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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Paradise Flycatcher Conservation Project – breaking news…

Rachel Bristol (Project Officer under the Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher project) visited Denis last week to catch up on the Flycatcher population there and their status. On her return she was able to report some excellent progress including the commencement of breeding activities for the new season and some early successes, Rachel Continues below:

“After a few months break the flycatchers on Denis have started breeding in force again. Flycatchers can breed year–round but there is a marked peak in breeding during the North-West or rainy season from November- April. However, the dry South-East season this year has been considerably wetter than usual which likely explains the early start to the breeding season.

I was on Denis last week and of 8 potentially breeding pairs six of them are currently active. We have 2 new fledglings that fledged two weeks ago and yesterday (19 October 09) respectively, a nestling just hatched yesterday and 2 further pairs are nest building. A 6th pair has a dependant juvenile that fledged in August.


Now almost 11 months since the Conservation Introduction of 23 flycatchers to Denis we are beginning to get an idea of how successful the introduction will be. The current population is 24 individuals; we have lost 4 of the original introduced stock but have had 5 chicks fledge on Denis. After a shaky start where the majority of nesting attempts were failing (due to a combination of eggs failing to hatch and de-predation of both eggs and nestlings- [ed: most likely by Mynah Birds a problem which still requires redress]) the flycatchers appear to be “getting it together” and successfully breeding on Denis- the key to establishment of a self-sustaining population.”

This really is fantastic news – the Flycatcher transfer to Denis in November of last year was the first ever transfer of this critically endangered species and constitutes a key step in securing the future of this beautiful and iconic endemic species.

This success is largely down to the tireless efforts of Rachel over the previous three years. Rachel is currently working to complete her PhD thesis on the species and we wish her all the best in her ongoing endeavours.

While she was on Denis Rachel took the opportunity to measure and ring a flycatcher nestling and has kindly sent us some great photos of the young bird see photos in sidebar.

The Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher Project is a multi-partner undertaking funded by the Darwin Initiative and supported by partners including Nature Seychelles, the University of Kent, the La Digue Development Board, Denis Island and the DoE.

Friday, October 2, 2009

All creatures great and small…

It has indeed been a considerable time since I last visited Denis as a confluence of events and paperwork deadlines have kept me “trapped” on the main island of Mahe. This has in turn meant a marked decrease in my posts from an average of 8 posts a month through July to just 2 and 1 in August and September respectively.

This, by chance, has meant that visitors to the blog of late have been greeted upfront by photos of the Seychelles skink and a couple of species of crab – perhaps not everyone’s cup of tea or idealised perception of an idyllic tropical island. At this point it is timely for me to state that Denis is very much the epitome of a picture postcard tropical island and I am certain will meet the requirements of such from its visitors.

The spectre of brown lizards and hairy-legged crabs has however been visited upon me today by a member of the island’s marketing section concerned that the perception generated is inappropriate. Perception is of course - in these modern times of multi-media, sound bites, 24-hour news and spin-laden politics - increasingly everything with substance coming often at best second.

Lizards and crabs play a vital role in the island’s ecosystem breaking down detritus and recycling nutrients. It is imperative in the management of fragile islands that a comprehensive ecosystem approach to environment is utilised and that all native species, regardless of aesthetic appeal, are incorporated therein. Without one there is often not the other as each contributes to the health of the whole.

However, visitors to this blog and prospective visitors to Denis Island can rest assured that they will find yearnings for both perception and substance satisfied in the environmental management of the island. That is not to say all is perfect, the rehabilitation and restoration of the island’s ecosystem is a long term process but great steps have been made.

The key alien predators, cats and rats, were removed in 2000 and 2002 respectively. This coupled with extensive habitat rehabilitation paved the way for the introduction of rare and threatened species such as the Seychelles warbler, Seychelles fody, the endangered Seychelles magpie-robin and the first ever transfer of the critically endangered Seychelles paradise flycatcher.

Thankfully from a marketing perspective these birds are also pretty… see photos in sidebar.

Meanwhile the work continues on all creatures great and small.