31 March 2006
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
Special Discounts available
for return guests and also for first time visitors for reservations made via the
website.
Visit our
prices page or
contact us directly.
We
have just released our rates to the end of November 2007 and once again
we have maintained our rates for the 6th consecutive year.
Georges and Margaret Leaving Bird Island!
This is the last news update that will be
reported by Georges and Margaret as we are leaving the island at the end
of April. Nicholas, the son of Guy and Marie France Savy will be
managing the island in our place with his wife Jo. Georges and I have
been involved with Bird Island on and off since 1976 when we first came
to manage the Lodge which consisted of only 8 palm-thatched chalets. We
are very pleased that the island management is being taken over by the
young family of the island owners who no doubt will bring new ideas to
the island operation to ensure that Bird Island and all it stands for
will continue on into the next decades.
Bird Island website in French now
complete and up and running!
The French version of the website has now
been uploaded and is fully functional. To access the different pages
just click on the French flag at the top of any page and you are
immediately linked to the French version of the page. Once in the French
version you just navigate through the French links.
Please note that we are 99% certain that the
links are all correct, if at anytime you find you have accidentally
arrived at the English version again, please let us know where you
encountered the problem so that we can correct it.
Bird Island brochure now available in
Italian
The Italian version of the brochure is now
available for download via either the French or English brochure request
pages.
birdisland_brochure.html
or
birdisland_brochure_french.html.
It is also possible to download a
brochure in
German
birdisland_brochure_german.html
Please
contact us
directly if you would like an original copy
of the brochure
Two new pages in the
Conservation section of the website
Migrant waders
Bird Island, on the northern edge of the Seychelles plateau, has recorded more
migratory bird species than any other Seychelles island. The theory that
regular migrants return each year was tested by colour ringing nineteen
Ruddy Turnstones Arenaria interpres in breeding plumage. These
all departed by May 2005 and fourteen were re-sighted in September 2005
(74 percent). One Whimbrel Numenius
phaeopus was also
ringed and after apparently leaving the island was re-sighted on similar
dates. It is planned to continue the programme using different colour
rings for each season. For further information on this visit the page on
migrant waders.
Sunbirds
Our May news page talked about the
project to introduce the Seychelles Sunbird
(Nectarina
dussumieri) to
Bird Island once their main breeding season was finished at the end of
the year. Our February news detailed this introduction and to follow the
progress of our new residents visit the page
sunbirds.
Turtles
We are now coming to the
end of the Hawksbill nesting season with only the occasional one coming
up to lay now. Green turtles are now coming ashore more frequently. It
is very rare that we are able to tag a green turtle because they
normally come ashore at night to lay. Robbie now makes late night
patrols around the period that we are expecting a green to come ashore
to lay and hopes that he may come across one, to date he has managed to
tag 5 green turtles.
This season we are making every effort not
to interfere with hatchlings, and as much as possible allow them to
emerge naturally - usually after dark. It is now believed, that whilst
we were helping the young turtles to get to the sea around sunset time
and ensuring that there was no predation by crabs on the beach, many
would be eaten by fish, still active at that time.
After dark, most of the fish are sleeping,
and although a few baby turtles may be taken by crabs on the beach many
more would escape predation as they enter the water, where they are most
vulnerable.
Turtle Statistics
for the season
16 July 2005 to 15 July 2006
The
first Green Turtle of the
season laid on 20th July 2005.
The first Hawksbill laid on 27th September 2005
New turtles tagged :
24
including
5 Green Turtles
Green
Turtles: Total number of emergences:
52
Total
number of nests: 29
Hawksbill Turtles:
Total number of emergences:
272
Total number of nests:
184
31 March 2006: Nests in total: 203
Total Number of emergences (including
those which did not result in a nest):
324
Estimated hatching dates: (Based
on an average 58 days incubation)
April: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05,
06, 07, 08, 14, 15, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24, 25
May: 01, 02, 03, 04, 07, 09,
10, 14, 16, 18
Nests Relocated:
26 (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
82. These nesting sites are scattered all over the island, with the main
concentration around the chalets. To date we have ringed 123 adults and
77 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.
Currently there are 4 Tropic Birds incubating eggs and
2 chicks of varying ages
Back
to Tropic Bird project
Migrants/Vagrants:
 The
Eurasian Bittern seen for the first time in November was flushed out of
the bushes as Robbie walked by in early March so it must have been
hiding in the vegetation and foraging for food all this time. Also seen
and photographed (left) and also a NEW record is a Black-headed Gull. This is
the first incidence of this species in full breeding/summer plumage in
Seychelles.
 Our migrants are now beginning to change into
breeding plumage in preparation for their long journey to their northern breeding grounds. Adrian Skerrett was on the island recently and he was
lucky enough to be able to photograph a Grey Plover in full breeding
plumage next to the two Common Pratincoles.
Migrant Count - Since last News Update:
This is Robbie's
weekly count with the maximum number of birds seen on any day since the
last update on 28 February is below:
It is interesting to note that we do not seem to have
seen any crab plovers for quite a while. There has always been one or
two to be seen somewhere on the beach. The moorhens which seemed to have
disappeared have now become two so perhaps they had retreated into the
bush were it is shady and cool and perhaps more will emerge once we have
some more rain.
March
235
Frigatebirds, 43 Grey Plovers, 9 Lesser Sandplovers, 15 Greater
Sandplovers, 0 Crab Plovers, 43 Whimbrels, 310 Turnstones, 8
Sanderlings, 21 Curlew Sandpipers, 1 Golden Plover, 3 Ringed Plover, 0
Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Greenshanks, 32 Crested Terns, 182 Bridled Terns,
80 Saunders Little Terns, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Oriental Pratincole, 2
Common Pratincoles, 0 Red-footed Booby, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Eurasian
Curlew, 2 Moorhens, 1 Brown Booby, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Icterine
Warbler, 1 Eurasian Bittern, 1 Black-headed gull
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