Updated 26
September
2004 (previous update posted 18th September)
26th September - This year's Hawksbill
turtle season has just begun with the first turtle laying her eggs
this morning.
Updates on the breeding status of: Sooty Terns, Common and Lesser Noddy
Terns, Tropic Bird and Turtles.
First of all I must
apologise to all of you who have been waiting very patiently for an
update of this page. Georges and I have just returned from leave during
which I didn't really have access to a computer with the correct
software. I will know to take the software with me next time!! -
Margaret
Our website is now 10 months old. We have had lots of very
complimentary feed back from our guests and website visitors alike. As
of today we have had 8750 visitors and many people have
downloaded our brochure. The brochure is now in both high and low
resolution format. With so many people now having very fast internet
access we feel that the better resolution is worth spending a couple of
minutes downloading. If you would like a proper printed 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.
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
Weather
The months of June, July
and August were extremely dry and we were beginning to worry about our
fresh water supplies, then fortunately we had 49mm towards the end of
August which replenished all our fresh water storage tanks. The total
rainfall for the last 3 months was 83mm. The South-East trades blew
steadily and strongly throughout these months. The average maximum
temperature was 29ºC. This time of year with the cooling SE winds is
less humid and seem to be cooler than November to May. So far in
September we have had 114.8mm. This seems to be normal for September as
in 2003 we had 282.5mm and in 2003 265.4mm. Fortunately the majority has
fallen at night and that which falls during the day has been
interspersed with enough sunny spells (plenty for our guests to get
burnt!!)
Jellyfish
On 11th August 8 Crown
Jellyfish (Cephea cephea) were washed ashore on the beach between
Passe Cocos and Gros La Tête. These large non poisonous creatures
obviously drifted off course and were caught up the the big waves
that crash onto the reef on the eastern coast between June and
September.
 
These creatures are quite
colourful being pink
to
lilac above
and brown underneath. The top is
covered in 10-15 large irregular protuberances which are circled by a
shallow moat. They are oceanic creatures and are rarely found inshore,
they are found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific region as far as
Northern Australia. They reach a width of 40cm. Their sting is harmless.
Sooty Terns
Preliminary Report from Dr Chris Feare
 In
2004 the colony area had been increased by the clearance of some areas
of bush prior to the breeding season, and also
through the killing of beach crest vegetation at the north-west of the
colony by incursions of the sea. Most of these “new” areas were occupied
by nesting Sooties in 2004. In addition, grassy vegetation in the main
colony area was successfully burned before the birds arrived and the dry
year restricted re-growth, so that the vegetation within the colony was
excellent for the birds. The colony therefore appeared in very good
shape and the Division of Environment approved the collection of eggs
from half of the colony.
The
harvesting of half of the colony made the catching of ringed birds more
difficult than normal, but even so a week’s work by a dedicated team of
experienced searchers in late June, together with subsequent searches by
island staff, led to the finding of 329 ringed birds, the second highest
total achieved (but involving much greater search effort than in
previous years). This included three 32-year-old and eighteen
31-year-old birds. In addition, 16 birds ringed a chicks in the colony
in 1993, and 16 ringed as chicks in 1997, were recorded in the colony
for the first time. None of the birds ringed as chicks in 2002 have yet
appeared but these are not expected until 2006. Data from the
re-sightings of ringed birds have been used to obtain the first estimate
of annual survival in Sooty Terns. 91% of adults have been found to
survive from one year to the next – this is high in relation to many
other birds. (The paper was published in the journal Ibis, 2004,
volume 146, pages 475-480).
In 2004 we
also obtained an estimate of the survival of chicks from hatching to
fledging. At just over 60%, this is the highest survival we have
recorded, indicating that 2004 was indeed a very good year for the
terns.
We
were fortunate in 2004 in having a visit from Dr Matthieu Le Corre, a
scientist from the University of Reunion who is studying Sooty Terns,
and other seabirds, in the Mozambique Channel. He assisted with our ring
searches and also took tiny blood samples from Bird Island Sooty Terns
to compare their genetics with birds from the Mozambique Channel.
Hopefully, this will lead to considerable future co-operation between
our studies, to the benefit of both.
 Back
to Sooty Tern information
Turtles
On the island our
Turtle season runs from July to June and so we are now at beginning of
our 10th season of turtle monitoring.
The
peak season for Green Turtles is 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!
No
Hawksbill Turtles have been seen since the end of April
Turtle Statistics since July 2004
Green Turtles:
Since July we have had 9 nests.
Hawksbill Turtles:
1 nest
26 September: 10 nests in total
Total Number of beachings (including
beachings which did not result in a nest): 14
Estimated Turtle hatching dates: (Based on an
average 58 days
incubation) - hatching can vary
depending the temperature and rainfall.
Green Turtles - estimated hatching
dates
September: 13, 22
October: 01, 10, 17, 24, 29
November: 03,
Hawksbill Turtles -
estimated hatching dates
November: 23
Hatching
Success:
12 September 2004
Nests Hatched:
1
Hatchlings Live:
25
We have relocated two nests which were in
danger of being eroded away by the sea.
Back
to Turtle Project
Birds
We have been seeing 2 Moorhens on a regular
basis since June, probably blown in by the strong S.E. Winds which we
have been experiencing. Also seen on two separate occasions was a
Seychelles Blue Pigeon.
Fairy Terns
Recently on the nature tour a very small fairy tern chick was found on
the ground. It was not obvious were it had come from, so Robbie picked
it up and put it next to an adult incubating an egg. The egg he removed
and gave to another Fairy Tern who had just had her egg destroyed by a
pair of Mynah Birds. The adult began feeding the chick and the egg was being incubated!
Following the above episode. The adults who
suddenly found that their egg had hatched, commenced feeding the chick
and it fledged successfully. The adults who where given the egg,
incubated and successfully raised the chick.
Strict conservationists may well say that
one should not interfere with nature. If we hadn't then the 'lost chick
would have starved to death anyway, so we were just giving it a 50-50
chance, and as it happened we ended up with two fully fledged Fairy
Terns.
Common Noddies
A second period of breeding took
place in June July and August with the majority of the chicks now
fledged. During this period Robbie was able to ring 230 birds i.e. 115
pairs. He ringed the birds in the same areas as he had previously in
March and April. Observation has shown that none of the birds ringed in
the earlier season were seen. Of the 115 nests observed only two chicks
died, making a very high success rate.
Lesser Noddies
The Lesser Noddy breeding success monitoring program is still
continuing. So far out of the 150 marked nests only one chick has died.
All the other chicks are now flexing their winging and attempting the
odd flight.
Tropic Birds:
Recent ringing has now brought the total of ringed birds to 25 Chicks
and 50 adults. We now have several new nesting sites established which
brings the total of nest sites to 49. There is a lot of competition for
nesting sites and prospective nests are fought over if there is already
a nesting pair in residence. Since we have begun to clear around the
Casuarina trees on the eastern coast, 3 nesting sites have already been
established. This is quite a long term project as the clearing is labour
intensive and there are quite a lot of large trees which need access.
Currently we have 5 birds incubating eggs and 3 chicks.
Back
to Tropic Bird project
Migrants/Vagrants:
Our first Grey
Plover from its northern breeding grounds has arrived and was seen on
the runway at the beginning of the month in part breeding plumage.
Several Turnstones have also arrived.
Migrant Count.
This count gives the maximum number of Birds seen on any one day since
6 September. All the migrants which were obviously moulting their winter
plumage have now left the island including the Black-winged Stilt and
Oriental Pratincole.
Most Common migrants:
1 Curlew, 48 Whimbrels, 2 Grey Plovers, 32 Little Terns, 35 Turnstones,
3 Greater Sandplovers, 5 Lesser Sandplovers, 3 Crested
Terns, 48 Frigate Birds, 11 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Crab Plovers,
3 Greenshanks, 2 Sanderling, 1 Brown Booby, 2 Red-footed Booby, 1
Masked Booby, 1 Common Sandpiper.
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