Tag Archives: nesting

Chough report – First Quarter (Jan-Mar)

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SNOW!
A surprising start to the year saw Jersey experience icy temperatures and a covering of snow across the island. Our chough student had the rare opportunity to see Sorel coated in snow with the island not having experienced notable snow fall for nearly ten years. To the team’s dismay, no photos were taken, but the picture below was taken back in 2015. Just as then, the birds had no problem dealing with the blanket of white covering much of the ground and readily foraged for grubs as the snow thawed.

Choughs foraging in the snow. Photograph by Harriet Clark.

PhD Sam
A PhD student (Sam) from Anglia Ruskin University has come over to Jersey to carry out research on our wild chough population. He will be monitoring the choughs by monitoring them around the Sorel area, conducting bird surveys and placing small passive acoustic devices to collect distinct vocalisations for the species. Sam’s main study aim is to quantify the effects of sound on the chough’s movements during the breeding season. The team have welcomed Sam to the team and believe his work will benefit the project greatly by finding new insights into the flock and providing an extra pair of eyes over the breeding season.

Sam, recording the choughs. Photography by Charlotte Dean.

Foraging for sheep
As we are coming into spring (the breeding season for choughs) it is clear that there has been a behavioural shift in the birds. No longer are they just seen foraging in the fields for delicious invertebrates. They are now foraging for sheep, specifically the Manx sheep who are sat in the fields minding their own business. The choughs are taking full advantage of any sheep lying down in the fields surrounding the aviary, pulling wool straight off their backs and sides. This is a great indication that the pairs are lining their nests ready for egg laying. Along with wool collecting, we have seen some of the males displaying to their partners as well as feeding their partners more regularly.

Choughs making use of the free wool. Photography by Charlotte Dean.

Renewing and replacing
As the aviary has been standing for over twelve years, it is understandable that it will have a few quirks from withstanding the wind and rain. Our biggest job currently is repairing and renewing the aviary framework and netting which will be carried out by Durrell’s maintenance team this spring-summer. Aside from this scheduled work, there is always work to do at the aviary, whether that be cutting the grass or replacing feed stands. This year, our original viewing bench collapsed. This bench is a focal point for monitoring the choughs in the aviary and is also used for catch-ups as it holds a hatch wire for the middle section of the aviary. Some of the original bench posts were salvaged as they were still in fair condition, but the majority was scrapped. The new bench seat pieces were sanded, stained and carried to the aviary to be reassembled. It might look a little wonky, but it will do the job!

Our old and new chough viewing bench! Photographs by Charlotte Dean.

New chough movements
From January through to March, we have received quite a few public sightings of chough activity, which is fantastic, keep them coming in! The majority of the sightings received were in March; not surprisingly, as choughs tend to start spreading out a bit more during the countdown to spring. We have received four sightings during March of a pair of choughs hanging around in St Saviour and St Helier parishes! The pair have been spotted above St Saviour Road, at the north edge border of St Helier, near Le Hocq and La Pouquelaye. It could be that a pair has found a new nesting spot a bit further afield than normal this year or it could be a younger pair of choughs finding new spots to forage in. Either way, this is very exciting news. The team will be spending time around these areas to see whether the pair can be identified.

A group of young choughs at Les Landes. Photograph by Mick Dryden.

Trinity Pair
At the beginning of March our contact from a stable in Trinity, contacted us about the arrival of a pair of choughs for the third year. This is breeding pair Vicq & Pinel. They shared a lovely video of the pair standing on the support beams inside their stables. The arrival of the pair gives the team a good indication that they are in search of, or at least thinking about nest building. Although this pair built a nest in the stables back in 2022, they only successfully fledged a chick last year from an unknown nest location. This year, the team are trying their best to locate the nesting spot for future monitoring and the potential of ringing chicks before they fledge.

A pair of choughs carrying nesting material. Photograph by Charlotte Dean.

More choughs on the move
We have received plenty of public sightings from St Ouen indicating what a great foraging site it is for the birds. They have been spotted foraging in pairs and groups along many stretches including Les Laveurs, Kempt Tower, Jersey Pearl, Les Landes, Mont Matthieu, Chemin Des Hativeaux and near Les Mielles nature reserve. We have also had reports of a pair of choughs flying around Plemont in recent months; we are hoping this means the Plemont pair, Minty & Rey, are settling to nest again this year.

Plemont pair spotted on the cliffs. Photograph by Charlotte Dean.

Chough report: April 2021

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A female chough incubating her clutch. Photo under license by Liz Corry.

By Liz Corry

Egg-cellent news

We have managed to identify ten nests. All of which appear to have females incubating eggs. Bonus news, one of those nests belongs to a wild-hatched pairing. Up until now, pairings have comprised Jersey Zoo or Paradise Park birds we have released or a 50:50 mix of captive-bred and wild-hatched choughs.

Nest  Sire Dam
1 Captive-bred Captive-bred (H)
2 Captive-bred (H) Captive-bred
3 Captive-bred  Captive-bred (H)
4 Captive-bred  Captive-bred (H)
5 Captive-bred  Captive-bred
6 Wild-hatched Captive-bred (H)
7 Wild-hatched Captive-bred
8 Wild-hatched Captive-bred
9 Wild-hatched Captive-bred
10 Wild-hatched Wild-hatched

(H) = hand-reared

The other point to note is that the Jersey flock now only has twelve males and eighteen females. The two males that are not paired up only hatched out last year. You wouldn’t expect them to be breeding yet. Then again, if you read last month’s report, never make assumptions with choughs…

Bo and Flieur probing for insects at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry.

The Trinity Trio

Reports started coming in over Easter weekend of three choughs visiting horse stables near Les Vaux valley behind the Zoo. Working closely with the owner we investigated, did some probing, if you pardon the pun, and discovered a few interesting facts.

A pair of choughs had been using the stables in 2020. The building is like a smaller version of one the quarry buildings and surrounded by several properties with horse-grazed fields. The owner had not noticed the choughs in a while so assumed they had gone.

Now a/the pair had returned, this time with nesting material. However, what appears to be happening is that they are removing material (silver birch twigs) from abandoned pigeon nests and flying off somewhere else.

On one occasion there was an almighty ruckus as the pair flew in to be greeted by a third chough. A phone call on Easter Saturday saw me drive round to the stables in the evening and find a solitary chough roosting in the rafters. 

The leg rings identified the bird as Bee the same chough regularly visiting the Zoo. This made sense, answering the question where does she go at night. It didn’t tell us who the other two were. That was until….

Peacock Farm

After Easter we received reports of two choughs visiting Peacock Farm. This belongs to the Jersey Royal Company of the famous Jersey royal potatoes. The farm also happens to be behind the Zoo and about a kilometre from the stables!

A pair of choughs were being seen, almost daily, on the site often with twigs in their bills. A neighbour managed to pinpoint which building they were going to. We met with two of their directors outside this building to introduce ourselves and explain about the chough project. Almost instantly, two choughs flew out from inside and started shouting at us. 

I would like to tell you that we read the leg rings, know exactly who the pair are and can confidently say there is an eleventh nest in Jersey. A royal one no less.

However, observations over the next few weeks left us a bit muddled. We know that the frenzy of twig trafficking slowed down. When the owner of the stables moved house we naturally stopped getting reports. We have not seen Bee over the Zoo as much. Likewise, chough sightings at the farm have dropped off.

Choughs Pinel and Bee at Peacock Farm, Trinity. Photo by Hannah Clarke

We do know that Bee and Pinel were photographed at Peacock Farm on 17th April. Bee frequently visits Sorel for supplemental feed. We have never seen any inclination that she is paired with Pinel. So if Bee and Pinel are a pair, who the heck was the third chough? Why wasn’t Pinel roosting with Bee at the start of April? Is this a new romance, could there be four choughs residing in Trinity?

The choughs appear to be horsing around this month. Photo by Liz Corry.

Who knows! Thank goodness the Plémont pair are straight forward. Oh wait…

Plémont, pesky choughs and puffins

The Plémont pair look to be progressing well. The female is incubating and the male is doing his best to defend the nest. We are managing to make weekly visits supported by several public sightings.

The Plémont male feeding the female as she takes a break from incubating their eggs. Photo by Liz Corry.

The puffins have now returned to Jersey to breed along the Plémont to Grève de Lecq coast. Puffins nest in burrows often in the same habitat choughs use for feeding and nesting. Our Plémont pair often crop up in reports from the seabird monitoring ‘arm’ of Birds On The Edge. Typically,  they are in flight so leg ring colours aren’t seen. That’s fine though right? Two choughs, one nest. All we need to know is when the chicks are due and if there are any disturbance/predation issues.

Wrong! Remember, never assume. Turns out there has been a switch-a-roo when we weren’t looking. In March we reported Beanie baby had lost her male and paired up with Minty, re-building the nest at Plémont. Jump to April and Minty is at Plémont but it’s not Beanie baby on the nest. It’s a younger female. Scandal!

Leg rings helped staff identify Rey as the female now on the Plémont nest. Photo by Liz Corry.

We haven’t seen Beanie baby all month. Was she ousted by the female or fell victim to the Plémont peregrine? We might never know. All I can say is Rey is incubating eggs at Plémont with Minty. Fingers crossed both Rey and Minty are rearing chicks come May.

Catching up with the choughs

We carried out a couple of successful catch-ups this month with the choughs to replace leg rings. All birds caught looked to be in good health and expected body weight. You always have to be extra cautious at this time of year. You want to be as quick as possible so as not to keep the parents from their eggs or chicks. Breeding females should only be caught if absolutely necessary and handled with care if doing so.

Which is my excuse for not taking any photos of the birds getting their new rings. Instead here is Riccardo trying to pretend everything is normal and that he isn’t holding the hatch door wires posed to drop them. See if you can spot the green lizard that clearly had me distracted from the job at hand.

Waiting to ambush the choughs at the aviary whilst being distracted by the basking green lizards. Photo by Liz Corry.

Aviary maintenance

The aluminium sheeting has been fitted to the aviary to deter rat access. Our next steps are ensuring no rats are living inside. Riccardo is monitoring with the aid of camera traps. Once the all clear is given, the aviary can be used to confine choughs if needed for example for veterinary reasons.

April’s weather has left us without rainwater on several occasions and we have ferried containers up there and altered our cleaning regime to accommodate.

Vegetation-wise, everything is growing which means regular strimming and mowing to maintain chough-friendly habitat. 

Sorel sheep set to work grazing a field previously used for winter bird seed crops. Photo by Liz Corry.

Meanwhile, the eco-friendly lawnmowers sharing the field with the aviary have set to work in another National Trust owned field. Don’t be alarmed if you visit and think a bunch of sheep have escaped. There is a hot wire around the perimeter.

Et maintenant, les nouvelles

Cappy is still happily living in Carteret, France. Photo by Catherine Bataille.

Cappy is still in Carteret. Yann has kindly kept us updated. We even had a photo sent in via Durrell’s Facebook site from a sighting on 11th April just north of Carteret. Read the news from France 

 

Chough report: March 2021

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By Liz Corry

Breeding season

The chough pairs have been busy at their nests. Wool, horse hair and moss were being transported between Sorel and Ronez Quarry at the start of March.

The few cold snaps, where temperatures went below 4°C look to have interrupted the normal progression of things and pairs were still moving nesting material at the end of March. We think that at least one pair began incubating this month though, based on pair behaviour at the aviary. Nothing is certain. As the following will show.

Horsing around

It might well be the Plémont pair that have been visiting the stables at Les Landes Racecourse. A friend sent a photo of a chough on the window ledge as she was mucking out. Nest prospecting, after lining material, or just popping in to say hello? Not sure, but it started a trend that week for horse-related chough news. 

I found horse hair in the Sorel aviary on Monday afternoon (26th). On Wednesday came the report from Les Landes stables and, on Thursday, I took a phone call from a lady in Trinity who wanted to report choughs nesting in her stables. She had tried calling the day before, but the Zoo switchboard experienced technical issues. If she had got through, I would have been able to witness a flurry of twig movement in the empty stables and a shouting match between three choughs!

Choughs have been moving twigs around in a stables in Trinity as evident from the mess on the floor. Photo by Liz Corry.

We already knew about Bee visiting the Zoo and roosting somewhere nearby. Three days prior to the Trinity ‘battle of the twigs’,  a pair was spotted feeding by Jersey Dairy late in the afternoon and I spent two hours after work the next day staking out the area to no avail. The next day, keepers spotted three choughs over the Zoo. Then twig-ageddon.

Jersey dairy HQ where two choughs were seen feeding this month. Photo by Liz Corry.

The Royal Jersey Showground is next door to Jersey Dairy and offers more foraging habitat for choughs. Photo by Liz Corry.

These must be the three choughs involved in the Trinity stables squabble? Exactly which three remained a puzzle. At least for a couple of days. Easter Saturday, at around 8am, I got the call that the pair were back in the stables. Having just got out of the shower, I raced over with breakfast in hand to….oh wait, this was now April. I can’t tell you until the next report!

Plémont 

We definitely have a nest at Plémont. As do the raven pair and peregrines. Talk about unwelcome neighbours! We are a bit concerned about unintentional public disturbance and whilst you can’t physically access the nest, you can walk close to it. A few reports have included that the pair fly out to defend the site when people or dogs have approached.

Plémont, home to a pair of choughs, adjoins foraging favourites Grosnez and Les Landes. Photo by Liz Corry.

As most of Jersey’s choughs nest in the very active Ronez Quarry, you would expect them to be used to disturbance. However, two cautionary points (1) this pair has never roosted/nested in the quarry and (2) disturbance is a regular 7am-4pm at Ronez with 1-2days off a week. 

All we can do is monitor the situation and evaluate at the end of the season. There isn’t any signage at Plémont to raise awareness. Then again, it might just have the same effect as a sign over a big red button that reads “do not press”. 

Catch-ups

We’ve attempted several catch-ups this month to replace missing or broken rings. The choughs are understandably vigilant during the breeding season. That being said, we succeeded a couple times resulting in a surprising revelation. 

Green, the ‘forefather’ of the Jersey choughs, paired up with Pyrrho at the start of 2020. She wears an orange and white ring combo. So, this year when the female turned up with only an orange ring we thought nothing of it. That was until we managed to catch up, check the metal ring number, and discover it was Vicq! 

What have we learnt from this?

  1. Green is really unlucky having now found himself with ‘wife’ number 4 since 2015
  2. Vicq finally stands a chance at breeding, having spent the last two years in a female pairing
  3. Never make assumptions where choughs are involved!

The other solved mystery involved two choughs sporting only a yellow leg ring. We knew that one was Dingle as he is busy nest-building with his partner Red. The other, once caught, turned out to be Jaune so we replaced her missing cerise ring.

Tupperware party @ Sorel, 3pm

We have phased out the use of ceramic dishes for the supplemental feed. I’ve managed to find suitable sized Tupperware boxes with robust lids into which I drilled holes (16-19mm dia.). The holes allow slender chough bills to get to access the food. Spillage, aka rat food, is stopped by the lid. As too is rain, well light rain at least.

New food stations for the choughs to stop spillage and limit thieving magpies. Photo by Liz Corry.

The choughs initially ignored the Tupperware hence phasing in rather than completely switching. Once confident they were not a trap, the birds happily tucked in. The containers are screwed into the food stands for stability and easily removed for cleaning.

Release aviary modifications

We have bought aluminium sheeting from metal fabricators Raffray Ltd. They have cut and bent to shape the panels we need to attach to the aviary to stop rats climbing up and getting inside. The order arrived this month and will be fitted sometime after Easter. 

Raffray’s aluminium panels have arrived for the release aviary modifications. Photo by Liz Corry.

Rewild Jersey wheels

Another modification underway this month saw the project vehicle transform to Rewild Jersey featuring an agile frog and a chough. The new signage is all thanks to the design team at Durrell and Signtech.je.  Fingers crossed we don’t scratch it on the brambles driving down the Sorel track.

SORG spawn

Speaking of amphibians, the toads returned to the chough aviary in the Zoo (also known as SORG), and spawned in the shallow pond. Pond is probably too grand a term. Not that the toads seem to mind. The chough student, who services SORG each morning, has been keeping the water levels topped up and we now have tadpoles. I’m not sure which we will be more excited to see this year, chough chicks or toadlets?

British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) Conference 2021 

The choughs fought off stiff competition to secure a poster presentation slot at the 2020 BOU conference. Then Covid hit and the conference was cancelled. Not to be defeated, the entire event was transferred online via Zoom, Slack, and Twitter and held this month over three days.

For those of you on Twitter, search #BOU2021 and #chough or @Corry_Liz for the six tweet poster presentation thread. The poster itself can be viewed here:

 

Chough report: March 2020

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Welcome to Trinity Parish

Trinity residents, be on the lookout for unidentified flying black objects with red bills!

Honeydew, a 2-year old wild Jersey chough, popped by the Zoo on 23rd March. Perched on top of the chough enclosure, she peered down on the residents inside, had a quick preen, a good natter, then left.

Piecing together reports from Zoo staff, she was first spotted shortly before 8 am. Apparently perched outside a student’s bedroom window along Rue des Bouillons near the Zoo.

Note for future applicants – we have not trained the choughs to be your morning wake-up call.

Honeydew then paid a visit to our Finance Team (claiming expenses?). Their office is directly next to the chough aviary in the Zoo, prompting immediate panic that one of the birds had escaped.

Do not adjust yours sets – a wild chough visited the Zoo aviary. Photo by Liz Corry.

This was to be the first of many visits to the Zoo throughout March. It wasn’t possible to identify the individual chough on each visit. Honeydew was identified once. Bee, another 2-year old wild female, was seen twice. One report cited nesting material being carried by a chough flying around the La Fosse end of the site. Could they be nest building in the parish? 

Bracken still dominates the north east coast although there are foraging opportunities for choughs. Photo by Liz Corry.

Speculation intensified with confirmed sightings of a pair around Les Platons and Egypte. Having walked the dogs there on many occasions, I know that this section of coastline has great potential to support a breeding chough pair. Just imagine how many choughs Trinity could support with effective bracken management!

Google Earth image of coastline from Bouley Bay (top left) to Bonne Nuit Bay.

Latest edition to the chough team

Last summer, Diva Opera raised funds for Durrell yet again through their annual opera festival at Domaine-des-Vaux, Jersey. We were very grateful to hear that the money raised in 2019 was to be split between the chough project, to purchase a vehicle, and the Durrell Academy scholarship programme.

With funding secured, I approached several dealers on the Island to ask the impossible…can you supply a high clearance, 4WD, electric or hybrid vehicle with plenty of boot space for a third of the price you would expect to pay?

Unsurprisingly the answer was no.

Not to be defeated, Falles Motors and their Bagot Road dealership came up with the next best thing! Please welcome Diva the Dacia Duster. Rather aptly, she makes a lot of different noises thanks to her intelligent features.

New project vehicle donated by Diva Opera in association with Bagot Road Garage. Photo by Liz Corry.

She isn’t electric or hybrid, but we did select the most eco-friendly option from the range. Plus I can now leave my car at home and cycle to the office since it won’t be required.

Steve Rolland and Phil Valois at Bagot Road provided great service and support throughout. Even to the point of giving us a heads-up that the dealership may go into lockdown so collect the vehicle NOW!  Diva was put to immediate use and has already made several trips to the aviary to top-up the water tanks.

Having our own project vehicle will hopefully solve our lack of student placement uptake. Many students wishing to apply don’t own a vehicle. If they do, the costs incurred in bringing one over are often too great. Bicycles are all well and good until you need to take 20litres of water to Sorel.

Out with the old, in with the new

We replaced the free-standing roost box in the aviary with a brand spanking new one. For the few birds still sleeping at the aviary they need a sturdy, sheltered space to nap in. After seven years, the box we had was in a sorry state.

Mike from the Zoo’s Site Services team cut the wood, numbered all the parts, built it, then immediately dismantled it. Yes, he found this strange too! I had asked him to build it flat-pack to transport along the footpath (no Diva at that point).

I was joined at Sorel by two very good friends (and project partner) who helped me reassemble and hoist it into place. At this point in the pandemic, we were maintaining a social distance of 2 metres. We went into complete lockdown not long afterwards.

The Environment team’s young apprentice scheme set to work at Sorel. Photo by Liz Corry.

Fifty shades of grey

I received an emergency call from Ronez Quarry on 25th March. Staff had spotted a chough on the ground, wet and covered in rock dust. The mix of water and ‘dust’ created a consistency almost like wet cement clogging all the flight feathers. Staff scooped her up so I could take her to the Durrell vet on duty. From the leg rings I knew it was Pyrrho a female nesting in the quarry.

Pyrrho got into a spot of bother in the quarry. Photo by Liz Corry

Although lockdown had not kicked-in at this stage, Jersey Zoo had taken precautionary measures against COVID-19. The Vet Department was off-limits to keeping staff. Equipped with mask and gloves, I had to put Pyrrho down on the ground (in a box), step back, and let Andrew pick her up and disappear inside.

Several hours later he emerged. A broken man. A broken, yet victorious man. Andrew had a lot of cleaning to do of both bird and, in the aftermath, building.

Pleased to say, Pyrrho had no injuries other than a loss of dignity. I was able to release her back at Sorel once she had dried-out and had a chance to eat. She flew straight back towards the quarry. Hopefully she can avoid getting in that state again.

Pyrrho post-spa date with the vet. Photo by Liz Corry.

Sign of the times – nesting season

Lee collected wool from Sorel to finish building his nest. Photo by Liz Corry.

Several birds have been busy collecting wool to line nests. Notably Kevin, Lee, and Minty in the second week of March. Lots of ‘peacocking’ by the males and a couple of copulation events witnessed.

We finally had our first evidence of Jersey choughs using horse hair as lining material. Mainland choughs are known to use this and we provide it to the captive pairs. We have just never seen our choughs use it before despite the abundance of stables in the northern parishes.

Horse hair used by choughs to line their nests. Photo by Liz Corry.

Of the twelve males in the Jersey population, ten are paired up and show signs of wanting to nest this year. The other two, Minty and Mac, are only 10 months old and yet to be in a confirmed pair. So where was Minty  taking the wool?!

Love Island

Relationships blossoming this month are that of Vicq and Minty and Honeydew and Baie. The latter are both female. Don’t expect any chicks from that pairing. Nevertheless, their friendship means they can look out for each other if they run into the neighbourhood ruffians. They can also get those hard to reach spots when allo-preening.

There’s always that one hard to reach spot. Photo by Liz Corry.

Vicq and Minty on the other hand are the pair to vote for. Vicq was a newbie to nest-building last year. Osbourne, her partner at the time, is now missing presumed dead. Step forward Minty one of the two males from the 2019 wild-hatched cohort. With an older female to show him the way we could be hearing the pitter patter of tiny chough feet this summer.

We will do our best to follow all their progress over the coming months. Covid restrictions are likely to reduce our chances of that.

Anybody need any wool? Photo by Liz Corry.

Plémont

Plémont is home to our first successful chough family to breed away from the release site. Their ‘celebrity status’ hasn’t lasted long. Neither father nor fledgling have been seen for several months. Presumably dispersing to that great habitat in the sky. Or emigrating to Sark!? (We still haven’t confirmed the report from last Autumn).

Beaker and Beanie baby, who had been scouting out the area, moved in with Xaviour. Very modern. As the breeding season kicked in the trio stopped visiting Sorel for supplemental food. Beaker and one other chough were spotted feeding at Plémont on 7th March. A roost check confirmed choughs were still using the site.

The only sighting of them at Sorel for the month of March was on the 23rd. Slightly more concerned over Xaviour’s absence if she is playing third wheel to the couple. Hopefully just tied up nest-building and egg-laying. It is a very important job after all. 

Riding the (air) waves. Photo by Liz Corry.

Zoo news

With the various upheavals in the Bird Department brought on by COVID provision we left it a bit late in setting up the breeding pair in the Zoo. Tristan and Penny were still housed with their two girls now 10 months old. At the end of March keepers managed to catch up one of the youngsters and move her to an off-show aviary. The second juvenile cooperated a few days later. By then it was April so you will have to read the next report to find out what happened next.