31 January 2007
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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for return guests and also for first time visitors for reservations made via the
website. Visit our
prices page or
contact us directly.
Staff Update
Well, after 20 years of service, Cecile
decided that it was time she tried life on another island. She left on
the 2nd of January to spend time with her family on La Digue. It was
obviously very sad to see her go and we have all missed her these passed
few weeks but she assures us that she will be back, even if just to
visit. We wish Cecile all the best and look forward to seeing her on
Bird in the near future.
Volunteer Holidays
During December when
the lodge was closed we were into full swing with the Hawksbill
Turtle monitoring programme and Roby was having to patrol the island
up to 6 or 7 times a day! Luckily however, we have had many
volunteer tourists helping us with the programme in recent weeks and
so we have been able to record almost all turtle emergences on the
island. Volunteer holidays are a fantastic way to introduce people
to a conservation project whilst at the same time getting a helping
hand from them. What we have been doing is briefing our guests on
arrival about what to do if they spot a turtle and for those who are
really keen we send them out with notebooks and measuring
instruments to record all of the necessary data. They then brief
Roby on their observations. We have been running this volunteer
holiday through responsible travel and are thinking of introducing a
new one in the Sooty Tern season whereby volunteers can learn how to
catch and identify ringed birds in the colony to help with our
project that has been running for over 30 years. We will keep you
posted on this!
Seychelles Sailing Cup
We welcomed the Seychelles Sailing Cup
again this year. The boats arrived on the 30th having held their fishing
competition around the waters of Bird. We then organised to weigh and
cook their catch on the beach at the north point where we had already
prepared three huge bonfires using driftwood. A good time was had by all
and it was a wonderful sight to see so many sailing boats around the
island.
Moorhens
We
seem to have had a very successful breeding season for Moorhens on the
island this year. We think that it might be due to the relatively high
and constant rainfall that we have been experiencing. This allows for
the manmade ponds to be constantly full of water and also for areas in
the island interior to form similar habitats that these shy birds like.
Our main concentration of Moorhens has been around Hirondelle farm and
the Savy family home where they provide a wonderful source on entertainment
in the mornings as they teach the young how to wash and preen
themselves. It is a real privilege to watch these birds grow and learn
the skills that they will need once they become independent.
Migrant Count - Since last News Update:
Robbie's
weekly count with the maximum number of birds seen on
any day in the month of January is below:
January
150
Frigatebirds, 26 Grey Plovers, 10 Lesser Sandplovers, 12 Greater
Sandplovers, 1 Crab Plovers, 48
Whimbrels, 250 Turnstones, 8 Sanderlings, 25 Curlew Sandpipers, 3 Golden Plover, 2 Ringed Plover, 1
Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Greenshanks, 25 Crested Terns, 85 Bridled
Terns, 150
Saunders Little Terns, 0 Common Sandpiper, 1 Red-footed Booby, 0 Eurasian
Curlew, 10 Moorhens, 1 Grey Heron,
1 Tree Pipit, 1 Common Snipe, 1 Red
Throated Pipit, 1 Isabelline Wheatear, 1 Amur Falcon,
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