How are the
Choughs doing?
Choughs can be
vulnerable to disturbance and the RSPB and a team
of dedicated volunteers will continue to monitor
and protect all Chough nests in the county during
the breeding season. To protect nest sites during this time, any Chough
sightings reported to CBWPS will be passed
to the RSPB, but we will not
publish them on our website.
Breaking
News – 10th Nov 2011
The unringed Chough has been
spotted near Porthgwarra . The last time this bird
was seen was July, it would be great to keep track
of its movements, so if you do get a chance to see
this ellusive Chough please do let us know.
Otherwise, this month there is very little to report
except that the two Lizard young that have been
spending a lot of time around Cudden Point have been
seen in West Penwith so keep an eye out for them
too. We also had a sighting of six Choughs at Housel
Bay last week, which we presume to be the six adult
birds.
Has anyone seen any Choughs
east of the Lizard? We have had a few sporadic
reports of Choughs at Coverack and wondered if this
was the resident Lizard birds making their way east
or whether we have young birds on that side of the
coast too. Perhaps you could let us know if you have
seen them. Help us monitor the Choughs movements
over winter by emailing sightings to cornishchoughs@rspb.org.uk
or giving one of us a call.
October
2011 Chough Update
from the RSPBThe cliffs are
looking fantastically bronzed with the
onset of Autumn. As Summer finally gives
up, the birds are becoming much easier to
keep track of, they seem fairly settled in
a routine now, except for a few exciting
happenings and unusual movements, which
are keeping us on our toes.
So, what are the
birds up to?
In the Lizard
Recently we have had some exciting
sightings of a chattering of seven choughs
around the Housel Bay and Southerly Point
area. We can confirm that they are the two
breeding pairs, one of the single males
and two of the youngsters from this year’s
Southerly Point nest that were spending a
lot of time around Perranuthnoe. Over the
past week these two young birds have been
seen more regularly on the Lizard. Will
the older single male catch the young
female’s attention? At the moment she and
her brother are inseparable and the older
male seems preoccupied with tagging along
with the Southerly Point pair.
In West Penwith
All seems well with the two breeding pairs
mostly on territory, the boys are making
trips to Land’s End and the lone female
generally splits her time between the
Botallack pair and the boys.
The north coast
The young group of four are venturing
further and further along the north coast
towards Padstow, they were at Trevose Head
a few days ago. We are getting regular
sightings of a group of four but sometimes
three birds. Has anyone seen a single
chough along this stretch of coast? We
haven’t yet worked out where it is going
and why it is pulling away from the group.
Please keep your
sighting reports coming in, even if it is
just “where, when and how many”. You can
email sightings to cornishchoughs@rspb.org.uk
Between now and the end
of the December there are the following
events:
TALK: Nov 1st -
8pm
Flushing Sailing Club
(TR11 5TZ)
"The Return of the
Cornish Chough – Past, Present & Future" -
A presentation by Cat Lee Marr from the
RSPB on the work of the Cornwall Chough
Project
For further information
visit:
www.flushingsailingclub.co.uk
TALK: Nov 25th -7.30pm
Note change of date
RSPB members meeting -
Chacewater Village Hall (TR4 8PZ)
"Celebrating 10 years
since the return of the Cornish Chough: A
presentation by Cat Lee Marr from the RSPB.
For further information & tickets call:
Roger Hooper on
rogerhooper@talktalk.net
September 2011 Chough Update
from the RSPB
As you know it has been
the best breeding season to date, and
although many of the young are proving
hard to find, we are getting regular
sightings of at least five of the fifteen
fledglings. So far, we have not had any
negative reports, i.e.: found rings or
remains, which would indicate there are
other young birds out there escaping our
attention. Please keep your eyes and ears
open for the choughs and keep those
sighting reports coming in, even if it is
just “where, when and how many”. You can
email sightings to
cornishchoughs@rspb.org.uk.
In the Lizard
The two breeding pairs
in the Lizard are settling into their
Autumn / Winter routine and travelling
along the coast, feeding both east and
west of Southerly Point, with the
occasional report as far west as Loe Bar.
This might well tie in with the fact that
two of the 2011 Southerly Point brood are
spending a lot of time between
Perranuthnoe and Predannack.
The two lone Lizard
males are still holding territory at their
zawns on the east coast. One of the males
is meeting up regularly with the breeding
pairs but the other leads a much more
solitary existence. Reports from as far as
Coverack are coming in, do these relate to
these males or young birds perhaps?
In West Penwith
All the adult birds are
still holding their territories foraging
away in stubble fields and along favourite
cliffs. The young from Penwith this year
have had mixed fortunes. Unfortunately,
the three young from the Botallack brood
that formed part of the magnificent seven,
and were missing in action, haven't been
sighted since the end of June but the
other two, plus two from the other Penwith
brood, have spread their wings and headed
north, which brings us to...
The North Coast
There are now at least
six choughs between Perranporth and
Padstow!
Four of this year’s
young from Penwith have headed to the
surfing capital of Cornwall and have been
seen around Watergate Bay and Mawgan Porth,
the area they were last found in the
1960s/70s.
Events
We are trying to keep
the twitter and blog posts up to date.
There is also a new RSPB - South West
facebook page. Do continue to check in on
them, as you can find up to date
information on our events and news there.
BLOG:
www.cornishchoughs.org
TWITTER:
www.twitter.com/cornishchoughs
FACEBOOK:
www.facebook.com/rspb.southwest
Helping hands needed
We would really like to
have a small team of people to help us at
the events we attend. It would only be on
an occasional basis for a few hours here
and there. If you enjoyed talking to
people about the choughs at the watch
point, or just love talking to people why
not give us a hand, we would certainly
enjoy the company and it would be a huge
help. Please get in touch with Cat if you
can help. (cat.leemarr@rspb.org.uk)
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August 2011 Chough Update
from the RSPB
To see
the rest of this newsletter please click
HERE
July 2011 Chough Update
from the RSPB
Fifteen Chough
chicks fledged from four Cornish nests this season. The family groups
are still together with most of the youngsters surviving their first
month. The Southerly Point family are roaming quite a distance and have
been seen around Mullion and Porthleven recently, whilst in Penwith the
cliffs around Land’s End seem to be a favourite place for one of the
families. The young birds will gain their independence towards the end
of the month so it will be interesting to see how far they all go this
year and what their survival rate will be as they learn to fend for
themselves. News on any of our birds would be most welcome even if the rings cannot be
read. Claire Mucklow
Mid December
2010
Chough 2010
Update
In Penwith
the two males around Cot, may have dropped to one
but two of the 2009 Lizard young are being seen at
Cot Valley and another pair around the Botallack
area. Are the others around Gwennap?
On the
Lizard 5 of the 6 birds are ok, one female has
disappeared (but there has been a chough seen on the
Isle of Wight....who knows it could be her).
Any news on our birds would be most welcome even if
the rings cannot be read.
Mid
August
2010 Chough Update
The
2010 young choughs have not been having the best
of luck. Three were lost to predators just
after fledging, and now two more have succumbed to
the forces of nature. Sadly, but
astonishingly one Lizard young male was found
freshly dead floating a mile out to sea from
Portwrinkle by a fisherman! This just shows
the distances choughs will travel, especially
young birds. There has also been a record of a
chough in south Devon at Start Point so perhaps it
was traveling with a sibling. The very next
day another youngster’s remains were found at
Predannack by a visitor and reported in, showing
just how important colour ringing is to
understanding what happens with our Cornish
choughs. There have been no other recent
sightings of the remaining young except a male,
down around Cape Cornwall, who is still
associating with his parents and a chatter of
other choughs in the area.
.All
sightings as always are much appreciated. Please
endeavour to note details of rings, location, date
and time and pass on the information to
bird-news@cbwps.org.uk
or to Claire
Mucklow
at the RSPB at Exeter (tel
01392 453775).
Mid
July
2010 Chough Update
Five
pairs of choughs attempted to breed this season,
two established pairs and three pairs of young
birds (two year old females and males of assorted
ages). Four nests got to the chick stage,
but one was sadly predated. Nine chicks
fledged between the three remaining nests, four
from the Lizard Point pair (their ninth brood),
three young from the west Cornwall pair (their
third brood) and two from another site on the
Lizard. As of mid July six of the nine
fledged young are still surviving.
Last year’s six surviving immature birds are to
be found in Penwith, between Lamorna and Pendeen,
with two roaming the north coast as far as Newquay.
January 2010 update
There are 10
choughs in Penwith between Pendeen and Gwennap
Head, a good place to catch up with them is around
Cot Valley. On the Lizard there are eight
birds. Sadly the breeding female from
Porthleven area disappeared towards end of
November, her mate is on the lookout for a new
female. Total number of known choughs
in the county is 20.
More volunteers are needed to help protect the
nests this season. Don't let egg thieves get their
hands on our chough eggs!
Latest News12th
November 2009.
The four young birds from this years Lizard brood,
plus the two surviving young from the West
Penwith pair, are still
around the Cape Cornwall area, sometimes making
forays to Gwennap Head.
There
was a a record of a chough at St.Ives recently
which may possibly be a male born on the Lizard in
2007, carrying an orange/white leg ring.
A pair can be
seen in the Porthleven area, though they may
head off to Perranuthnoe area like they did last
winter.
On the Lizard, thanks to some detective work by
Ali and Keith, we now know the whereabouts of
three pairs, plus of course the original Lizard
pair. Southerly Point to Kynance still seems to be
the favourite area to track them down.
That makes at least 21 choughs!
Clair Mucklow RSPB Projects Manager for Cornwall
More volunteers are needed to help protect the
nests next spring. Don't let egg theives get their
hands on our chough eggs! Contact Roger Hooper or
Claire at claire.mucklow@rspb.org.uk
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 bird-news@cbwps.org.uk
or to
Claire Mucklow at
the RPSB at Exeter
(tel 01392 432691).
picture
Matt Sallis
______________________
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
While looking
over the small fields by the coast path my
attention was drawn to a great commotion among
the crows and jackdaws .
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. 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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