Close Encounters of the Feathered Kind (2)

Back on August 13th I posted on the subject of close (in-hand) encounters with two birds, a Crested tern and a Seychelles warbler, that had their respective problems but thankfully appeared to be ok following a little assistance. During my last visit two more birds were encountered up close

Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis) – as detailed in my post of November 29th the island experienced a large influx of Amur Falcons recently. What I didn’t mention was that one bird was found dead and another in a highly weakened state. Fortunately Dr Alan Greenwood a wildlife veterinary specialist was on the island (as part of another project which I will post on in the coming weeks) and was able to help with the stricken bird. The falcon was weak, a little skinny and doubtless exhausted from its long journey. On closer inspection its wings and tail feathers were also found to be “gummed up” with the silk from a palm spider web which appeared to be preventing it from flying. Alan took the bird into his care and gave it a special re-hydration fluid and then proceeded to feed it with some choice cuts of fresh raw chicken we were able to obtain from the poultry slaughter house. Initially reluctant and uncooperative the falcon soon seemed to realise that it was on to a good deal with Alan and became relaxed in hand and readily took the proffered food until Alan was satisfied that its crop was suitably full. Then, with plumage cleaned of spider’s web, the Falcon was kept in a box and fed several times over the next 48 hours before its release, apparently much better off for the experience!

Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) – Mr Francois Hoareau the Village Coordinator of the island’s estate called me on 26th November and told me he had found a duck the previous day, picked it up and put it in the poultry farm. I went with Francois to see the duck and immediately saw that it was a Ferruginous duck (also known as a white-eyed Pochard) with the typical white wing bar and white eyes. The ferruginous duck originates predominantly from Eastern Europe through Russia and Mongolia and is an occasional vagrant to Seychelles. Francois had found the bird bathing in a puddle at the pig farm. Clearly the bird was exhausted from its journey as it had offered no resistance when he went to pick it up. I inspected the bird and it seemed in reasonable condition it was not too skinny, plumage was intact and it was now quite lively in the hand doubtless aided by a night’s rest and the readily available feed and water in its pen. We decided to keep the bird in the pen for another night before releasing it the next day.

Fairy Tern and Tropicbird Progress 6

When I wasn’t looking at Falcons and Bee-eaters I managed on the afternoon of the 24th November to get round and check on the terns and tropicbirds I have been following on the blog over the previous weeks.

Fairy Terns:

• The second chick has now left its perch, I checked every day during my stay and didn’t see it. There had been very strong winds the week before (an event doubtless also related to the influx of bee-eaters and Falcons reported in the post below) and it is likely that these drove the bird from its perch which was quite exposed and near the beach. The bird was well-developed however and I am optimistic that it was sufficiently independent to survive.
• Fred was still on his perch and has further grown with good plumage development now evident and tail feathers developing. I have added “his” latest photo to the development timeline in the sidebar at the bottom of this page.
• Interestingly on an adjacent branch on the same tree another adult Fairy tern has commenced incubation.

Tropicbirds:

• Tina is now getting big and her plumage is developing rapidly. She looks very healthy and I have added the latest photo to “her” development timeline at the foot of this page.
• The second ground nest is currently not occupied, but the first is and I am delighted to say that it now also has a newly-hatched chick. This is the second confirmed chick in a ground nest following the rat eradication and reaffirms the good progress being made in the island’s ecosystem rehabilitation.

An Extraordinary Day…

I arrived on Denis early on the afternoon of Monday 24th and on leaving the airport area and heading towards the hotel I immediately became aware of a new and unusual bird call – a high-pitched staccato trill. Looking up I saw several bright green birds stunting and swooping in the air, Bee-eaters were flying everywhere! In truth this was not such a surprise as I had been contacted a few days before by Adrian Skerrett of the Seychelles Birds Record Committee (SBRC - see link in sidebar). Adrian had informed me that several islands in the archipelago had reported an influx of bee-eaters in the preceding days and wanted to know what the status on Denis was. What was surprising was the shear number of them. Every prominent perch on every tree and bush along the path seemed to hold one of these beautiful green creatures and the air in every clearing and break in the canopy was alive with the birds darting and swooping in pursuit of their insect prey. I stopped to watch a bird on its perch, every few seconds it swooped off hawking for an insect before veering round to return once more to its previous vantage point – such activity was repeated on practically every prominent branch along my route.

This in itself was remarkable enough but once at the hotel the resident manager Paul Horner advised me that there were some 50 or more falcons on the island as well!!! To be honest I was rather sceptical that there could possibly so many birds of prey on the island at one time and thought it likely there were maybe half-a-dozen or so birds of prey that in their circling might give the impression of being more numerous. I rapidly revised this opinion on walking down the runway, however, falcons were everywhere it was astonishing and they were equally abundant down the east coast in the area called Belle Etoile - I have never seen anything like it before and 50 birds appeared a fair estimate of their number.

The combination of these occurrences changed the whole ambience of the island and imbued a certain sense of awe to the whole scene. It reminded me of the feeling I used to get during my first year in Seychelles when every few days I would encounter something new, exotic and remarkable – it was an extraordinary day.

Species.

The bee-eater was of the blue-cheeked variety – Blue-cheeked bee-eater (Merops persicus) - which occurs from northern Egypt through the Middle East to Pakistan and India, and overwinters in Africa. It furthermore lived up to its name on Denis cleaning out the hives at the apiary and according to the hotel gardeners decimating the wasp population too!

Birds of Prey, like certain waders, due to the similarity of various species can be rather difficult to identify and this is certainly not my field of expertise – but the falcons were predominantly Amur Falcons (Falco amurensis) as the adult male has very distinctive plumage and once having seen that it made it easier to zero in on the plumage characteristics of the female. The Amur falcon breeds in northeast Asia and migrates to southeast Africa.
There was however at least one other species present with birds being noticeably larger _ I was unable to get a good look at these birds but Catherina and others also saw them and believe they may have been Eurasian hobbies (Falco subbuteo). As I said several species are quite similar and we will be sending photos to the SBRC to try and pin down identifications.

Numbers.

On an island like Denis, quite large and heavily forested, it is very hard to estimate how many land birds there may be. On Monday when I arrived however, the bee-eaters were the most abundant bird in the air in clearings and on walking around the island later, as part of my normal duties, they were also present in considerable numbers round the coast and in particular the east coast and my estimate would have been several hundred (i.e. 3-500 birds). On Tuesday the numbers were significantly reduced and yet that evening there were more than a hundred of the birds hawking over the runway alone! The decline continued over the next two days with a marked reduction each day but even so on my departure around midday on Thursday there must still have been between at least 50 bee-eaters on the island. Furthermore I am told by Catherina and other island residents that the first birds were noted on the afternoon of Wednesday 19th and that by the day of my arrival numbers had already significantly reduced from the peak of Saturday. Putting these observations together would suggest that there were at least 500 bee-eaters on the island over the weekend.

With regard to the Falcons I think 40-50 is a good estimate with the birds concentrated in and around the runway and also down the Belle Etoile (east) coast. I have never seen so many birds of prey together at one time and it was a truly amazing sight! On Tuesday morning Catherina and Paul Horner undertook a count along the runway and encountered 23 birds of prey in just one transect! Numbers declined noticeably from Tuesday to Thursday. The birds were best seen perched along and hunting over the runway. They could hover - almost harrier-like - when facing into the wind and would swoop down onto the runway to take insects and lizards – but also birds! I received several reports of the falcons taking bee-eaters and also a turtle dove. I latterly also saw for myself thanks to the help of an estate staff member a female falcon feeding on a bee-eater.
With regard to the larger bird of prey species, I think there were only 2 or 3 on the island.

News round-up

(Please note that this post was written Monday the 24th November but due to internet problems is only being posted now).

Sorry for the delay in posting but things have been pretty hectic lately, sadly mostly due to dull, ineffectual committee meetings which one has to attend just in case something important is raised – but of course it generally isn’t!!!

We should, however, have some exciting new developments on Denis in the coming days and I hope very much to be able to report back to you on Denis’ role in a new conservation first sometime next week… so keep checking back.

In the meantime let me just summarise matters from my visit to the island of November 14th-16th which I haven’t reported on yet:

• Fairy tern and Tropicbird progress:
  Fred and Tina are both progressing well and I have added the latest photos at the foot of the page. The first fairy tern juvenile appears to have finally left its perch which is good, whilst the second now appears adult except for the remnant brown barring on its wings. Only one of the other two tropicbird ground nests is currently occupied but does give the impression it may be incubating.
• Shearwater colony:
  All appears well at the shearwater colony with the egg I previously reported on still under incubation (see posts of November 7th and October 26th).
• SMR update:
  Great news that we have a new chick in Territory 1 and also that the juvenile under Catherina’s captive care appears well on the way to recovery which is most encouraging. The new pair that we hoped was forming in the southern portion of the island (see post of October 7th), however, appears to have failed. the female is no longer resident there and the male has been found wandering further afield no doubt in search of the female. The female has not been seen for a few days now but it is assumed that she has resumed floating – so I will keep you up updated on developments.
• Migratory birds:
  There has been a notable decline in the number of wading birds around the island recently but I did twice see the juvenile Purple heron during my last visit so that is still resident having first been seen on October 3rd (see post of October 5th).
  
  

Shells 1 – Trochus virgatus

In recent weeks I have been undertaking frequent circuits of the island to count turtle tracks. This has also given me the opportunity to note the various species of shells that are washed up at high tide. One of the projects under the island’s biodiversity plan is to survey the marine life on the surrounding reef flats and whilst that activity is not scheduled for another couple of years, identification of shells on the beach is as good a starting point as any.

Of course many of the shells washed up are old or damaged and not of sufficient quality for good photographs to be taken such that readers can readily identify the species in question from the photo on the blog. So in each case I will only post on a species when I encounter a good quality and characteristic shell specimen.

So I start today with Trochus virgatus. The Trochidae are a family of medium to large sea snails with conical shells that typically graze on algae though some eat sponges. T. virgatus is very similar to T. maculatus with one of the key differences being that the columella of maculatus is toothed. Jarrett (2000) states that T. virgatus is common in Seychelles being typically found in secure niches on the open reef.

Simply click on the photos below to enlarge.

(Photos J Nevill 2008).

Jarrett, A.G. (2000): Marine Shells of the Seychelles. Carole Green Publishing, Cambridge, UK. ISBN 1 903479 00 2

National television coverage for environmental work on Denis Island…

I was not able to undertake my usual routine during my latest visit to Denis – firstly I was rather unceremoniously bumped from the flight going up on Thursday due to the fact that the plane was overloaded!!! So after waiting for my luggage to be offloaded I had to then head back to the office, only to go back out to the airport the next day. Fortunately I was allowed on the Friday flight and hence was able to check on the Fairy tern and Tropicbird chicks we have been following that afternoon.

On Saturday however, there was a morning flight that brought in Ms. Srdjana Janosevic and Mr. Humbert Mellie from the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation – the national television company. Srdjana had been made aware of this blog by Lena Desaubin (Director of Education, Information and Communications at the Department of Environment) and having read through it was interested to come and film some of the work we are doing on the island for a national TV spot and perhaps also for wider distribution.

So on Saturday morning and afternoon, we went round the island and Humbert took the opportunity to film our “famed” fairy tern and tropicbird chicks “Fred and Tina”, the shearwater colony, some good footage of Magpie robins, good close ups of an adult tropicbird, a sub-adult Brown noddy, Bridled terns etc… later that afternoon they interviewed hotel staff and took more scenic shots round the island.

We were up nice and early on Sunday morning to accompany Catherina on her morning round to provide the magpie robins with their first supplementary feed of the day. We started off at Catherina’s place to film her feeding the captive juvenile under her care and then we headed off. Humbert got some great footage of the robins coming to their feeding stations in three different territories meaning he and Srdjana should be spoilt for choice in the editing room. Catherina was also interviewed about her work and the robins. She then went and checked on a nest in Territory 1 and was able to confirm that the new chick there is progressing well.

We spent the rest of the morning trying to fill in a few gaps with footage of the giant tortoises, the large day gecko, the Seychelles warbler, more shots around the hotel and additional scenery etc…

Srdjana will let me know in due course when the footage will be aired on national TV and will also be posting footage on various internet sites – the links to which I will include on this blog in due course, to enable those who are interested to go and view it. There is also the intention to submit footage to an international carrier/network and likewise I will advise readers on that as and when I hear myself. So keep checking back for information!

Our sincere thanks go to Srdjana, Humbert, Lena and the SBC for showing interest in our work.

SMR update.

The Seychelles magpie robin is a ground feeding bird, its favoured method of foraging is turning leaf litter and eating the invertebrates concealed beneath, it will however also take young lizards and small fish dropped by seabirds etc… The birds on Denis have been habituated to supplementary feeding on bird tables with special food mix prepared by Catherina. They are also opportunistic however, and often when I encounter a bird on the island I will disturb the leaf litter with my feet over an area of a square metre or two and then move a few yards away. The bird, eyes-a-glitter, rapidly descends and having cocked a sidelong glance at you to make sure you are far enough away for its comfort begins to feast on the exposed invertebrates.

A logistical mishap late Tuesday afternoon left me without a room to change etc.. and whilst I waited at the old settlement north of the runway I saw one of the single males sitting on a branch in a Banyan tree. I kicked up some leaf litter and took the opportunity to take a few photos (see sidebar).

The next morning I went to check on the captive chick which I reported on in my post of November 3rd. As I approached the aviary on Catherina’s veranda the bird was giving repetitive rasping and plaintive call. So, having checked that it had water, I set about trying to find it some food by digging around in the adjacent undergrowth and turning logs etc… Over the next 30 minutes or so I was able to bring it quite a feast of small cockroaches which are amongst their favourite food. When I approached to proffer the food the chick, with its mouth gaping yellow, would begin begging louder and louder reaching a crescendo at the point when it would pluck the cockroach from between my fingers.

I did not take the bird out to examine it or take photos (because they would have necessitated a flash) as I did not want to unduly stress it, but it looked quite healthy and I will follow up with Catherina in due course as to the status of its wing.

Keeping checking back for updates!

Fairy Tern and Tropicbird Progress (5).

Fred is developing very well with significant growth again to be noted. I will rearrange previous photographs and add them to the bottom of the page so that the progress of Fred and Tina can be followed through time so scroll down for those dated images.

The second juvenile is also developing well with plumage near fully developed and the juvenile barring on its wings fading. The first juvenile however continues to give me cause for concern for although it now appears fully developed I have yet to see it fly from its perch.

The tropicbird adults are still at their nest sites but I have yet to verify whether they are indeed now incubating. Tina however shows considerable growth and has now largely lost her cute fluffy appearance with extensive plumage development now apparent. Again scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the development of Tina through time in dated photographs.

Bird Bulletin 9

During my most recent visit to Denis (4 – 6 November) I noted some interesting activity and changes in the island’s bird population:

• I checked on the shearwater colony and was this time able to get a much better photo of the adult shearwater incubating its egg (see sidebar and also my post of 26th October) and all seems well.
• There has been a significant decline over the last week in the number of wading birds on the island. I don’t know why this should be but the number of Whimbrels has dropped dramatically to just a handful and there has been a significant decline in the number of Turnstones. Likewise I noted only one Crab plover, a few Sand plovers, one Ringed plover, one Pratincole and I didn’t see a single Grey plover. This represents a very dramatic change and I can only suggest that it may be linked to the very calm and hot weather we have been experiencing lately.
• Furthermore Crested tern numbers have dropped from a record high of 14 over the last few weeks to just 2.
• The bridled tern roost also appears to have dispersed though individual birds are still to be seen perched on the mooring buoys during the day.
• I noted interesting behaviour amongst the fairy terns that I have not noticed before. It is usual to see fairy terns in pairs or threes in their swooping flight display particularly along the coastline and I have on several occasions in the past observed them in large numbers mobbing a migrant bird of prey. On Tuesday 2nd however I noted between 40 or 50 of them flying together very high up (several hundred feet), circling and tumbling, for about 10 minutes. There was no other bird amongst them – so this was not a mobbing event – something new for this observer.
• As an aside I also noted a sub-adult Brown noddy in the hotel garden. It is perched on a low ornamental palm and has clearly fallen out of its nest in a nearby coconut palm. The bird is well-developed with only slight traces of its juvenile plumage still visible, and it is being tended to by its parents so it should be fine. It does however offer an interesting start to the guest nature walks as they do not usually get such a good view of this species.
  

Nature Watch 3

Flying in on Tuesday 4th October Denis was picture perfect – there had a been some rain in the preceding week and the foliage showed a fresher green whilst the sea was as still and clear round the island as I have ever seen it. As we circled before final approach over the shoals to the northwest I looked down in the hope of seeing some wildlife in the water The water being so clear I had high expectations but on the approach I was disappointed to only see one turtle surfacing for a breather.

On arrival I made my usual check on the fairy tern juveniles that I have been following over the last couple of months and I will post on that later.

In recent weeks I have been undertaking thorough beach checks each time I visit in order to count turtle tracks (see post of October 22nd). It takes a good couple of hours to walk round the island and it is hard work with the sand very soft and fine in places and trees down blocking the way in others. It is also however a great opportunity to take in the beauty of the island and make various natural history observations.

Walking the beach on Thursday (6th) morning on the southwest beach I noted a turtle close in shore head above the water checking out the beach. It is normal for hawksbills to survey a beach before coming ashore, I assume to assess whether it is safe. The animal only being about 10 metres or so offshore, I hid behind a tree and kept still hoping it may soon emerge to nest. Whilst watching it cruise around in the shallow water my eye was caught by movement further offshore – there was a second animal about 40 metres out also surveying the beach. Over the next 5 minutes I realised there were at least 4 (and I believe 5) hawksbill turtles all within 50-60 metres of the shore all apparently assessing the beach as a suitable nesting site!!! I waited for some 20 minutes convinced that one would emerge at any moment but without luck. The need for me to finish my rounds in time to catch my plane off the island meant I had to move on but I am certain that 2 or more of these animals will have nested soon after.

One frequently encounters hermit crabs on the beach during a turtle track count and as per previous posts (see posts of July 16th and September 10th) recent GIF research has indicated that the populations on the island may be limited by a shortage of suitable shells for the crabs to grow into. Casual observations seem to support this as I encounter very large numbers of small crabs in neritas spp shells etc… but much fewer larger ones in turbo shells. Furthermore many of the larger hermits have clearly outgrown their shells. When a crab fits well into its shell its large chela (claw) and one leg should fill and close the shell aperture, effectively “closing the door” and protecting the animal from attack when it retreats within. I am however frequently finding specimens where several and even all the limbs remain exposed when the crab seeks refuge and this presumably makes the animal much more vulnerable to predation from species such as the crab plover.

Also during my rounds I have been paying closer attention to the old shells washed up at high tide and I have been photographing specimens which are still in reasonable condition to enable species identification and I hope to start making occasional posts on this in the coming weeks.

Check back regularly for further observations, news and updates!

SMR News 5: “Trials and tribulations…”

Well it seems hard times abound and not just for financial institutions, IMF indebted countries and Joe the plumber!! Not all goes smoothly for the Seychelles magpie robin in paradise either. Well I suppose if it was easy they wouldn’t be endangered…

So in the tried and tested formula, I’ll start with the good news and let it deteriorate from there…

• The fledgling from T3 is well and prospering and continues to harass its parents for food.


• The pullus from territory 4 (that I reported on as egg in Bird Bulletin 7) fledged on the 13th of October – yes it was a little further advanced than we had appreciated!


• On the 24th of October Catherina also observed the female of territory 1 entering a natural cavity in a Casuarina tree suggesting that breeding activity has recommenced there.

SMR TERRITORY MAP AS OF END OF OCTOBER 2008

CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

On the 14th of October however Catherina noted that the new fledgling from T4 was having some difficulties. She captured it to examine it and found that the skin on one wing appeared old and shrivelled and that the feathers there were falling out and breaking (see photos in sidebar). The area was also attracting flies and as we all know there is no fooling them! So Catherina took the bird into captivity and treated the skin with terramycin spray whilst seeking advice from veterinary specialists overseas – via Rachel Bristol of Nature Seychelles.

The primary concern initially of course was that the longer the bird was away from its parents the more likely they would reject it when it was returned. To counter this Catherina returned it frequently, in a small carrying aviary to its territory so that the parents could see and interact with their offspring. Feedback from the vets however ultimately resulted in the recommendation that the bird should be kept in captivity and hand reared. So Catherina has set up a small aviary on her veranda to facilitate the hourly feeding her new dependent requires. To date the bird appears otherwise healthy, but this development is less than encouraging. Of the 4 chicks the island has produced so far the first was lost to a likely Myna bird attack whilst still a nestling, the third appeared to have a physical deformity of its legs and died within a couple of days of fledging and now this the fourth is manifesting other problems. The second fledgling continues to prosper.

Of course, as I have previously stated, juvenile mortality in SMRs is known to be high and it is for that reason we do not count a bird as part of the population until it has reached full independence. Nevertheless it is to be hoped that average success will ultimately exceed 1 in 4 particularly at this crucial formative stage of the new colony where a rapid increase in numbers is so desirable for the future resilience of the population.
Keep checking back for news on our captive chick and the population in general.

Migratory Birds Report 2

Catherina, I and others are keeping our eyes peeled for migratory birds and so building on my first report (posted on October 5th) and in addition to the normal large numbers of whimbrel and turnstone, we have the following to report.

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula): a single bird seen in the hotel gardens, and on the east coast reef flats.

Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola): total numbers of wading birds of any particular species round the island are very difficult to estimate as the birds are often dispersed around the coast and are of course much more mobile than your average observer. It is clear however we have several grey plovers (5-6) on the island at this time.

Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola): there are at least 2 and possibly as many as 4 of these elegant birds on the island being most commonly seen around Pointe l’Est

Gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica): During the 9th and 10th of October I observed 1 bird on three separate occasions flying quite low over the coast, twice around Pte Mme Guichard and once on the west coast by the runway.

Catherina has two interesting records of a European turtle dove (Streptopelia picturata) on the 5th of October and a Common pratincole (Glareola pratincola) on the 6th.

Finally Mr Mickey Mason, an island resident, spotted mid-month an unusual visitor along the coast and was able to take some photos from a distance (see sidebar), as per his own description:

“I found a tern last weekend flying over the beach and diving for food amongst weed and debris. It has graceful flight but quite agile, turns sharply to dive and hover above the beach when it has noticed something of interest. Looks like a type of Marsh tern[1]… sorry about the photo quality.”

This information and the photos of the bird have been forwarded to Mr. Adrian Skerrett of the Seychelles Bird Record Committee (see link in sidebar) in the hope that it may be possible to make a verified identification.

[1] (a) Chlidonias hybridus: whiskered or marsh tern; (b) Chlidonias leucopterus: white-winged or marsh tern

Fairy Tern and Tropicbird Progress (4).

As usual the first thing I checked on arrival on Thursday 23rd was the status of the three fairy tern juveniles that I have been following over the preceding weeks and reporting on in the earlier editions of this post.
• As with two weeks ago the first juvenile looks fully developed except for the lack of the purple colouration at the base of its bill. I am becoming a little concerned however that this bird is always on its perch. I have yet to see it fly and does seem rather passive. Those of you that have followed the earlier posts on this topic will recall that I started these observations because an unusually high number of fairy tern chicks seemed to be dying around the island in the preceding months suggesting perhaps that there was a food shortage. I do hope that this bird is not following that route.
• The second chick that we have followed since hatchling is progressing well. As reported 2 weeks ago it is alert and already flying. Its plumage has further developed in the interim and the juvenile barring on the wings is becoming less prominent.
• Our third chick “Fred” which we have been following since it was an egg(!) is also showing good growth and development, “he” is very alert and has taken to moving up and down his branch. The plumage however is still very much that of a chick.

Moving on to the Tropicbirds I have very encouraging news:
• The first nest site that had been unoccupied during my checks over the last four weeks again has an adult in place – so let’s hope for an egg this time!
• The adult is still present at the second site and I have still been unable to determine if there is an egg being incubated – the single large brick-red egg typically takes some 6 weeks to hatch and is incubated in turn by both parents.
• Tina our chick appears very well, she is alert appears in good condition and has grown significantly such that the first proper juvenile plumage with black barring is now evident (see photo in sidebar).

Check back regularly for further updates on Fred and Tina’s progress.

Shear(water) Delight – Another first for Denis Island!!!

In previous posts (see August 18th and October 19th) I have written of the re-establishment of a small Wedge-tailed shearwater (Puffinus pacificus) colony on Denis and the significance this has as an indicator of the rehabilitation of the island’s ecosystem since the rat eradication of 2002. As of November 2007, a small colony of burrows was found on the east coast of the island but at that time I was unable to find proof of breeding activity. The shearwater may breed at any time but shows a distinct peak in breeding activity September through February. I have, therefore, been monitoring the burrows closely over the last 4-6 weeks in the hope of finding evidence of breeding and thereby prove the species is indeed once again established on Denis.
So I am very happy to relate that on Thursday 23rd October I found, and was able to photograph (see photos in sidebar), an adult shearwater incubating an egg in one of the burrows!!! This therefore now verifiably proves that the species has established a small breeding colony on the island – yet another exciting landmark for Denis.

Skerrett et al (2001) state of wedge-tailed shearwaters that:

“Sexes share incubation, each shift lasting several days. Incubation usually takes 50-54… and chicks fledge after three months.”

I will continue to keep a close eye on our small colony in the coming weeks and hopefully in due course I will be able to find more eggs and record the subsequent chicks. So keep checking back for updates!

It doesn’t stop there however, Mr Paul Horner the hotel manager, has advised me that in recent days he has twice had call to remove from the hotel restaurant what, as per his description, sounds very much like an Audubon’s shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri); the bird having become confused by the restaurant lights. I have asked him to photograph the bird should the incident reoccur as if it can be confirmed as an Audubon’s this would suggest that this species may also now be roosting on the island!!!

Skerrett et al (2001): Birds of Seychelles. Christopher Helm (publishers) Ltd. London.

The Hawksbill Turtle Season Begins…

When Denis De Trobriand discovered Denis in 1773 he described turtles as abundant in the waters around the island. Two species of turtle are still to be found nesting on Denis today – if in much reduced numbers from the abundant days of De Trobriand.

The Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests on Denis in small numbers year round with a peak of activity in April through June. The Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) has a much more distinct nesting season (October – February) which is now commencing on Denis.

The hawksbill is classified as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union and Seychelles is one of the best five remaining locations in the world for the species (Meylan & Donnelly 1999).

Threatened by hunting for its shell (known as tortoiseshell) and loss of habitat – most critically nesting habitat – the hawksbill has received full protection under the law in Seychelles since 1994. Despite the success of certain protected area nesting sites the overall population has continued to decline (Mortimer 2004) with loss of nesting habitat to tourism development and activity being considered the primary ongoing problem.

Denis Island is member of the “Turtle Action Group Seychelles” (TAGS) which is a newly-formed association of some 14 agencies that manage turtle rookeries (nesting areas). As a requirement of its membership Denis must collect information on its nesting turtle populations and submit it to a national stakeholder database operated by TAGS. Data has been collected in the past on nesting turtles but limited human capacity has and continues to be the primary constraint to the consistent collection of standardised data. During the peak of the season thorough monitoring on Denis would entail at least two people working full-time. It is hoped that for season commencing in 2009 that designated accommodation will be available on the island to enable basic but thorough data collection to be undertaken by volunteers.

In the meantime however efforts will be made to gather the most basic form of data through the counting of tracks on the beach. Although turtles by no means nest successfully every time they come ashore the body of work by Dr Jeanne Mortimer has enabled a ratio of beachings per nest to be established for the Seychelles hawksbill population and this can be used to estimate the number of females actually nesting on Denis.

I will in due course periodically report on the progress of the season and set this in the context of management measures. This information will help guide management activity on the island and identify issues to be mitigated in order to optimise the breeding success of the hawksbill rookery on Denis. So check back regularly for news on the season as it progresses!

Meylan, A.B. & Donnelly, M. (1999). Status and justification for listing the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) as Critically Endanagered on the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened animals. Chelonian Conserbvation and Biology 3 (2): 200 – 224.
Mortimer, J.A. 2004. Seychelles Marine Ecosystem Management Project (SEYMEMP): Turtle Component. Final Report. Vol 1: Text, 243 pages. Vol 2: Appendix 1-11, 158 pages.

Denis Island turns the corner…

This blog is one means of publicising the work Denis Island Development (Pty) Limited and GIF are undertaking, on Denis Island. The web is not available to all however and as such we also utilise other media to raise awareness and share information with stakeholders, interested parties and the general public. The article below is published in today’s (October 20th) Seychelles Nation newspaper. I have also posted a photo of the article below – click on this photo to see the article and its images in full size.

Denis Island turns the corner…

Denis Island began its ecosystem restoration programme 10 years ago when it undertook a preliminary alien mammal species assessment. Cats were subsequently eradicated in 2000 and rats in 2002. This is very important as Seychelles naturally has no terrestrial mammals, except for two species of bat, and the fauna and flora of the islands have evolved therefore without the necessary adaptations to cope with the impacts of animals such as rats, cats, pigs and goats. Today Denis represents 17.5% of the rat-free land in the central archipelago and is thus vital to several national conservation initiatives.

Denis Island has embraced stakeholder partnership as a means of furthering its own and national environmental objectives. In 1999-2001 Denis worked with Nature Seychelles to rehabilitate 35 hectares of broadleaved woodland habitat on the island in order to enable the introduction of rare endemic birds. In 2004 the rare Seychelles fody and Seychelles warbler were introduced and monitoring over subsequent years has shown that the populations have established well and are expanding. Then in June of this year, again in partnership with Nature Seychelles, 20 endangered Magpie robins were introduced and here too progress is very encouraging with island’s first fledgling developing well.

In 2006 Denis signed an agreement with the Green Islands Foundation (GIF), a local NGO, to develop an environmental management plan and provide technical support for its environmental initiatives. Since that time GIF has initiated various programmes on Denis, developed the island’s ecotourism product and established various databases. The monitoring undertaken has come at a crucial time and has recorded some major landmarks in the natural recovery of the island’s ecosystem post the 2002 rat eradication.
Over the last year Frigate birds have established a regular roost on the island with up to 50 birds being recorded; and a relatively large roost (200 – 300) of Bridled terns has also started to utilise the island out of breeding season.

Ground nesting seabirds are particularly vulnerable to rats and cats and so seabird occurrence has been monitored closely. In November of 2007 there was a most encouraging discovery of a small colony of wedge-tailed shearwaters. This bird excavates burrows underground in which to roost and breed. The new colony consists of only 20 or so burrows but has expanded over the last year and represents a major breakthrough in the recovery of the island’s ecosystem.Over the last 3 years a few pairs of white-tailed tropicbird have been noted to breed on the island in some tree cavities and also one high up in the lighthouse! What was really awaited however, was the first occurrence of ground nesting. Then last month, having seen none over the preceding 3 years, 3 adults were found nesting on the ground within 24 hours and the island now has its first tropicbird chick in a ground nest!!

These discoveries are fantastic news as they really show that the island has turned a corner in its recovery such that wild species like the shearwater and tropicbird are once again finding it suitable to establish colonies.

These developments are the fruit of 10 years of work and investment by Denis Island and show that man can work to restore island ecosystems and furthermore do so within the context of tourism and landscape production activities. This progress demonstrates that development and conservation can be undertaken side-by-side and indeed in the case of Denis can be considered interdependent. After all it is the revenue from the tourism development and landscape production activities that subsidises the rehabilitation and conservation programmes. Now these programmes have in turn resulted in a healthy and more productive ecosystem and an enriched ecotourism product for the resort.

Tori’s View.

I have received word from our volunteers Tori Yates and Vicki Wheeler who have graduated from their course with distinction so congratulations to them both!!! Tori has been kind enough to write a post about her time on the island which I attach below.

From May to July 2008 my colleague, Vicki wheeler, and I worked on Denis Island as Volunteers for the Green Islands Foundation. Sitting now in my flat in Reading, UK; Denis seems a million miles away! Vicki and I worked on two projects on the island:
· a project to re-establish a sooty tern colony, and
· a project to investigate the hermit crab populations on the island their status and habitat associations.
These projects contributed to our MSc studies on Wildlife Management and Conservation at the University of Reading.
We arrived on Denis at the end of May with Professor Chris Feare, a leading expert on the Sooty tern with a long working experience of the species in Seychelles, to set up the sooty tern project.
To try to lure the birds we used a mixture of 3D, 2D models and loud speakers that played the colony noise of Sooty Terns. Similar projects had been undertaken in the past in North America on Least Terns and Arctic Terns but it had never been tried with Sooty Terns before. The experimental site was set up on the south of the island in an area of cleared coconut trees as Sooty Terns nest on the ground. During the two months we were on the island a total of 24 birds landed in the experimental site and exhibited a 95.7% preference for a specific combination of models and vegetation type. These highly significant findings on preference will allow a much more targeted management of the area during the second season of the project. The impact of broadcasting colony noise was vital as 100% of circling behaviour and bird landings occurred when the speakers were playing the colony noise. At the end of the nesting season the site was rearranged into a tighter knit colony using half of the available space. 30 of the models were painted with juvenile markings and these were interspersed with the adult models. This was to make the site look appealing to overflying or “prospecting” birds looking for a nesting site for the next year. (Ed: I was supposed to follow up on this the next month but unfortunately broke my arm and was unable to undertake the work. Occasional observations by others, however, suggest that this reformulation was very successful in attracting groups of birds to the area – see posts of 13th October and 21st September). The Sooty Tern colony experiment will run in 2009 and I am very hopeful that next year more birds will come to the site and a colony will be established.

While we were on the island Vicki and I also undertook a study of the hermit crab populations, so if you visit Denis and see crabs with numbers on their shells, this is not a strange phenomenon, but rather us giving each crab we found a unique number. Little was known about the hermit crabs on the island, and while we were there we found there are three species and they all prefer the native coastal vegetation. Vicki and I had a fabulous time on the island and we were really happy to have helped the GIF and the owners of the island find out more about the wildlife they have on Denis. While we were on the island, Vicki and I worked really hard, going out and sampling crabs or monitoring the Sooty Tern site everyday but we greatly enjoyed the experience and I know that we would both like to return to the island in the next couple of years when hopefully there will be a thriving Sooty Tern colony! We would like to thank in particular Mr and Mrs Mason for their hospitality by allowing us to live and work on their island, and also John Nevill for all the assistance he gave us while we were on Denis.

Bird Bulletin 8

Crested Terns. These beautiful birds are still with us and indeed I recorded my highest count for Denis yet, on Friday 10th October, with 14 birds perched on the southern rocks.

Bridled (re)Terns. Having recorded a bridled tern roost of 200 – 300 birds on the island October through December last year, I have been on the look out at the southern point of the island where the bulk aggregated last year but without success. Then on Saturday 11th I was undertaking the first beach check of the new hawksbill turtle season when I noticed all five buoys off the west of the island were being used as perches by bridled terns. This gave an inclination that birds might be returning and sure enough further down the coast in the branches of a prominent casuarina tree I counted 15 bridled terns and 10 lesser noddies. The southern point of the island however still shows no sign of bridled terns and so I will keep monitoring this small roost area to see if it expands as the weeks pass.

Frigate birds. I have still to go and check properly on our Frigate bird roost as the right time usually clashes with other commitments but on the evening of Friday 10th I saw 29 Frigates flying very low over the island towards their southwest coast roost area.

Blue pigeons. I have written at length on the blue pigeons on the island in other posts (most notably the August 10th post entitled “Natural Recolonisation 1”) and the population continues to do very well. On Saturday 11th I saw two fledglings together accompanied by an adult in a small Morinda tree. The various ornithological reference works do state that the birds will occasionally have a clutch of two eggs, though I have personally never seen this, but this sighting seems to suggest the successful fledging of a clutch of 2 on Denis.

King Myna. The Myna birds on Denis have taken to imitating the call of the Magpie robins already causing me stop more frequently to verify whether I am indeed hearing a robin or not. I have also seen on 3 or 4 occasions recently, at Belle Etoile, what is known as a “King Myna” – i.e. a Myna bird which has no feathers on its head or neck thus revealing the yellow skin all over its head to quite startling effect.

Fairy Tern and Tropicbird Progress (3).

So back to our breeding seabirds for an update. Firstly the Fairy terns:
the first juvenile looks well and fully-fledged with only the lack of the purple band at the base of its bill to distinguish it now from an adult.
the second juvenile took me by surprise by flying off as I approached! It circled for a while and then returned but I kept my distance so as not to disturb it again. The bird still has clear juvenile barring on its wings and has not developed yet its full tail plumage but is clearly developing well.
Finally our egg has hatched and we have new young chick on the branch I have opted to name this bird “Fred” and will keep you informed of his/her development.

As for the tropicbirds:
· It does appear that the first nesting site has been abandoned.
· The adult is still at the second site and appears to be incubating.
· Our chick, to be known hence forth as “Tina”, has attracted a great deal of attention and feedback following my posting of its picture on the blog. Tina appears to be doing well with evident of growth over the last week.
Because of the relatively low number of breeding pairs of Tropicbirds on Denis I have decided to map the known breeding sites and will seek feedback from island staff to make it as comprehensive as possible before posting at a future date.

Sooty Tern Summary 2008 (Part 2).

This post follows on from my post of 21st September.

Once the area had been selected the next issue was to identify an appropriate form and source of models. As part of the scientific basis of the project we wanted to offer the birds a variety of stimuli in various combinations so as to properly assess their preferences. We investigated various options and ultimately went for 3 types:
· Moulds were made in the UK to enable the production of fibreglass models in Seychelles.
· 2-dimensional models were made out of plywood and painted
· Plastic models of crows were bought in UK and repainted and tails added to resemble sooty terns.
Unfortunately for some technical reason, that frankly still escapes me, the moulds and particularly their rubber interiors were not suitable for the local production of fibreglass models. So we were left with two types.
The sound system used to broadcast colony noise was purchased from a company that makes sound systems to scare pest species off crops in Europe. This was modified to play the noise of a sooty tern colony.
These different options plus control plots were combined with variations in vegetation management to generate 8 different stimuli combinations each repeated twice over the project area.

Vicki Wheeler and Tori Yates arrived at the end of May and set out the project with Chris Feare and the help of the Island Manager Camille Hoareau.

Observations were taken at set times (day and night) from a viewing platform constructed at one side of the project area. The interaction of Sooties with the trial area was recorded in terms of time spent overflying the area, height of flight and of course landings within the area. Tori and Vicki were equipped with night vision glasses to assist their nocturnal data collection.

Without going into specifics (because there are papers to be written and much more work to follow over the next 2 to 3 seasons), the area was successful in engendering interest amongst overflying sooty terns including numerous landings and demonstrating a clear preference for certain parameters.

At the end of the season models were re-positioned to reflect the favoured formulation and some 30 were re-painted as juveniles to give the impression of a successful small colony. I was supposed to follow up on this closely for another month but unfortunately broke my arm at that time and didn’t visit the island for a period of 5 weeks. However, occasional sightings by at least three individuals confirmed that the new formulation was particularly successful with 5 -10 birds seen to land at a time and numerous birds circling low overhead.

So with the results of the first season now gathered, it is for us to refine our approach accordingly for next season and hopefully optimise the scope for the establishment of a small breeding colony. It was certainly a most encouraging first year!

Bird Bulletin 7

Sunbird sighting: following on from my post of 15th September (in BB 6) Catherina has again sighted the male sunbird in the same location (to the north of the island) on both the 2nd and 3rd of October. Now we want to know from which of our nearest neighbours, Bird or Aride islands, the bird has originated. Catherina has also been able to get a reasonable view of the rings and I have communicated the combination to ICS, the agency that manage Aride island to see if it is one of theirs. I must also contact Nature Seychelles to see if the bird is one of those they introduced to Bird Island a couple of years ago. I will keep you informed and if the bird is indeed from Aride it will be an interesting addition to our knowledge of the species and its status on Denis (see my post dated of August 23rd for more information).

Seychelles Magpie Robin Update: love is blossoming on Denis! Well at least amongst the Magpie Robins with two more pairs appearing to establish. Most notable is the movement south of the single female from the area adjacent to territory 3 down to join the lone male there to form a new pair (see maps in side bar). Also the younger female that was co-habiting in with two other birds just south of the runway has apparently left this area, leaving anew pair behind her, and commenced floating. It is to be hoped that she will next turn up with one of the males on the northeast coast. This would result in the current optimum number of 9 pairings and hopefully engender more breeding activity. News from other territories includes:

• T1 appears to be nest building again following the earlier loss of its chick.


• T3 are feeding their fledgling.


• T4 is currently incubating with hatching presumed imminent


• T5 is nest building after an apparent failure at egg stage of a previous breeding attempt.
  
  Following a request for a larger map I have posted the map showing territory changes here in the body of the text. Simply click on the map to see it as a full screen version.

Crested Terns: Are still with us with eleven seen together on the southern rocks on October 3rd.

Purple Heron: I have been in contact with Mr Adrian Skerrett in his capacity as chairman of the Seychelles Bird Record Committee (see link in sidebar) and he confirms that Catherina’s sighting, recorded in my post below, is the first substantiated record of the species on Denis. Catherina will submit a completed record form and photo to the committee for their final confirmation in order to make the record official.

Migratory Birds Report 1

As promised, as the northern hemisphere winter draws in, Catherina and I have been monitoring the occurrence of migratory birds on Denis so as to begin to establish a proper baseline of occurrence. The northern location of Denis within the Seychelles archipelago makes it an important landfall for migrating birds to either rest up en route or to stay and overwinter.

Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) and Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) are present all year round but numbers have increased noticeably in recent weeks. The turnstones occur in small flocks all round and on the island so overall numbers are very hard to assess. The Whimbrels however tend to aggregate particularly on the reef flats that fringe the island’s east coast and number currently between 80-90 birds.

A common sandpiper (Actitus hypoleucos) is to be seen on the east coast since September 17th and individuals of both lesser and greater Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus & C. leschenaultii) have been seen during September. There are 3 or 4 Grey plovers (Pluvialis squatarola) on the island and its keening call is commonly heard at Belle Etoile.

On October 3rd however, Catherina saw and photographed a beautiful Purple heron (Ardea purpurea) at Belle Etoile possibly the first confirmed record (I will check on this) for this species on Denis.

Fairy Tern and Tropicbird Progress 2.

The first thing I did on arrival on Denis this week was to go and check on the fairy terns we have been following and it was good news all round.

• The first juvenile shows good development since my last report with tail feathers now fully developed “she” must be approaching full fledging.
• The second juvenile has grown dramatically! Gone is the fluffy ball of a chick from the last report and the development of proper plumage is now apparent.
• Meanwhile the fairy tern egg remains safe and sound on its branch under the attentive incubation of its parent.

Later that day I went in search of the three ground nesting tropicbirds that I first reported as a new occurrence on Denis on Sunday the 14th of September (Post entitled “Another landmark in the restoration of Denis Island”) and here also we have progress:

• The first nest area was vacant and no egg, or evidence of an egg, was apparent so the status of this “nest” is not clear. The depression left by the adult was still visible as was the presence of droppings; so the adult may have yet to lay its egg or it may be that it has abandoned the site.
• The adult was still present in the second location and I assume that it is incubating though I have yet to see an egg.
• However on going to the third site at the southern point of the island I was delighted to find a beautiful tropicbird chick. The chicks are absolutely stunning (see photo in sidebar) when young and hopefully as a ground-nesting population establishes will provide a great addition to the island’s ecotourism product. More importantly however this is the first confirmed tropicbird chick to hatch on the ground following the eradication of rats in 2002, this marks another landmark in the rehabilitation of the Denis Island ecosystem.

Managing for the future. The hot dry spell we have been experiencing on Denis recently reminded me that on other islands where I have worked in the past measures are taken to enhance locations for tropicbirds to nest. These measures focus on limiting the amount of exposure to direct sunlight by appropriate placement of palm leaves and providing greater security to the site by ringing it with stones. The latter measure in addition to providing the adult with a greater sense of safety and concealment may also serve to protect freshly hatched chicks from crab predation when adults leave to gather the chick’s first meal. It may be that the first site, if it turns out to have been abandoned, has been exposed to too much direct sunlight for the adult to cope with. So I will broach the topic with the island management in the coming days to see whether we can manage some potential nest sites in the vicinity of those already established in attempt to attract more adults into nest.

Nature Watch (2)

Dry weather: Flying in to Denis Thursday morning (2nd October) the colour of the vegetation immediately drew my attention. We have been experiencing a dry spell in the central archipelago for a few weeks and of course this is always more pronounced on the low-lying islands which by the nature of the their topography attract less precipitation. The island presents a much less verdant spectacle from the air than usual with the greens somewhat faded and many of the grassed areas showing brown. The exception to this is the foliage of the Indian almond trees in the forest which appear to be sporting a fresh growth of leaves.

Obviously dry weather has implications for the island’s entire ecosystem, in particular it typically results in a consequent reduction in insect populations. The Seychelles warbler and magpie robin are both insectivorous birds and dry weather will result in a reduction of their food source. For the warblers this will typically mean a cessation of breeding activities until the next decent period of rainfall. For the magpie robins they will rely further upon the thrice-daily stocking of their feed stations by Catherina. It is for this very reason that Catherina’s work is so important. The foundling population of robins on the island require support to maintain them in good breeding condition. It is essential for the future prospects of the population that it get off to a good start with breeding success such that numbers can increase and make the population more resilient to natural perturbations in the future. In addition to this we are taking other measures to enhance their feeding habitat and I will cover that in the next posting of the SMR news in the coming days.

That afternoon I undertook my usual walk around the island to follow up on various issues. On reaching the grassland area called “Belle Etoile” on the island’s east coast I was struck by how the grass had died back revealing features and contours of the terrain that are normally smothered by thick herbaceous growth.

I checked on the small colony of wedge-tailed shearwater burrows, that I first mentioned in my post of 18th August “Re-colonisation 2”, and was pleased to note several new burrows further down the coast. This is very encouraging and I will keep monitoring the colony in the hope of establishing proof of breeding in the coming months.

I then continued south to check on the status of the ground-nesting tropicbirds - I will post on their status and that of the fairy tern chicks we have been following in the coming days.

As I write this we are experiencing a sudden cloudburst which will certainly help to revive the vegetation and I understand from the national meteorological office that they are forecasting a normal transition into the rainy season in the coming weeks. It can’t come too soon for Denis.

Humpback whales: on the 7th of September I posted on the sighting of 3 humpback whales offshore. On the 25th and 26th September hotel guests were treated by a much closer visitation by a mother and calf which spent the best part of 2 days within a few hundred metres of the Northwest coast of the island with the mother adding to the spectacle by occasionally breaching.

I have now (11:00 hrs Friday 3rd October) just been advised that whales are again visible today off the island’s southwest coast. See my post of August 20th entitled “Marine Megafauna” for information on the fantastic wildlife to be seen in the waters around Denis.

SMR News 4: Three steps forward two steps back…

Firstly let me apologise for the delay since my last post. I usually try and post on average every 3 days or so, but bureaucracy has caught up with me of late with the GIF AGM last week entailing considerable preparation and ongoing follow-up.

The recovery of the Seychelles magpie robin population from a low of 12 in the 1960s has not always been a smooth one and problems and fluctuations are to be expected in a newly established population.

That is why we have been so excited by the excellent progress of the birds introduced to Denis. Of the initial 20 birds introduced only one was lost during the captive management stage following the very stressful process of the actual transfer, taking the island’s population to 19.

The birds rapid establishment of territories and subsequent pairing, however, gave the impression that breeding would very soon commence and see the population moving in the right direction.

This was indeed the case the first egg was found on August 4th and hatched on the 23rd of that month and developed well. At the same time 2 other territories established nests and commenced incubating their own eggs.

Sadly Catherina found the first chick dead on the ground below its nest in the first week of this month. It is not clear what happened:

• Perhaps the bird simply fell out of its nest as sometimes occurs but it seemed too young for that to yet be the case.
• More likely is that the bird was attacked and subsequently dropped by a Myna bird that was attempting to predate it. (see post of Monday 4th August for more information on the risk posed by Myna birds)
• However on close inspection of the chick two “prick” marks reminiscent of the bite of a centipede were found on the chick. Centipedes are abundant in the forest on Denis – what is not clear however is whether the bird was bitten in its nest hence causing it to fall out or was it bitten when already on the ground.

The bird has been sent for post mortem but it is more than likely that we will never know for sure what the cause was.

Anyway as you can see I have known about this for some time (and hinted about the bad news in my post of Monday 15th September); however I waited as, with the two other eggs having hatched, I wanted to give some good news with the bad.

The two other chicks developed well such that on the 14th of September they were both weighed, ringed and blood sampled in line with normal procedure for birds due to fledge. The chicks both appeared healthy and weighed 55 and 50 grams respectively.


I am therefore delighted to advise that one of our chicks fledged on Wednesday the 24th September and equally disappointed to have to tell you that sadly the second was lost. Catherina found the bird on the ground near its nest and whilst it could flap reasonably well it did not appear able to stand. This bird was not expected to have fledged for a few more days and so Catherina returned it to its nest thinking that it may have inadvertently fallen out whilst exercising its developing wings. Unfortunately the next morning the chick was again found on the ground in a much weakened state and still unable to stand - it died later that day. This body has also been sent for post mortem.

I must stress that in overall terms this is still good progress in terms of numbers so soon after the introduction as one can expect several mortalities post transfer and we suffered only one. It is nevertheless of considerable concern that we should lose 2 of the first three chicks. Mortality of chicks pre-independence can be quite high and it is for this reason that we typically don’t count a bird as part of the population until it reaches full adult independence. These losses, however, do raise concerns and we are already looking at means to reduce the Myna bird population earlier than we had previously planned.

In the meantime we have a further two territories showing signs of nesting so the work and hope continues. Check back regularly for updates on the status of our fledgling and the overall population.

Sooty Tern Summary 2008 (Part 1).

The sound system has been dismantled and half of the models packed away. The remaining models, having been left out as a feature for the guest’s nature walk, will soon now also be removed as video footage of the project has been added to the evening presentations.

As this first season of the 4-year programme has now closed it is appropriate to summarise the build up to and background of the project.

I first became interested in Sooty Terns (Onychoprion fuscata) whilst working on Cousine Island (1993-96). The abundance of the birds displaying and swooping low over the island, led me to believe that they must be nesting in a small colony somewhere or on the verge of forming a colony. Thorough checks during the seasons of 94 and 95 showed however that there was no colony on the island[1].

I subsequently met Professor Chris Feare, the leading expert on the species, whilst working for the Division of Environment in 1997 and we discussed the possibilities of attempting a re-establishment of a colony on island using models and colony noise playback – something that Chris had been hoping to try for some time. The issue was finding a suitable island - i.e. one that had formerly hosted Sooties, which was alien predator free and manageable in terms of resident human resource capacity and ability to prevent poaching of a newly-established colony.

Hence when GIF started to work with Denis Island in 2006 I proposed the project as part of the island’s broader ecosystem rehabilitation project. The owners were interested in the idea so I developed a concept paper in January 2007 with project outline, budget and a short list of 3 potential locations on the island. The owners approved the project and so I commenced liaison with Chris on how we could proceed.

Chris visited Denis in June 2007 and based on his advice, coupled with the islands existing Land Use Plan (LUP) criteria, we selected an area on the south west coast (see map) for the pilot project. The factors effecting the site selection included: optimal distance from the runway and hotel, a location on the west coast which suited the birds’ typical displaying activity on the nearest colony on Bird Island, compatibility with the restoration zone of the LUP and the availability of suitable flight path. Sooty terns are very graceful and efficient long distance fliers but prefer to have reasonable flight paths into their landing area. The island’s new LUP does not allow for vegetation within 25 metres of the high water mark to be removed. The final area was chosen because there is an old abandoned building on the coast there, the garden of, which provided an existing flight path through the coastal vegetation.

It is known from other colonies that Sooties prefer to nest in open ground with flat herbaceous vegetation. The area chosen consisted of a densely vegetated abandoned coconut plantation and so the next stage was to clear the area and make it suitable. Denis has an existing approval from Government to fell up to 50 coconut trees a week in order to harvest the heart of palm for the local hotel market and so it was decided to use this quota in a focused manner in the area in question. The area cleared is a little less than 2 hectares and constitutes approximately 1.5% of the island’s surface area.

It was initially intended to undertake the work from August 2007 onwards but labour shortages meant that work only commenced in January 2008. The area was cleared by the end of April which whilst it meant it was ready in time for the season also meant the opportunity to mange the ground vegetation in the desired manner through the rainy season was lost.

During this period other technical issues were also addressed in terms of the purchase of the necessary equipment and the identification of a project partner and volunteers from Reading University in the UK.

This project to re-establish a sooty tern colony on Denis Island represents a world first and as such it was determined from the offset to undertake it to strict scientific criteria. I will cover the technical preparation and implementation phases of the project in a subsequent post. So check back regularly for that and other updates!


[1] A small colony of Sooties did naturally re-establish itself on the island in 2003.

Fairy Tern and Tropicbird Progress 1.

As promised, I went back to check on the fairy tern juvenile that I had “rescued” and the second chick that I found and posted on previously (see post dated September 7th “Fairy Terns Progress”) during my last visit (11-13 Sept).

The juvenile was on its branch but gave rise to some concern as it does not seem to have progressed in the intervening week and was looking perhaps a little subdued. I was later reassured to note however that it does appear to have two adult birds in attendance.

The chick was looking good showing considerable growth over the last week and again displayed its crouching/hiding behaviour when I approached.

I subsequently found a new egg on a nearby tree and so will follow this also - hopefully through all the stages of its development to a successful fledging. The Fairy tern is an interesting species that makes no nest but rather lays its single egg directly onto a branch in a hollow or cleft and incubation takes about 3 weeks.

As recorded in my second post of Sunday 14th September, I recently found 3 separate instances of ground nesting White-tailed tropicbirds. This is a very exciting development in the recovery of the island following the eradication of rats in 2002. Tropicbirds incubate for approximately 6 weeks and fledge typically 10-12 weeks after hatching.
I assume that the three birds were incubating eggs and will now monitor these nests regularly and report back in the same vein and together with my reports on the fairy tern breeding attempts in a periodic post.

Check back regularly for updates on their progress and photographs of the chicks as they develop!

Bird Bulletin 6

• Sunbird sighting: in my post of August 23rd I wrote about the uncertain status of the sunbird (Nectarinia dussumieri) on Denis and the limited records we have on the occurrence of the bird on the island - well Catherina has been able to add to these records. On August 19th Catherina heard and later saw a single male bird singing in a Tortoise tree (Morinda citrifolia) near the hotel laundry. Interestingly, unlike the bird spotted by Professor Feare and myself in June 2007, this bird was ringed suggesting it likely well came from our neighbour Bird Island which had a population of sunbirds introduced a couple of years ago. Catherina was not able to ascertain the colour of the rings, however, before the bird flew south in the direction of the tennis court. I do not know if sunbirds on Aride Island, our second nearest neighbour 56km to the south, are ringed but will follow up on this. In the meantime I have updated our sunbird sighting map – see sidebar.
• Warbler chicks: during my rounds of the island I have noticed recently quite a few begging warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis) chicks, as can be expected at this time of year. A couple in particular are well positioned (at the tortoise park and southern point) to provide a welcome and reliable addition to the guest nature walks. We were unable to have a survey of the warbler population this year due to the other initiatives being undertaken but I hope very much that we can have a through population assessment in 2009. I will post in the future on the story of the Seychelles warbler and its introduction to Denis.
• Seychelles Magpie Robin Update: talking of tourist attractions, magpie robins (Copsychus sechellarum) are now a common sight along the islands paths and provide a thrilling glimpse of such a rare bird to hotel guests on the nature walk. I have both good and bad news regarding the Seychelles magpie robin population on the island – so keep checking back for the 4th edition of SMR news which I will post in the coming days.
• Crested Terns (Thalasseus bergii): are again a frequent sight around the island. They can most commonly be seen in the mornings at Pte Madame Guichard – the sand spit just west of the main hotel complex - and in the afternoons they appear to favour the sandstone rocks of the southern point. There are approximately 8 -10 birds currently resident on the island.
• Migrant Bird watch: I will be adding a new feature to the blog in the coming weeks. Aside from flocks of Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) and Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) which are present year round on the island we have recently been joined by a Greater Sandplover (Charadrius leschenaultii). We also had a single Crab plover (Dromas ardeola) in July but I haven't seen it since. As the northern winter draws in, Denis can expect a large influx of migratory birds and with Catherina now full time on the island we should be able to properly monitor the birds visiting the island and begin to develop an authoritative list of our annual visitors.

Denis Conservation efforts make national media.

The national newspaper the "Nation" this morning (Monday 15th September) includes an article on the success to date of the Magpie robin introduction to Denis. The article includes reference to this blog so hopefully that will broaden interest in and raise awareness of our ongoing efforts. Simply click on the image below to read the full article.

Another landmark in the restoration of Denis Island.

Ground nesting birds are of course the first to fall victim to alien predators such as cats and rats. In my post of August 18th I wrote about the re-colonisation of Denis by the wedge-tailed shearwater and its significance in terms of the rehabilitation of the island ecosystem post rat-eradication 2002. I am now delighted to be able to report another equivalent breakthrough and one that has real ramifications for the island’s ecotourism product.

The White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) does breed on Denis but in very low numbers, maybe as few as 5 pairs in 2007, and I have been aware of only two nesting sites – one in a coconut tree and one in the lighthouse! Over the last 3 years I have been on the lookout for birds nesting on the ground as they typically do in other colonies but with no success. I have received one report from island workers of a tropicbird on the ground deep in the island’s interior (not the most likely location) and I had been unable to confirm this.

Imagine my delight therefore to find not one but two Tropicbirds nesting on the ground within 40 metres of each other on the east coast on Friday morning! It was a thrill to see these stunning birds nestled in amongst the buttresses at the base of Casuarina trees and marks another real landmark in the restoration of Denis.

To top this on Saturday morning I found a third bird nesting on the ground, again at the base of a Casuarina tree, at the southern point of the island. Having seen none over the last three years it is remarkable that I should find three in 2 days and one hopes that this marks a real turning point in the population of this species on the island.

I will monitor these sites closely over the coming weeks to see how these breeding attempts progress and report developments on the blog along with those of the fairy tern chicks I am following (see post of September 7th: “Fairy Tern progress”) – so keep checking back regularly!

News Summary

Just back from Denis and have plenty to report on including:

• the latest landmark in the ecosystem restoration of Denis.
• an update on the progress of the fairy tern chicks I have been reporting on over the last two weeks.
• the first report on the impending migratory bird season.
• news on a new sunbird sighting,
• the end of the first season of the sooty tern project, and of course
• the latest magpie robin news round up.

I will endeavour to cover all these points over the coming week or so but preparations for the Green Islands Foundation Annual General Meeting, amongst other things, may mean posts are somewhat abbreviated.

Nevertheless check back regularly to catch these postings and to keep abreast of the latest environmental news from Denis Island.

The Importance of Crabs!!! (Part 2)

I have received a summary of findings on the Hermit Crab survey (see post of July 16th) from our volunteers Tori and Vicki. The hermit crab plays a very important role in Denis Island’s ecosystem and it had been anticipated that we would see a population explosion following the eradication of rats in 2002. This, however, has not materialised and so further research was required in order to understand the population dynamics of the three species we have on Denis - the Tawny hermit crab (Coenobita rugosus), Red hermit crab (C. perlatus) and the Purple hermit crab (C. brevimanus). It is also important for us to have a better understanding of the habitat preferences of the species before we embark on the more extensive vegetation management foreseen under the islands Environmental Management Plan.
Vicki and Tori used quadrat surveys and pitfall traps to monitor the occurrence of hermit crabs in different vegetation types and “capture-recapture” techniques to derive an understanding of the crabs’ population densities.

Crabs were found to be more abundant on the east and southern coasts (beaches and supralittoral zones) and showed a correlation with areas of coastal vegetation dominated by Veloutye (S. sericea) and Beach Gardenia (G. speciosa) – see post of 27th August.

Though active throughout the day hermit crabs are found in greater numbers in the evening and night time. On Denis the purple hermit crab is the least common and is seldom found on the beach preferring more inland habitats such as the supralittoral zones and interior pathways. The tawny and red species were found in diverse habitats with the tawny hermit crab being the most abundant.

In addition to vegetation the research identified what may be the key factor behind the relative lack of large hermit crabs on the island. Larger hermit crabs are typically found in shells of the Turbo genus, while smaller crabs (defined as those with large chela/pincer less than 10mm) mainly utilise the shells of the mollusc Nerita plicata. The beaches on the southern and east coasts are surrounded by reef flats that support large numbers of Nerita and in these locations large populations of small hermit crabs were found. Larger crabs were however comparatively scarce and many of them were found to be in shells that were unsuitable i.e. cone shells or Turbo shells that were far too small –such that all their limbs remained exposed when they attempted to retreat within their shells. This suggests that there is a lack of suitable, larger shells available on the coasts of the island.

GIF focuses on research that has practical management applications; so what are the ramifications of these findings?. The improved understanding of hermit crab habitat preference will enable us to incorporate their needs into vegetation management ensuring the right conditions prevail for this important component of the ecosystem.
The issue of shell availability will be approached in 2 ways:
• Firstly a large portion of the southern beaches are to be managed as “no-take zones” where notice boards will be put up requesting guests and workers not to collect shells from the beach in the hope that shell numbers on the beach will gradually increase with time.
• Secondly, many old semi-fossilised turbo shells can be found inland in the soil and the gardening team have been asked to collect all the old shells they encounter. Once a good number have been collected – say 50 – 100 – they will be cleaned, measured and numbered before being put out in 1 or 2 specific coastal locations. Ongoing monitoring of the population will then show whether the average size of crabs in these areas increases relative to elsewhere around the island and thereby determine whether shells are indeed a limiting factor in the recovery of hermit crab populations on Denis.

Sounds like more work for future volunteers!

Nature Watch.

Playful whales: Coming in to land on Denis, I always pay close attention to the shoal around the island. The Air Seychelles STOL Twin Otter always does a flyover to allow the pilots to check that all is in order on the runway before the plane circles and comes into land. This means the plane banks slowly over the shoal at relatively low altitude before making its final approach. When the sea is clear you can make out a great deal of detail in the waters below. I have in the past seen pods of dolphins, manta rays, hawksbill turtles and once a large shark that I took by its shape and slow progress to be a grey nurse shark. Taking off generally doesn’t give as much time to see anything with the plane’s rapid ascent and direct route to Mahe. Take off on Sunday the 31st of August, however, provided me with a new experience. The plane had just departed Denis flying eastwards and was still gaining height when my eye was drawn to a large splash on the surface about 2000m offshore of the island.
It was immediately apparent by the size of the three animals, I could see silhouetted in the water, that they were whales. As I watched the animal in the middle broke the surface again in a “porpoising” action revealing a pale underside with characteristic grooving in the skin running from mouth down the “throat” towards the belly. A few seconds later the whale repeated the action again revealing the same features and was this time also seen by the passenger seated behind me.
The features described are characteristic of humpback whales which are known to occur in the waters around the Seychelles plateau and this may have been a playful sub-adult enjoying itself amidst a family group. The three animals were soon lost behind us as we angled off to Mahe, but nevertheless was another insight into the natural wonders that can be encountered around Denis.

Fairy Tern progress: I have posted previously on close encounters with birds (see post of August 13th) and also on the island’s tern populations (see post of August 24th) noting in particular that there had been a high rate of mortality amongst fairy tern chicks. The two issues converged last week when whilst doing my normal photo survey of the beach profile adjacent to the main hotel complex I encountered a juvenile fairy tern perched amongst some twigs on the beach crest. It had clearly fallen from its proper perch and under other circumstances I would have left it undisturbed as the adults will continue to feed such birds. But its location is so heavily frequented by people that I felt it best, with the aid of a beach chair, to find a suitable prominent perch for it on the nearest Casuarina tree. I have in the past on other islands moved many such juveniles when for example a tree falls in a storm or has to be cut for safety reasons and, provided a suitable adjacent perch can be found, the parents will typically soon find their offspring and continue to care for it.
Fairy terns are said to take 50-60 days to fledge[1], though I know from my own casual observations over the years that development can be delayed significantly in times of food shortage. This juvenile had quite well developed plumage but still exhibited tufts of its fluffy chick’s plumage. Having done this I headed north along the coast and soon encountered an adult fairy tern with its relatively newly hatched chick in a Cordia tree and took the opportunity to photograph this most photogenic of scenes.
On my return this weekend I went to check on these juveniles. The rescued bird had migrated up from its perch to an adjacent branch and appeared to be in good health with nearly all evidence of its juvenile plumage now gone. Pleased with this I moved further on to check on the young chick which was sitting proud on its branch. Interestingly as I approached instinct caused it to crouch down on the branch such that it would have been largely invisible had I not already known its location. The chick had clearly grown over the preceding week and looked well.
I will check back on these birds regularly and let you know how they progress – let’s hope that they break the recent trend and both progress successfully through to fledging.
[1] Skerrett et al 2001 referring to an Aride Island report by Bullock.

One thousand hits and counting…

Thank you very much to all readers of this blog…

During the night of Monday 1st September the hits counter clocked up 1000! I added the counter on the 5th of August which equates to an average of 35 hits a day – a very encouraging beginning!

I have received feedback from such far flung parts as Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand, Taiwan, UK and the US - this “inter-web thingy” really is amazing!

The challenge now of course is to try and maintain and or even improve on this readership and increase “market penetration”. I have a few ideas in this regard:

• I hope to create linkages with other environment and tourism related sites and I am currently in discussions to that end.
• I hope to make occasional contributions to the National newspaper here in Seychelles and reference the Blog accordingly.
• Also I hope to get more contributions from others involved in the work on Denis so that readers can benefit from different perspectives.

I would also welcome more interaction from readers. Please feel free to ask questions or seek further information on postings by using the comments option.

To facilitate your access to the blog:

• Keep informed of new updates by utilising the subscription tool at the foot of the page.
• Add the site to your favourites list,
• or even make it your browser homepage!!!

Please do keep checking back periodically for updates as we certainly face a very interesting time on Denis in the months ahead!

Thanks again for your interest… JN.

Seychelles Magpie Robin News 3: Denis Island breathes new life into the Conservation of the Seychelles Magpie Robin.

The first, of hopefully many, Magpie Robin chicks has hatched on Denis Island whilst two other eggs are under incubation!!! This is the great news coming from Catherina on Denis. I went to Denis over the weekend and caught up on the news and developments. In addition there are another two pairs of birds that are currently nest building and a further two birds that are showing signs of forming a breeding pair. This is all very encouraging news and is the culmination of years of work on the part of many partners.

For many years (1960s to mid-1990s) the Seychelles Magpie Robin (SMR) was confined to Fregate Island with a precariously low population – once estimated to be as few as 12!!! In 1981 well-known local conservationist, Victorin Laboudallon, was part of the team, along with a consultant from the New Zealand wildlife service that went to Fregate to eradicate cats on the island that were then threatening this last population of SMRs.
In the late 1980s Dr Jan Komdeur, working at that time for the International Council for Bird Preservation (now called BirdLife International) began work on understanding the ecological needs of the robins on Fregate and investigating scope for supplementary feeding to improve their breeding success etc…

In the following years a recovery programme was initiated by BirdLife International and birds were transferred to and populations established on the small islands of Cousin and Cousine in the mid-1990s. In 1998 the management of the recovery plan was localised and taken over by Nature Seychelles (called at that time BirdLife Seychelles). A population was also established and after some initial difficulties subsequently stabilised on Aride Island. These islands however offered relatively small areas of habitat and even with ongoing vegetation rehabilitation, particularly on Fregate, the scope for ongoing population growth was limited.

The next phase in the SMR conservation story came with a programme of rat and cat eradications on private islands. Fregate Island had unfortunately been invaded by rats in 1998 and they were successfully eradicated in 2000, Denis Island eradicated cats in 2000 and rats in 2002. The removal of alien predators from Denis coupled with a habitat rehabilitation programme in partnership with Nature Seychelles made Denis the next priority island for the introduction of the SMR.

On the 25th June this year, 20 SMRs (16 from Fregate and 4 from Cousin) were transferred to Denis (see post dated 04/07/08). The birds were released from their aviaries in a staggered process from the 13th to the 18th July (see post dated 20/07/08). Several birds soon paired off, established territories and commenced nest building (see posts dated: 30/07, 04/08 & 15/08/08). Catherina noted the first egg in territory T2 (see map 4) on the 4th of August and it is believed to have hatched on the 23rd. She noted an egg in the nest of territory T1 on the 16th (likely laid a day or 2 before that). Finally she observed an egg in the nest in T3 on the 16th with egg having been laid in the preceding 2 or 3 days. Preparations are also underway in territories T4 and T5 with nests under construction and the pair in T5 observed mating twice.

For Denis Island and its owners this is the latest landmark on a restoration process they commenced in 1998 with the initial alien predator surveys. A lot of resources have been and continue to be invested in this undertaking to the benefit of the Seychelles Magpie Robin and conservation in Seychelles in general. Populations of Seychelles Warbler and Fody, introduced in 2004, and are doing well on the island whilst sea bird colonies are also showing signs of recovery (see posts dated: 18/08 & 24/08/08).

Of course the first chick still has a long way to go before it is considered an independent adult and faces various risks along that path – but its hatching and the progress in four other territories really is a fantastic start for the Denis introduction and literally breathes new life into the conservation of the Seychelles Magpie Robin a species still classified as endangered under World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria..

Check back regularly for updates on the population’s progress.