12 October 2004
Our website is now almost 11 months old. We have had lots of very
complimentary feed back from our guests and website visitors alike. As
of today we have had 8900 visitors to the site 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.
Weddings on Bird Island
Although we do not advertise that we arrange weddings on the island we will always accept any
requests from couples who would like to get married on the island. No
two weddings are the same, the couple usually arrive a couple of days
before the ceremony and then wander round the island and select the spot
they would like to become man and wife at. We do not follow any set
pattern, nor have a 'wedding house' prepared in advance. We believe that
all couples are individuals and have their own ideas about how they
would like their special day to be.
 
This
year we have had three couples get married. Each wedding was very
different. The latest wedding that took place was that of Laria Grant
and James Warwick. The ceremony took place on the west coast beach near
to the north point at sunset. Both had family members to support them
making a party of 12 in all. Both a civil marriage and a religious
ceremony took place. Father Danny Elizabeth performed a lovely ceremony
which he had prepared followed by the civil vows.
If you would like to
get married on Bird Island please contact us on
weddings@birdislandseychelles.com
New Arrivals
The evening of 5th
October saw two new arrivals on the island. 2 male giant land tortoises
were brought from La Digue. They had been kept there in captivity since
they had hatched many years ago. They will obviously spend a few days
getting used to the idea that they are not enclosed any longer and that
food and water are now available on demand! Hopefully they will settle
down quickly and 'meet' the others we have living freely on the island.
Their arrival now brings the total of giant land tortoises on the island
to 18.
Fishing
We have had excellent
game fishing since June and Derek Cox - one of our many return guests,
landed the biggest Sailfish so far this season on 23rd September. It
weighed in at 37Kg. He also caught a large Yellowfin Tuna.
Ben and Emma Graham
caught a 25Kg Sailfish the previous week. They also brought in a large
Kingfish.
Game fishing is fun on
Bird Island. Our experienced skipper Clive, has been working for us
since 1978 and no-one knows the waters around the island as well as he
does. The
big advantage of fishing off Bird is that a mornings fishing will be
more than enough to catch a reasonable selection of fish as we are right
in the middle of the fishing grounds.
Bottom fishing is also
excellent. The red fish above is a Moontail Seabass and was caught on a
hand line by Craig Beaumont. The Chef grilled it with chilli, ginger and
garlic and it was delicious.
Sooty Terns
The colony is gradually
diminishing in size as more and more chicks fledge and leave the island.
Despite the fact that eggs were collected from the colony this year the
season has been extremely successful. There are very few dead chicks in
the reserve area.
 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!
After an absence of almost 6 months the first Hawksbill emerged early
morning on 26th September, 3 days earlier than the first one last year.
She had laid and returned to the sea before Steven did his early morning
beach patrol.
Turtle Statistics since July 2004
Green
Turtles:
Since July we have had 10 nests.
Hawksbill Turtles:
1 nest
10 October:
11 nests in total
Total Number of beachings (including
beachings which did not result in a nest): 15
Estimated Turtle hatching dates: (Based
on an average 58 days incubation) -
hatching can vary depending the temperature and
rainfall.
Green Turtles - estimated hatching
dates
October: 10, 17, 24, 29
November: 03,
Hawksbill Turtles -
estimated hatching dates
November: 23
Hatching
Success:
10 October 2004
Nests Hatched:
1
Hatchlings Live:
25
We have relocated two nests which were in
danger of being eroded away by the sea. Nests lost as a result of
erosion
Back
to Turtle Project
Birds
Tropic Birds:
We now have several new nesting sites established which brings the total
of nest sites to 55. 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 3 birds incubating eggs and 4 chicks.
Back
to Tropic Bird project
Migrants/Vagrants:
Rare visitors include a
Ruff, (spotted by Phil Norah) and a Squacco Heron.
Migrant Count.
This count gives the maximum number of Birds seen on any one day since
18th 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:
75 Frigatebirds, 15 Grey Plovers, 11 Lesser Sandplovers, 9 Greater
Sandplovers, 4 Crab Plovers, 52 Whimbrels, 230 Turnstones, 6
Sanderlings, 17 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Bartailed Godwits, 1 Curlew, 2
Greenshanks, 19 Crested Terns, 58 Bridled Terns, 237 Saunders Little
Terns, 1 Brown Booby, 1 Moorhen, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Arctic Skua, 1
Grey Heron, 1 Squacco Heron, 1 Ruff.
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