Updated 28 March
2004
Updates include new vagrant birds and new turtle hatching dates.
Special Discounts available
for return guests and and also for first time visitors for reservations made via the
website.
Visit our
prices page or
contact us directly
Our website is now just over three months old. We have had lots of very
complimentary feed back from our guests and website visitors alike. As
of today we have had 2837 unique visitors and many people have
downloaded our brochure. The brochure is in a low resolution format so
that it can be downloaded quickly. If you would like a proper copy
please email us with your postal address. The brochure is available in
English, French and German, please tell us which language you would
prefer.
We would like to welcome first time visitors
and return visitors alike.
We hope that you enjoy browsing
through our site with its many beautiful photographs and
detailed information about the island.
This page is all about what's happening
on the island and how the various conservation projects are progressing.
Bird Island appoints its
first ever Conservation Manager
In
the 36 years that Bird Island has been owned by Mr. Savy and his
partners, the story of the island is one of maximization of the island’s
conservation value in parallel with the development of a small tourist
facility, Bird Island Lodge. The programme adopted from the outset
comprised one of the world’s first ecotourism ventures, and has been
extremely successful in both aspects of conservation and tourism.
Since the opening of the
Lodge in 1973, the various managers have always been involved with
Conservation and Nature Tourism, but not on a full time basis, its
impossible to devote time to both running the Lodge and pursuing the
various conservation projects which are taking place. Inevitably one or
the other will suffer.
Guy Savy, the island
owner and Georges Norah, the island manager took the decision at the end
of 2003 to appoint a dedicated Conservation Manager.
On 01 March 2004, to
consolidate our policies Robbie Bresson was appointed the island's
first ever Conservation Manager.
 Robbie is a well known
figure in the field of Nature Conservation having lived on Cousin Island
for 25 years, the latter years of his stay there he was the warden.
Robbie is a good all-rounder having gained his wide range knowledge from the
various wardens he worked with, before becoming warden himself on
Cousin. In 1996 he was given an award by The Africa Game Rangers
Association of Game Ranger of the Year 1996.
He has a vast knowledge about everything
natural be it plant, feathered or fishy. So in addition to our regular
nature walks which Elza does we will be
offering informal follow-up talks with PowerPoint presentations in the evenings
for interested guests. He will take people bird watching, snorkelling
and reef walking as well as coordinating and developing the various
projects we have on the go.
With help from various scientists who know the island well we hope put in
place some other small interesting projects.
One of the main very long
term projects we hope to start is the control of the wild woodland areas
which have taken over where the former coconut plantation was. These
areas are very overgrown with coconut saplings and various invasive
plants. We hope to start a plant nursery for indigenous trees with the
long term aim of introducing to the island the Seychelles Sunbird and
Warbler.
Turtles
The Hawksbill Turtle
season is now coming to an end as beachings get further and further
apart. We are now expecting regular visits by our Green Turtle
population which tend to lay mostly between May and September.
Unfortunately for the guest, these creatures which are much bigger than the Hawksbill
lay usually at night so it's a lucky guest who will encounter one on a
midnight stroll around the island!
Turtle Statistics since October 2003
Green Turtles:
Since October we have had 11 nests.
Hawksbill Turtles:
The Hawksbill Turtle nesting season which began with our first nest on
30 September has now resulted in 148 nests.
Steven, Rose-May, Lizanne, Elsa and Georges all do
regular beach patrols to record turtle activity. We also ask all our
guests to report any sightings and we explain to them what to do in the
event that they see a turtle coming up the beach. If a
turtle is reported nesting, when possible we will tell any guests we see around so they
can go and watch.
07 April 2004:
159nests
Total Number of beachings (including
beachings which did not result in a nest):
211
Expected Turtle hatching dates: (Based on an
average 58 days
incubation) - hatching can vary
depending on the temperature and rainfall.
April: 14, 15, 21, 23,
25
May: 01, 03, 05, 08, 10, 14,
Hatching
Success:
10 April 2004
Nests Hatched:
130
Hatchlings Live:
10904
representing 87 nests
Nests invaded by crabs - all
eggs eaten: 7 nests
Nests - no hatched
eggs all infertile: 7 nests
Nests eroded by wave action:
3 nests
Nests which hatched
earlier than expected
(hatchlings not seen):
26 nests
Due to the normal
pattern of beach sand movement at this time of year we have had to
move 13 turtle nests to a safer location higher up the beach
 Back
to Turtle Project
Beach Monitoring
The data produced so far has been
sent to Mahé for processing and we expect to get some results back soon.
Birds
Very few Noddy eggs
are left to hatch now. This is the time of year when young Noddies are
found everywhere having either fallen out of the nest or just wandered
off from their ground nest.
These birds are very territorial and if a strange chick gets to close to
another family it can end up quite badly pecked. It is sad to see lost
chicks and guests are constantly asking if we can't do anything about
it. Well, the short answer is no. Quite often if a chick falls uninjured
from its nest then usually the parents will find it and continue
to feed it. However if it wanders away then there's nothing that can be
done. These birds are fish eaters and the chicks are fed regurgitated
fish by the parent which contains all the necessary nutrients needed for
healthy growth.
Tropic Birds:
07 March 2004:
The chicks which were ringed in nests 27 and 30 have
both now fledged. We ringed two more chicks at the end of February and
two more adults in early March.
Back
to Tropic Bird project
Migrants/Vagrants:
18 March
Great excitement. Tim and Lise
Campbell who spent two weeks with us recently, spotted a Jacobin
Cuckoo in the bushes at the northern edges of the bird colony area.
It stayed with us for about 2 weeks. Many guests had the pleasure of
seeing it. A record form was filled in and submitted to the Seychelles
Birds Records Committee. We await the outcome of that. Lise also saw a
Greater Short-toed Lark, but it was such a fleeting glance that
she wasn't 100% certain.. After she left, Georges and Robbie saw it on
two occasions in the bird colony. This has not been recorded here before
and a record form has been completed and submitted. If accepted, it will
make it our 98th non-breeding migrant to be recorded on the island.
At this time of year the
numbers of migrants are increasing as more birds stop-over on their way
north (the last outpost!). Daily we are seeing migrants changing into
their summer plumage. There are 3 Greater Sandplovers already in their
full summer plumage.
Beach
Migrant Count. This count gives the maximum number of Birds
seen on any one day since 6th March.
3 Curlew, 59 Whimbrels, 26 Grey
Plovers, 185 Little Terns, 186 Turnstones, 15 Greater Sandplovers, 11
lesser Sandplovers, 23 Crested Terns, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1
Black-winged Stilt, 303 Frigate Birds, 1 Pacific Golden Plover, 15
Curlew Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Ringed Plover, Bridled
terns (roosting) 6 Crab Plovers, 185 Frigate Birds, 11 Greenshanks
Others not on Beach: 1 Amur
Falcon, 1 Jacobin Cuckoo, 1 Greater Short-toed Lark,
07 March
Now that Robbie is here we are
able to keep a closer eye on what birds we have around the island. On
6th March the following were recorded during Robbie's daily walk round
the islands beach:
1 Curlew, 28 Whimbrels, 16 Grey
Plovers, 140 Little Terns, 30 Turnstones, 12 Greater Sandplovers, 8
lesser Sandplovers, 19 Crested Terns, 1 Bar-Tailed Godwit, 1
Black-winged Stilt. 6 Crab Plovers, 320 Frigate Birds,
Birds seen in other parts of the island in addition to those counted on
the beach: 1 Tree Pipit, 1 Amur
Falcon.
It must also be remembered that
the migrant shorebirds are not just restricted to the beach. They are
also found in the bird colony area, the lodge area and on the runway as
well as on the beach.
Other bird news:
18 March
Sooty terns
The Sooty Terns are increasing daily in number and we estimate
that there are now around 10,000 gathering over the island. Two nights
ago they were very low in the colony area just after sunset. The nesting
area is being prepared in readiness for them. The encroaching
Scaevola bushes are being trimmed back drastically in the south-west
to make more space for this ever increasing colony. In addition to this
we will remove the mats of Tribulus Cistoides (a thorny ground
creeper which the birds do not like) then cut the grassy vegetation with
the new cutter we are importing specially for the job. Then if the
weather allows, we will burn the dried, cut vegetation. In
addition to clearing the area, burning also helps to destroy any seabird
parasites that may be dormant awaiting the arrival of the colony.
07 March
Sooty Terns are now beginning
to gather over the northern end of the island in larger quantities in
preparation for the breeding season. We estimated there were about 3000
Sooty terns. As is typical for this time of year when the Sooties start
coming in the roosting frigates move from their Casuarina trees at the
south end of the runway to the Casuarina trees in the centre of the Bird
Colony. 320 were counted in the trees and circling overhead.
18 March
Lesser Noddies
Lesser Noddies, which did not breed on the
island prior to 1980 are now also coming in. Their breeding is more or
less synchronised with the Sooty Terns. They, like the Sooties are
obviously influenced by wind and ocean current changes. They are
gathering in large numbers in the Casuarina Trees around the island, as
well as the Pisonia Grandis and other trees which they favour on
the island. Some have already started nest building and we in te trees
next to reception we have already seen an egg. In 2002 a nest
count was done and 8829 nests were counted. We will do another count
this year.
|
