Cornish
Choughs...
Latest news : July '08
The West
Penwith pair and two young are doing well.
First breeding in this area for 150 years,
another little bit of chough history. There are
now at least six choughs to be found along the
coast between Pendeen to Porthcurno. The
Lizard family have been travelling up and down
the west coast, meeting up with the immature
flock, at times up to twelve choughs can be
seen in the air at once! Soon the four
young females will become independent and
hopefully join the older more experienced birds
and get through the critical August/Xmas period.
Any
sightings as always much appreciated.
please endeavour to note details of
rings, location, date and time and pass on the
information to
webmaster or to
Claire Mucklow at
the RPSB at Exeter
(tel 01392 432691).
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BACKGROUND
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Three Choughs arrived
on the Lizard peninsula in south-west
Cornwall early in 2001. Two of the
birds paired up, the third leaving the area.
The pair nested successfully in 2002, the
first breeding in England for fifty years.
They have bred annually since, raising a
total of 20 young. In 2006 a second
pair bred. They are made up of a male
from the 2004 Lizard brood and an unringed female. Three young fledged, making a total
of eight young this year.
A third pair built a nest but the female
was found dead.
In north-west
Europe, Choughs still breed in Scotland,
Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man and
Brittany. In 1992 there were 342 pairs in Britain and the Isle of Man.
Elsewhere in Europe, the birds breed in
mountains from Iberia, through the Alps to
Greece and Turkey.
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Because of fears of persecution, the birds are protected by a
round-the-clock watch by RSPB staff and local volunteers from CBWPS.
Choughs forage on grassy cliff tops, grazed by cattle, for their food,
consisting mainly of insects and other small invertebrates. The Chough's
gradual population decline throughout the last century has been
attributed to the reduction of cliff top grazing and more intensive
farming methods. The Chough's return crowns nearly 10 years' hard work
in Cornwall to provide suitable areas for nesting and
feeding. This has been achieved through agreements with local
landowners, and farmers managing their land for nature conservation,
supported in some areas by DEFRA's Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
The RSPB, National Trust, English Nature and the Department of the
Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) acknowledge the considerable
help provided from local people and volunteers, who watch over the
nesting location to prevent disturbance and ward off egg collectors.
The original adult pair can usually be found in their home
range between Lizard Point and Kynance. Other birds may be seen
anywhere from the Lizard to Marazion, and on the coast in the far west
around Lands End and St.Just.
All of the young birds have been colour-ringed
and sexed by Tony Cross in collaboration with the RSPB, to
enable their progress and movements to be monitored. Details:
2002: 3 chicks fledged, all
males
2003: 3 chicks fledged, 2 males
and 1 female
2004: 4 chicks fledged, 2
males, 2 females
2005: 5 chicks fledged, 2
males, 3 females
2006: 8 chicks fledged from 2
nests, 5 males, 3 females
2007: 9 chicks fledged from 2
nests, 6 males, 3 females
2008: 6 chicks fledged from 2 nests
If you see any Choughs in
Cornwall, please endeavour to note details of rings,
location, date and time and pass on the information
to
webmaster or to
Claire Mucklow at
the RPSB at Exeter
(tel 01392 432691).
Squabbling
Choughs: Sept 29th 2006
Botallack
While looking
over the small fields by the coast path my
attention was drawn to a great commotion among
the crows and jackdaws over towards The Crowns.
I went over there, which took some five minutes,
during which time the crow commotion continued.
They were diving onto something on the ground
and I expected to see a jackdaw in the talons
of a peregrine, or something similar, and was
very surprised to see two choughs on the ground
locked in what appeared to be mortal combat.
They continued fiercely fighting and calling as
I approached and more concerned with the battle
than me. I was reluctant to let the fight
continue as the last thing we need is for one of
our choughs to be killed by another. I became
convinced that one would be killed or injured if
the fight continued, so decided to separate them
by approaching closer. It was not until I was
within twenty metres that they separated. They
circled around for a minute or two and then
settled back to where the fight took place right
in front of me. I could see the rings on their
legs but had no note book. I remember them as
definitely lime over black (with orange or
yellow over metal on the other leg), and
definitely reddish over reddish (with either
yellow or orange over metal on the other).
They were probably the two males I’ve recorded
here since January. The birds then seemed to
behave perfectly amicably towards each other,
staying close together for the next hour, when I
left them sitting on a stone wall of the small
fields towards Levant. Roy Phillips
Photographs of Choughs on the Lizard by Richard
Bedford (1st and 3rd photos) and Andy Pay (2nd and
4th photos).
See
www.richardbedford.co.uk for more images.
                    
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