Author Archives: RayHales

Eleven Eggs and Counting…

The breeding choughs at Paradise Park have now increased their total egg count to eleven.

Seclusion aviary nests showing eleven eggs

Three of the nests are progressing well, with counts of four, three, and four eggs respectively. The female in nest two laid the third egg this morning, and hopefully will add one or two more. We think that the females in nests one and three have now finished, as there have been no new eggs for several days.

The birds in nests four and five are still “faffing about”. This is a technical term used by chough breeders. It means that the birds are still adding (and subtracting) to the nests. Generally, the male will bring material into the nest and a few minutes later the female will take it out again!

However, the choughs in nests four and five were later last year – and they also built “looser” nests, so we are still expecting more eggs to come.

You can see the webcam here.

2016 Webcam Goes Live

The chough nests webcam at Paradise Park is now online. Click here to view.

Nest three female chough with horse hair

Our chough nests webcam is up and running. All five nests are progressing well. Nests 1, 3 & 5 are just ahead of 2 & 4, which is the same pattern as last year.

We start by giving the birds large twigs, and then move on to smaller twigs, sprigs of heather, and finally moss and horse hair and sheep wool.

For some reason the choughs prefer white horse hair to darker colours – possibly as it is closer to the colour of sheep wool.

Many thanks to Old Mill Stables at Lelant for their regular gift of horse hair.

Choughs are go…

Spring has finally sprung, and the choughs at Paradise Park are starting to build their nests.

CCTV Image of the five chough nests at Paradise Park

Our breeding choughs have now been installed in the seclusion aviaries ready for the 2016 breeding season. The birds were put into the aviaries in the first week of March, and all immediately started exploring the nest boxes and gathering twigs.

This year we have five breeding pairs. Four of the pairs are the same as last year – nest two has the same female, but a new male. Sadly the male in nest two died in the winter months.

Similar pairings means we should know what to expect from each pair in terms of nest-building, and the timing of egg-laying. Already the odd-numbered pairs (1, 3 & 5) are away to an early start with pairs 2 and 4 taking their time.

The webcam will be going live shortly, on the site and the main Paradise Park site.

Birds on the Edge January Update

The new year brings stormy weather and winter frosts, making life tougher for the Jersey choughs.

Frosty morning for the released birds. (Picture Liz Corry).

The choughs are now foraging in different locations, possibly due to less insects being available in their regular haunts.

The report features some more video footage showing the birds feeding in the release aviary. There is also footage of the birds enjoying a clear winter sky, with males showing a keen interest in the females in the group.

Blue and her partner in the release aviary. (Picture Liz Corry).

So far all the released choughs have done well over the winter months, and survival rates have exceeded expectations. However, the report does end with the news that Blue has gone missing. Blue is one of the first wild choughs to breed on Jersey – raising her son Dusty last summer.

The full Birds on the Edge post can be found here…

Birds on the Edge December Update

Seasonal news from the Birds on the Edge team.

The Jersey choughs admiring their Christmas tree.

The choughs decide to make life more interesting and visit a local shooting range!

There is also some wonderful video footage of the birds riding early morning thermal air currents, and a video of some bill trimming (don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt)

A Christmas wreath. The white decoration is not frost or snow.

The full Birds on the Edge post can be found here…

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Operation Chough!

Seasons Greetings from Operation Chough

We wish for another great year for choughs, more choughs breeding and flying free, and more friends and partners working together to achieve many future generations of our favourite red-billed birds.

(Please note : No choughs or Photoshops were harmed in the making of this image.)

With Best Wishes,

Ray & Alison Hales

Welcome Lawrence

We were pleased to meet Lawrence Sampson, the student chosen for a three-year PhD study with the title ‘The Restoration of an Extinct Kentish Icon: Feasibility of Reintroducing the Chough to Kent’. This will be at the University of Kent, in Canterbury – a city which features three choughs on its coat of arms.

Lawrence Sampson with Ray Hales and friends at Paradise Park (A Hales)

This project builds on the experience of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust which has pioneered bird reintroductions in Mauritius as well as the Chough reintroduction to Jersey through the Birds on the Edge project. The project will also partner with Operation Chough, based at Paradise Park in Cornwall, which has led the ex situ components of the reintroduction programme; Kent Wildlife Trust, which owns and manages a network of Local Wildlife Sites in the county; and Wildwood Trust in Kent, a leading centre for the conservation and rewilding of British Wildlife.

Canterbury Coat of Arms by Dan Escott

Supervisors for the study are Dr Dave Roberts, Dr Jim Groombridge, Dr Bob Smith, Professor Richard A. Griffiths, with Professor Carl Jones MBE as advisor.

Lawrence is from Cornwall, has a background in studying birds, and was chosen from a shortlist of excellent candidates. We will be happy to give him every assistance with his work and hoping that he finds a positive way forward towards the reintroduction of the chough to Kent.

Birds on the Edge November Update

November’s update from Jersey.

Chough making the most of a large beetle (Liz Corry)

The winter weather is now setting in, causing more difficulties for the monitoring team than for the choughs themselves.

There are some great videos, showing how the birds cope with the changing weather conditions – some even decide to find shelter “indoors”.

The full Birds on the Edge post can be found here…

Birds on the Edge October Update

Here is the latest news from Jersey posted by Liz Corry on the Birds on the Edge blog.

Choughs flying by moonlight (Liz Corry)

All twenty two choughs are still doing well, and coping with the shortening days, and autumnal weather.

The update has some beautiful large resolution images, and video clips, and shows interesting behaviour as the choughs adapt to the changing conditions.

We’re not going to spill all the beans, so check out the full report on the Birds on the Edge blog here…

Finished at Last!

Welcome to the new Operation Chough website – a site for all dedicated Pyrrhomaniacs.

Ray Hales and hand-reared chough Ruby (A Hales)

Ray Hales “Pyrrhomaniac” and hand-reared chough Ruby (A Hales)

Pyrrhomaniac

Noun: A person who loves all things related to, or appertaining to, the Red-Billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax).

Defn: “These people are known to spend hours standing out in all weathers on the coast, waiting for the slightest glimpse of their favourite bird. In the breeding season they will sit on the cliffs and get sunstroke while watching over nest sites, or will spend hours collecting ants for the birds they are breeding.

They are also known to show a keen interest in bugs, and places where bugs live. They are not averse to flipping over cow-pats in search of bugs. They have even been found collecting cow-pats in buckets to examine the bug treasure within. They are not to be pitied – they are merely enthralled by this fabulous creature”

I welcome all my fellow Pyrrhomaniacs.

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