have been very busy off show. Keepers provided nesting material in the appropriate stages; large twigs, heather thatch and finer twigs, wool and horse hair. Both pairs set to work building nests and completed them relatively quickly. Keepers never witnessed any copulation, but on the morning of the 22nd they did see their first egg. Unfortunately this was when Issy got off her nest, walked along the shelf and laid the egg there much to the dismay and confusion of the keeper watching. On inspection of the nest camera it looked like there was an egg in the nest too (although the wool can be deceptive) so the shelf egg could be the second egg not the first. On the 25th, keepers thought they could see three eggs in the nest and by the 26th Issy was sitting tightly on them. If all goes to plan these eggs should hatch towards the end of May.
Keepers are not sure if Arthur and Gwinny are up to anything. We do know that they have a nest. Somehow the camera lens moved position so we do not have a clear view of the nest but from their behaviour it doesn’t appear that Gwinny is sitting on eggs. We don’t want to disturb them so will continue as normal and monitor them as closely as we can.
Keepers have also been kept busy at the display aviary after members of the public reported seeing the choughs “trying to escape”. Being inquisitive birds they investigate everything including broken threads in aviary netting. It wasn’t an escape attempt more a quality assurance test. The height of the aviary makes it very difficult to repair holes in the netting with just a ladder and a good head for heights. Jono le Maistre, tree surgeon, kindly offered his assistance and with harnesses firmly attached climbed the poles to fix the netting.
BIRDS ON THE EDGE launches a trial scheme to help farmland birds through the winter months
By Cris Sellarés
In early 2013 a joint sponsorship granted funds for the purchase of bird-conservation crops to be planted by potato farmers for a trial scheme to provide many Jersey birds with a source of food throughout the coldest months of the year.
Introduction
Habitat restoration is at the core of BIRDS ON THE EDGE which is working to identify sites of high importance to birds and other wildlife in Jersey and to provide independent advice and support to funding applications that will increase the value to wildlife of these sites. Examples of wildlife-friendly management include hedge-planting and restoration, enhancement of boundaries, planting of insect and bird-conservation crops, bracken clearance and scrub management.
Aims of the trial scheme
To provide a source of winter food for farmland birds in the north coast from 2013, especially for skylarks, buntings, greenfinches, linnets and others;
To test the productivity of two similar bird-conservation crop mixes against a variety of field characteristics such as slope, aspect, geology and boundaries;
To test the responsiveness of local wildlife, especially bird species, to crop type and land characteristics;
To assess the results of the trial in accordance with verbal agreements between each participating farmer and the scheme;
To offer the farmers an economic stimulus to help them to opt for a wildlife-friendly management of their land.
Development
In February 2013, as part of the BIRDS ON THE EDGE management plan, 181 fields were surveyed north of the coast road between Sorel Point and Grève de Lecq.
Of these, 18 fields were found suitable to be tried with bird-conservation crops, through a combination of favourable characteristics such as: good boundaries in the form of hedges, main crop type, distance from the sea cliffs, slope, geology and vicinity to buildings, amongst others.
The Project Officer approached the owners and tenants of these fields to discuss the trial scheme and, over a series of meetings, learned about the management regime of the fields and each farmer’s preference for conservation crops. At the end of the discussions the final number of suitable fields was brought down to 15, representing a combined area of 55 vergées and 24 perches (10ha).
At the same time that the trial scheme was taking shape, a sponsorship opportunity arose in the form of two private donors. The combined donation has allowed the trial scheme to be launched, covering the cost of the bird-conservation crops that will be planted on the 15 chosen fields.
All the owners and tenants of the fields accepted to include them in the trial scheme, which will involve the farmers receiving the crop seeds free of charge and sowing them in the fields once the potatoes have been harvested. The progress of the crop and its utilisation by birds and other wildlife will be monitored throughout the year. All participating farmers further offered to look after the features most suitable for wildlife, in particular to leave the margins or headlands next to the best hedges unploughed.
Thanks to the generosity of the two sponsors the 10 new hectares of land in the trial will join the existing nine hectares of bird-conservation crops that the National Trust for Jersey has managed in the north coast since 2012, instantly doubling the area of land where birds can feed from. We hope that this will help them to survive the winter months and will boost the populations of those bird species locally endangered.
A further bracken clearance project involving 30+ vergees of land and including a site near Grève de Lecq has received support from the Countryside Enhancement Scheme (CES) as an integral component of the BIRDS ON THE EDGE project. This compliments work by the National Trust for Jersey further east and is consistent with probable recommended management actions that will be included in the National Park management plan. Maritime heath, cliff and slope are listed as valuable habitats In the Biodiversity Strategy for Jersey (2000).
On behalf of the public of Jersey, the Department of the Environment is responsible for the ecological management of the majority of the north coast from L’Etacq to Grève de Lecq, including Les Landes Site of Special Interest, the headland La Piece Michel and Plémont Headland. Habitat management contractor Aaron Le Couteur, the shepherd (see Grazing), is aware of the potential for introducing grazing to this new site and is involved in planned preparation of this land.
Method
Access to the chosen site is difficult due to the established agricultural land adjacent to the steep slopes. This, however, offers the alternative of tractor access and the use of specialised machinery owned by Aaron Le Couteur. Site visits have been made to identify suitable areas for management where, realistically, the dwarf shrub heath could be restored.
The landowners of fields adjacent to the site have been contacted and permissions have been granted to access the land with tractor mounted machinery. A flail, attached to a winch, will be used to cut the mix of bracken and bramble on the coastal slope in early June. After a period of a month to allow regrowth the newly emerged bracken heads will be rolled in July. The following year, in 2014 (dependent on 2014 CES applications), the area will be cut in June and the following month the fronds will be treated with Glyphosate using specialised equipment purchased by the contractor using CES granted funds in 2012. Using this methodology, it is believed that the success rate of the project will be maximised rather than using the herbicide application in Year 1.
Strict safety measures will be put into place to ensure that the work is carried out in compliance with best practice Health and Safety guidelines including provision of signs informing people that dogs will need to be under control. A strip of uncut bracken and bramble will be left on the lower slopes (closest to the cliff edge) to minimise the likelihood of the public getting too close.
The total budget for this clearance programme is based on £250 per vergee to prepare for herbicide treatment.
On Monday the Alderney Wildlife Trust recovered a dead guillemot from Braye Harbour in Alderney. This was the first bird recorded in the Channel Islands as being killed, it is believed, by Polyisobutylene (PIB). The discovery of this bird took place at almost exactly the same time as it was announced that over 1,000 seabirds had been found washed up dead on the south-west coast of England during the previous seven days, killed by PIB. Equally alarming was the news that 19 species had now been affected, with the hundreds of birds found dead and dying along the coast including large numbers of guillemots, and even puffins. Gannets, which were also found amongst the dead, may well include birds which were breeding at the only Channel Gannetries of Les Etacs and Ortac, just off Alderney’s coastline.
An earlier incident in February of this year and involving PIB killed hundreds more birds, raising the question as to what the future is for seabirds in the English Channel if these incidents continue to grow in regularity and scale.
PIB is used as an additive to oils and is currently listed under the MARPOL Convention as being legal to discharge from ships at sea, under certain conditions. Investigations into the February incident were abandoned by the Marine Coastguard Agency (MCA) as they ‘concluded that it is highly unlikely we will be able to link the pollution to any specific vessel.”
Roland Gauvain Manager of the Alderney Wildlife Trust commented:
‘We are extremely concerned that, though we haven’t seen large numbers of dead and dying wildlife on Channel Island beaches, this is probably down to blind luck and strong southerly winds. If the wind direction had swung to the north it may well have been our islands which would have experienced the horrendous site of hundreds of dead seabirds on our beaches.
It’s even more important to recognise that we don’t know as yet how much damage has been done by these discharges! With as many as 2,000 birds having been found dead or dying in the UK in the last few months alone, we have to ask ourselves; how many of these birds would have bred in the Channel Islands? The answer is we simply don’t know and we will not be able to tell until much later in the season. Yet, with the guillemot colony of the Guernsey Humps yet to return this year, it may well already be too late for some of our Channel Islands most special wildlife..
The Alderney Wildlife Trust is calling on the Channel Island Governments to back the growing demand of key UK NGO’s, including The Wildlife Trusts Partnership, to have the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) reclassified PIB to prohibit its dumping at sea.
Joan Edwards, Head of Living Seas for The Wildlife Trusts, said:
‘Dead and dying seabirds may be the most visible victims of our mismanagement. Impacts on other parts of marine life support systems may be just as widespread, and more serious. Firm controls must be implemented to minimise future disasters such as this and which allow deliberate offenders to be held to account.’
Further the Alderney Wildlife Trust will be calling for a joint seabird monitoring strategy for the Channel Islands. Mr Gauvain added:
‘Our marine wildlife is one of the strongest parts of the Channel Island identity. It’s a crucial indicator of the health of our environment and vital for our tourism industry. This incident highlights the need for joint working between the islands to protect our crucial natural resources and prepare a joint response to man-made disasters such as this.
This month saw the further extension of our Farmland Bird Monitoring programme. Four new sites, relatively close to each other in St Martin, were brought in to the overall scheme. Birds recorded at each of the sites will be entered into the project database but will also be used for farmland management trials aimed for 2014 as part of a joint project by the Department of the Environment and Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. These four farmland sites join two woodland sites (at Rozel Manor and Le Saie) in the trial.
The four new sites are at Ville es Nouaux/La Fosse (a single 1,037m transect), Rozel Mill (1,203m transect), Gibraltar/St Catherine’s (1,027m transect) and at La Coupe/Fliquet (1,170m transect).
During this month we have also recorded two new bird species on the transects. On 2nd June, Harriet Clark recorded a very rare common quail on the new transect at Gibraltar/St Catherine’s. Quail are a migrant species breeding in Europe and wintering in Africa. Sadly, quail are becoming rarer through hunting and loss of suitable breeding and wintering habitat. We record single birds in most years in the Channel Islands but they are still a very good sighting. Harriet’s quail became the 159th bird species recorded during the monitoring project.
The 159th species was very quickly followed by the 160th. We finally found an oystercatcher! Oystercatchers can be heard at some sites during every single visit, but, as they are typically either at the base of the cliffs or flying at sea (they are very, very noisy and their voices carry) but, as they aren’t really using the site we are monitoring, they haven’t been counted. However, on 11th June, Tim Liddiard found an oystercatcher actually walking on the path we use as the Les Blanche Banques transect. This bird was presumably one of the pair nesting at the nearby sandpits.
