31 October
2005
Welcome to the news page of our website.
This page is all about what's happening
on the island and how the various conservation projects are progressing.
If you would like us
to advise you when we have an update of the news page or a new web page
please email us at:
thelodge@birdislandseychelles.com
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website.
Visit our
prices page or
contact us directly.
Please note that we have NOT Increased our rates for this year. This
means that for the 5th consecutive year we have not increased our rates
(Unlike the majority of properties in Seychelles)
Partial Solar Eclipse
On the 3rd of
October one of the Seychelles rarest astronomical events of the
Century took place. Dusk fell twice when the spheres
of the sun and moon appeared together for a few moments. The eclipse was partial across most of the Seychelles Islands
except for the southern
islands of
Coetivy and the Amirantes which are much further south.
The first lunar contact with the Solar disc for Mahé and the
Inner Islands was at 2:26p.m, with the maximum coverage is at
3:58p.m (86%). The Moon exited the Solar disc (end of eclipse) at
5:17p.m, all times are in local time.
We were fortunate enough to get hold of some of the special eye
glasses
and we were able to observe this phenomena as it took place. It was
interesting to observe the behaviour of the birds, who started to return
to their roosts for the night and some even put their heads under their
wings and went to sleep! They were probably quite confused a few minutes
later when it all brightened up again!
Turtles
Turtle Statistics
for the season
16 July 2004 to 15 July 2005
The
first Green Turtle of the
season laid on 20th July 2005.
The first Hawksbill laid on 27th September 2005
New turtles tagged :
0
Green
Turtles: Total number of emergences:15
Total
number of nests: 8
Hawksbill Turtles:
Total number of emergences:
21
Total number of nests:
11
31 October2005:
19 nests in total
Total Number of emergences (including
those which did not result in a nest): 29
Hatching
Success as at 31 October 2005
Total Nests hatched:
5
Nests seen Hatching:
4
Hatchlings Live:
504 (Average
live per nest = 126)
Hawksbill Turtle retuning to the sea after laying
Nests which hatched
earlier than expected
(hatchlings not seen):
0
Nests completely eaten by crabs: 1
Nests Relocated:
1 (in
danger of being eroded away by the sea.)
Nests lost as a result of
erosion: 0
 Back
to Turtle Project
Birds
Tropic Birds:
The current number of established nesting sites is
72. These nesting sites are scattered all over the island, with the main
concentration around the chalets. To date we have ringed 107 adults and
62 chicks. Currently 7 birds are incubating eggs and there are
5
chicks.
This project was begun in July 2002 and we are able
to see which pairs use which nesting sites and when, they do not tend to
move sites as a rule. As yet none of the chicks ringed since 2002 have
nested yet.
Back
to Tropic Bird project
Migrants/Vagrants:
Whenever we see an
unusual Bird for the island we submit a record form to the Seychelles
Bird Record Committee. Recently the following birds have been accepted
as genuine records:
Stone Curlew -
seen October 2004 - February 2005
Black-tailed Godwit - seen November 2004
Blue-Cheeked Bee-eater - seen January - February 2004
Broad-billed Roller - seen December 2004
Warbler sp. - November- December 2004
The Stone Curlew which is shown on the right was photographed by Robbie
Bresson and had first been seen by John and Viv Phillips on 1st November
2005. We wonder if its the same one which stopped by last year and was
the first record for Seychelles!
Migrant Count - Since last News Update:
In addition to
this Robbie's weekly count with the maximum number of birds seen on any
day since the last update on 30th September is below:
October
198 Frigatebirds,
29 Grey Plovers, 10 Lesser Sandplovers,15 Greater
Sandplovers,
5 Crab Plovers, 76 Whimbrels, 246 Turnstones, 8 Sanderlings, 29 Curlew Sandpipers,
1 Ringed Plover,
6
Greenshanks, 28 Crested Terns, 25 Bridled Terns, 301 Saunders Little
Terns, 2 Common Sandpiper,
2
Oriental Pratincole, 1 Red-billed Tropicbird, 4 Red-footed Booby, 1 Grey Heron,
1 Golden Plover, 1 Godwit, 1 Madagascar Pond Heron, 2 Eurasian Curlews,
1 Common Pratincole, 10 Moorhens, 1 Brown Booby, 1 White-winged Black
Tern, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Swallows, 1 Redstart, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 1
White Wagtail, 1 Corncrake, 1 Terek Sandpiper, Short-toed Lark, 1 Stone
Curlew
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