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…
Welcome to the new Operation Chough website – a site for all dedicated Pyrrhomaniacs.
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.
We are very sad that one of our favourite choughs, ‘Piran’, has died. He was an exuberant – even boisterous – fellow, who often featured in the Free-Flying Bird Show here at Paradise Park.
Red-billed Chough ‘Piran’ (A Hales)
Piran was hand-reared at Paignton Zoo, and as such was extremely tame. He was introduced to another friendly chough “Oggie” who was reared at Paradise Park, and they became good companions.
Piran in the Free-Flying Bird Show at Paradise Park (A Hales)
Having friendly choughs at Paradise Park has always been an important way for us to show how wonderful this species is. They are very popular with our visitors – to see them close up, flying free, and even to give them a tickle, is a unique experience.
Piran died suddenly and without any indication of ill health, but a post mortem showed that he had a kidney problem. He will be greatly missed by all at Paradise Park.
In September, we set off once again to see how the released birds from Paradise Park were doing on their new island home. The weather was set fair for our three day visit, and we spent most of the time around the coast at Sorel Point.
Choughs feeding in fields near the release site, with Sark in the distance. (A Hales)
The birds themselves were behaving just like any other choughs we have seen in the wild, spending most of the time heads-down foraging. Each bird has a combination of coloured leg rings, making it possible to identify individuals. The newly-released birds can also be picked out as they have a small tracker aerial attached to their tails.
Bred at Paradise Park in 2015: The blue and while leg rings show this is ‘Noir’. (A Hales)
It was quite an emotional experience, seeing the birds again. Back in May and June these were the birds we were supplementary feeding in their nests at Paradise Park. Some of these youngsters weighed less than twenty grams when we were rearing them, and now here they were learning about life in the wild.
Friends and Enemies
Their flying skills were truly remarkable – one moment the birds would be on the ground feeding, the next they would be hundreds of feet up in the air. They had become experts at riding thermals, and could move great distances with very little effort. They were also becoming well acquainted with their neighbours – namely Peregrine Falcons and Ravens…
A Peregrine Falcon on patrol – a possible hazard to inexperienced birds. (A Hales)
The choughs also have one or two friends – actually more like one or two hundred. The flock of Manx loaghtan sheep has now grown to about two hundred, and they spend most of the time browsing the vegetation and trampling down the ever-growing bracken. They have even provided some of the lining material for the breeding birds’ nests. In some of the hotter days in the summer the choughs have also taken advantage of their water bowser to quench their thirst.
Me and my sheep – a chough following one of the Manx loaghtan flock. (A Hales)
We were so impressed with the dedication of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust staff and volunteers working with the choughs. The time we spent on the cliffs was truly splendid, the last few days of an Indian summer surrounded by some incredible wildlife – I even got a glimpse of a Dartford Warbler – a bird I have been wanting to see for forty years! (Well worth the wait).
Ray Hales
