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.