Issue 33 Spring Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the Future

Transcription

1 Alderney Wildlife Issue 33 Spring Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the Future

2 President Charles Michel Directors Brian Bonnard Lynn Hare-Riley David Hart David Storer Robin Whicker Hon. Treasurer Ken Baker Staff Manager Roland Gauvain Hon. Secretary Lindsay Pyne Trust Ecologist James Allison Ramsar Officer Aurelie Bohan Reserves Officer Adam Offler Conservation Officer Sarah Lewington Marine Officer Juan Salado Consultant Ecologist Melanie Broadhurst Editors David Wedd Robin Whicker Front Cover Image Fort Homeaux Florains, May 2012 Librarian Elizabeth Gauvain Shop Manager Caroline Gauvain Graphic Design Amy-Louise Richards Photographers James Allison, Bill Black, Sarah Edwards, Angela Etheredge, Deborah Etheredge, Frances Jeens, Lindsay Pyne, Henry Rowe, David Wedd, Robin Whicker Contents 3. Manager s Report 4. News & Views 5. Lessons in Bird Ringing 6. Burhou Updates 8. Watch 10. Jubilee Garden 12. The Museum 14. Insects & Spiders 15. Birds on Buildings Survey Staff Update 18. Alderney Wildlife Trust Interview 19. Wordsearch 20. Calendar AWT BUSINESS MEMBERS Alderney Angling, Mark Harding, 32 Victoria Street, St Anne, Alderney GY9 3TA Alderney Gravel Co Ltd TA Blanchards, PO Box 51, Newtown Road, Alderney GY9 3BH Alderney Printers Ltd, Mr Norman Butel & Mr Peter Annereau, The Val, Alderney GY9 3UL Alderney Shipping Limited, Bruno Kay-Mouat, The Quay, Alderney GY9 3XX Anthony Le Blanc & Partners Ltd, Les Houx Trois, Valongis, Alderney GY9 3YW Belle Vue Hotel, PO Box 100, The Butes, St Anne, Alderney GY9 3UN Boardmans Pharmacy & Perfumery, Mr & Mrs Paul Durston, 38 Victoria Street, Alderney GY9 3TA Braye Beach Hotel, Richard Proctor, Braye Street, Alderney GY9 3XT Business Management & Consultants Ltd, Mr Charlie Worsley, Trevieres, Rue de l Aitte, St Peters, Guernsey GY7 9BP Continental Metals Ltd, Wim Bruekers, c/o Century House, Victoria Street, St Anne, Alderney GY9 3UT Farm Court, Mrs M Sleeman, St Anne, Alderney GY9 3UY Hamon Architects, Mr D J Hamon, 7 Martyn House, QEII Street, Alderney GY9 3TB Home & Garden Services, Mr & Mrs Francis Short, 9 Clos Carre, St Anne, Alderney GY9 3UH Island Networks Ltd, Nigel Roberts, 4 & 5 St Anne s Walk, Alderney GY9 3JZ, CHANNEL ISLANDS Kiln Farm, Mike & Clare Cox, Kiln Farm, Longis Road, Alderney GY9 3YB L Haras Guest House, Mrs N Jansen, L Haras, Newtown Road, Alderney GY9 3XP Lochin Marine International Ltd, Simon Thomas, Crest Cottage, Firle Road, Seaford, BN2 52JA, UNITED KINGDOM Phoenix Contract Hire, Jan & Sid Boughton-Leigh, Noir Houmet, Platte Saline, Alderney GY9 3YA Ronez Limited, Peter de Garis, Les Vardes Quarry, St Sampson s, Guernsey GY2 4TF Rugby Property (Guernsey) Ltd, David Storer, Brayemar, Braye Road, Alderney GY9 3XL St Anne s Guest House, Miss Ingrid Murdoch, 10 Le Huret, Alderney GY9 3TR The American School in London, Mr Paul Richards and Ms Megan McGilchrist, 1 Waverley Place, London, NW8 0NP, UNITED KINGDOM The Georgian House, Holly Fisher, Victoria Street, Alderney GY9 3UF Alderney Wildlife Trust, 51 Victoria Street, St Anne, Alderney, GY9 3TA Tel info@alderneywildlife.org Web Design & Production Amy-Louise Richards alr.richards@gmail.com As we celebrate the Trust s 10th birthday, I have been pondering some of the things that we have achieved over the past ten years - and thinking also of what we have yet to achieve. Highlights that jump to mind include the Wildlife Bunker out on the southern cliffs, which seemed such a challenge at the time and, looking back, marked the start of the Trust s bringing the island s wildlife into focus for islanders and visitors alike. Then there was the founding of the two nature reserves, with their hides, paths and information points, and the establishment of the Trust s field centre at Essex Farm. The Ramsar site, with its seabird work, now the most comprehensive study of seabirds in the Channel Islands, has a special place in my memory, perhaps because of the struggle to get the States to recognise the world importance of Alderney s wildlife. One event that stands out more than most is seeing the Wildlife Watch grow from an idea into a busy, vibrant entity. We have waited long for the chance to make the children s arm of the Trust into something more and finally thanks to the work of David Wedd and others it has happened; generation 2000 is on the way to making Alderney sit up and pay attention. All these achievements have been built on the hard work of countless volunteers, staff and members and it is to you all that the credit must go. Our old friend and patron George McGavin joins us for Wildlife Week at the beginning of June, in a busy programme which will include coastal kayaking courtesy of the Jersey Sea Kayakers, and our 10th Anniversary dinner, followed closely by the arrival on the island of almost 40 British Wildlife Trust directors for their 100th annual directors conference, a pleasure and a nightmare to organise! Manager s Report Yet we need to look beyond celebration to recognise the need to prevent the misuse or perhaps ensure wise use of Alderney s waters and their abundant sea life. This has led us to invest in a new boat which we hope will both survey and protect them (whilst taking the occasional members tour). We continue to battle to create a true Records Centre which will take in and allow people to use information on all sorts of wildlife; we never thought it would be easy and it isn t. Perhaps most important is the need to create real wildlife protection on the island; we need a statute to prevent the seemingly random acts of damage (such as the routing of heavy construction traffic through one of the most important shingle beaches in the Channel Islands) which have devastated numerous rare species and pushed many into extinction. Roll on the next ten years - with your help we can achieve these aims too. Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 3 RG

3 News & Views Lessons in Bird-Ringing We believe most people prefer to have too much to do, rather than too little. With Alderney Wildlife Trust this isn t an option, especially at this time of year, when life is incredibly hectic. As this issue goes to press, we are about to start Wildlife Week (which typically for Alderney lasts ten days!) It will feature 25 events and is in addition a celebration of the Trust s 10th Anniversary. All this will be reported in the next number. The current one focuses on the exciting project of the Jubilee Garden, rescued and renovated by Watch after lying hidden for years. For a tiny but very active Trust like ours, much depends on the commitment of our volunteer staff, and once again we have been truly fortunate. The 2011 team was brilliant and we wondered how we could possibly replace Liz, Lizzie, Julia and Chris, but this year s volunteers already seem determined to be equally successful. The Staff Update on pages 16 and 17 tells you a bit about them in their own words. What it doesn t tell you is how incredibly hard they work. Roland, Lindsay et al set them a pretty good example, of course... There is so much we should like to put in News & Views, but there are also many things that need to be reported, hence the brevity. So to end off, here are a few items we feel need mentioning. Firstly, many islanders were delighted by Chris Packham s TV list of top wildlife sights, with No.1 being Gannets Diving. We totally agree with him! While most people have to go miles to see a gannet colony, we have two, one of which we can watch at very close range from the clifftop. Secondly, it is good that Little Miss Alderney and Little Master Alderney 2012 are both keen members of the Wildlife Trust, and we wish them all good luck for their busy and very public season, soon to start. Finally, we hope all our readers will enjoy the preview of the newest set of Alderney stamps. The celebrated artist Petula Stone painted the images, but we have had a lot of input and we think they are beautiful. DW Putting out nets Ringed Chiffchaff Disentangling birds Sedge Warbler Blackcap Recording catches 4 Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 5

4 BURHOU UPDATES 7th & 8th April Easter weekend gave us calm enough conditions to make another trip to Burhou. The previous trip (29th March) surprised us with puffin raft counts of almost 200 so I was eager to get back to check on how things are progressing. As the Trust is awaiting the arrival of a new boat, we chartered Lady Maris II. Skipper Darren took us across the Swinge where he pulled into the south gully where Roland rowed me, Lynn and Jen to the drop-off point within the calm of the gully. The main objective of this trip was to get Puffin Cam back up and running for the coming puffin breeding season. Unfortunately, after hours of tinkering with solar panels, aerials and camera cables I was unable to get a signal over to Ken Baker who was trying to view the image sent from Puffin Cam I think we need to call in our tech expert! A sweep of the island revealed no signs of nesting activity from the gulls or burrow activity from the puffins, but it is still very early days for them. 65 puffins were counted rafting in the morning of the 8th, not nearly as many as the last trip perhaps they prefer to socialise in the sun rather than the rain! Shags, however, are already into nesting with ten shag nests found with eggs being incubated. Shags are well known for being easily spooked so nest checks were conducted very quickly and carefully, and only on unattended nests. Cormorants, which currently nest on Little Burhou, are surprisingly advanced, with two nests containing small chicks and one, amazingly, containing four 2-3 week old chicks. Fishing conditions must be good! Sightings of note included a migrating black redstart, wheatears, and a peregrine falcon sitting on top of Great Nannel a favoured and historic nesting site. On the previous trip two peregrines were noted on the rock so now that there is just one could suggest that the female is incubating at the moment. I also managed to read one of Paul Veron s colour rings from a lesser black-backed gull which turned out to be an eight year old bird that winters in Malaga I m sure Paul is glad to hear that it s back for another breeding season! 2nd & 3rd May At long last we have had a welcome break from the blustery weather just long enough to get over to Burhou for a couple of days to see how the birds have been coping with the recent wind and rain. This time I was joined by Aurélie Bohan, the Trust s Ramsar Officer, who came along to help with the many jobs that were needed to be caught up with. The main objectives of this trip were: To check on the breeding progress of the puffins, gulls and shags. To get Puffin Cam back up and running. To replace and repaint the puffin burrow marker pegs which had become weathered and unreadable. The usual sweep of the island was carried out upon arrival where we look for any bird carcasses, pick up litter, and note anything else of interest. The first thing we came across was the carcass of a guillemot - just the head, wings and sternum indicating the work of a peregrine. This was a sign of things to come as the rest of the sweep turned out four more textbook peregrine kills: one herring gull, two lesser black-backed gulls and a great black-backed gull! A survey of the shag nests resulted in positive signs with most still containing eggs, as well as two nests with recently hatched, chirping chicks. One nest, however, having had three eggs on the previous trip, was found to be empty this time, perhaps the result of the wet and windy weather. 175 puffins were counted rafting at 3.30 on Wednesday 2nd. This was the highest count we had during the visit. The puffins have started making visits onto Burhou and into their burrows they will be laying their eggs any day now (if they haven t already.) I was really hoping to get Puffin Cam back up and running this trip but after yet more hours of tinkering, phone calls and swearing I was unable to get a picture up. A search of the main gull colonies resulted in finding just one herring gull egg. It should be a very different story on the next trip as the other thousand or so gulls should be laying in the next week or so. Other sightings of note included a flock of 20+ yellow wagtails, dozens of wheatears, several whitethroats and a few early-fledged cormorants from the colony on Little Burhou. 16th & 17th May The beautiful weather we had on Wednesday presented me with the perfect opportunity to get back to Burhou to check up on the birds. Once again I was joined by Aurélie, who volunteered to come over again and help with the fieldwork. The main objectives that needed to be carried out this trip were: To check on the breeding progress of the shags and gulls. To begin assessing the number of active puffin burrows. Cutting back the bracken that has started to spring up around the cottage and paths. To save time, we decided to combine the usual sweep of the island with the shag monitoring. The first thing of note was a lone shelduck flying past close by. This suggests that it could have a mate sitting on eggs. Shelduck, like puffins, nest in burrows and there are plenty of burrows around Burhou. Hopefully in a few weeks we ll see some shelducklings, though I think they d have a tough time with so many gulls around! The shag survey brought both good and bad news. Unfortunately three of the nests which had contained eggs on the previous trip were now found to be empty. As there were no signs of broken shells around the nests, it is likely these were predated by carrion crow, great black-backed gull or herring gull. On a more positive note, one of the nests found empty last trip was found to contain a new egg, so it looks like this pair is trying again. Two new shag nests were also discovered, one with eggs and one with chicks, bringing the total number of shag nests on Burhou to 15. Hopefully next time we will find that the shags that lost eggs over the past couple of weeks will give it another go. Late in the afternoon, we donned our camouflage gear and sat on vantage points overlooking the main puffin colony. Despite large numbers rafting (our highest count was 166 at 18:20) there was very little activity on the land (above ground anyway). We did, however, record a few puffins going in/out of their burrows. Puffins incubate their single egg for days from late April onwards and the parents will share the load while one is keeping the egg warm, the other can be out rafting or fishing. There has been a big change in the gulls since the last trip with the lesser black-backed and herring gull nests containing eggs. The nests and eggs are beautifully camouflaged so we were very careful to watch where we stepped! Other sightings included another flock of 15 yellow wagtails, a great black-backed gull carcass (probably another peregrine kill) and four of Paul Veron s colour rings on lesser black-backed gulls. One of these (6.V8) Paul ringed as a chick on Burhou in since then it has twice been recorded wintering in Portugal. It most likely won t be breeding this year but hopefully it will see how it s done for next year! JA 6 Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 7

5 WATCH Pond-dipping: Throughout the early part of the year Watch has been very active, as this magazine shows. The children have had a lot of fun, but have also worked hard and have achieved a great deal. They helped clear browntail caterpillars so successfully that only two week-ends were needed, instead of the planned three. The Shark Egg Hunt was useful research and although some considered the pursuit of chocolate eggs their main target, real ones were also discovered and Katie Shaw managed to find two ray cases. The pond-dipping circuit again provided entertainment but also plenty of information. There have been fewer newts this year but far more tadpoles; fewer dragonfly larvae but more damselfly nymphs; fewer adult water boatmen but far more young ones. Watch owes thanks to all of you whose ponds were surveyed (and the refreshments were brilliant!) Bat walks and hedgehog searches will be resuming soon, as will rock-pooling. The beekeepers have already made a gentle start but, like the bees, they will be more active as the weather warms up. The Garden Moth Scheme is under way again. March offered beautiful weather for the re-start of the project and moths were abundant in all the light traps, but April was cold and wet and catches dropped alarmingly. It has been a relief to learn that in this miserable spring, most moth recorders on the UK mainland had a far worse time of it than we did. We shall need an astonishingly warm summer, however, to rival last year s remarkable records. Much of Watch s work in 2012, so far, has been devoted to the renovation and re-creation of a disused garden on the Braye Road. What started in February as a jungle, untouched for years, is fast becoming an attractive conservation area. The centre pages of this magazine attempt to show the progress of this project. In a later number we will show the incredible range of flowers that have sprung up, together with the birds, insects and pond creatures that are already living there. During Wildlife Week at the start of June Dr George McGavin will officially open what is to be known as the Jubilee Garden. More than sixty children have helped with the conservation work so far, although much of it has been done by a team of about a dozen. This busy group has already introduced the new site to a much wider audience, with an attractive short film on Channel TV, which has been repeated several times, while on 11th May they took over the Alderney Society s lecture room at the museum to give a slideshow of photos of their varied activities, followed by a presentation by Henry Rowe on Insect Mimicry. A packed and enthusiastic audience made it quite clear that they appreciated what the AWT s younger members are doing for the Trust, but also for Alderney. DW Jordan making bee-frames Gab talks to the Alderney Society The Great Shark Egg Hunt at Braye: 8 Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 9

6 Jubilee Garden

7 I like the idea of doing something different in there (Liam). The two things I like best about our finished room are the gannet coming through the glass looking like it s diving for fish and the wooden table Keith helped us make from a tree trunk slice (Louis). I liked choosing the insects pictures (Thomas). It was a fantastic learning opportunity (Miss Kelly). We ve all learnt so much about who lives in which habitat; even the teachers learnt things! (Mrs Weir). Liam Connor and Louis Smart And this is what the Curator thought about it: This is the second project I have completed with the children of Ormer House. The first was the 1945 Issue Room and we had so much fun doing that project that I asked the children if they would like to do another. They seemed really keen so I offered them a bigger room and the chance to do something completely different. Liz Morgan and Julia Henney from the AWT ran classes on habitats, so that the children could learn what was needed in order to create the information boards and design the room. Liz even created hand drawn watercolours for each environment, for the children to label and have on the boards. Classes included objects from the museum stores including our collection of birds eggs, which the children found extremely interesting as it is something that is rarely seen nowadays. After many months of hard work the boards were ready and Lindsay and members of the new AWT staff helped proof-read them and answer queries we had on Alderney wildlife. All this help enabled the children to design a space that offers detailed information for adults, weird and wonderful facts and figures for younger people, and gives a great introduction to the natural history that Alderney has to offer. The children even decided to include a history board in their room, explaining some of the historical aspects of Alderney s natural history such as Arbor Day, seaweed and ormer collecting and the Alderney cattle! The project has been great fun and I ve been so impressed with the children, who have been eager to come to the classes and should be proud of what they have achieved. The end result is very impressive, with activities for all ages, the chance to hear Alderney bird sounds and to even touch taxidermy animals including our latest arrival, Bob the Puffin, whom we had delivered especially for the project, as the children said they had never seen a puffin up close and found it difficult to imagine how big they are. Frances Jeans The New Natural History Room in the Museum Museum Our project was to redesign this room at the Alderney Museum. We have been doing this project for over seven months, starting in October 2011 and opening it in April It was organised by Frances, the museum s curator, for the children at Ormer House School and it has been a most enjoyable experience for all of us. Frances has spent her time with us every week. She has supported us all the way and has been very patient while we made decisions! The Alderney Society even let us spend hundreds of pounds on our ideas so that the room is what we wanted it to look like. On behalf of Ormer House School we would like to thank the Alderney Society for giving us this great opportunity to create a space in the museum. We would also like to thank the Alderney Wildlife Trust for all the help they have given and the knowledge they have shared with us. We are very grateful to all those who have helped us with our project and we hope that you will come and visit the museum to see the new Natural History Room and will realise how much we have enjoyed creating it. Milly s Wood is Planted: We collected some quotes from people at our school so that you can see what they thought about the project: I liked it when we listened to bird sounds and recorded them onto the buttons for visitors to listen to now everyone can learn what different ones sound like. I liked recording the bird sounds it was so difficult to guess which one was which! (Conor and Callum). I liked looking at photographs of puffins and at the puffin we bought (Megan) Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 13

8 Insects & Spiders After a warm, sunny March, the late spring weather has been cold and wet. This has been wonderful for plant growth, but there have been few butterflies, although an increase in small tortoiseshells is encouraging, after several years of decline, and in March at least six large tortoiseshells were seen sunning themselves after hibernation. The moth traps have recorded very low totals compared with last year. Noteworthy have been an unprecedented 19 specimens of pale pinion, a species that was very uncommon here until recently, and four more blossom underwings, almost certainly migrants. The second Alderney record of the beautiful tortrix Acleris cristana was pleasing, as was the appearance of several more oak beauty moths, a large and handsome species that is common in the UK but normally rare here. Emperor moths, which are usually so abundant in the island in April, are emerging in captivity in small numbers. Four females have come to light and there have been a few males seen flying. A large red damselfly has been noted at a small pool near Quatre Vents and a 4-spotted chaser at Mannez, but no other dragonflies have yet appeared. Oil beetles were numerous in March, but have seldom been seen since and there have been a few green tiger beetles observed near Houmet Herbe. May Bugs, often a menace in the moth traps at this time of year, have been coming to light in very small numbers. There are currently hundreds of 7-spot ladybirds about, which should keep the aphids down on garden flowers and vegetables. Fortunately, the expected decimation by invasive Harlequin ladybirds seems not to have materialised, and there have been none seen yet this year. Another invader, the conifer seed bug, seems to be holding its own. We have had about a dozen recorded during the winter and spring. Alderney has few conifers, and the bugs seem to be doing little harm. During the work to renovate the Jubilee Garden at St Anne s School, a colony of huge spiders was discovered in and around the greenhouse. They are clearly a species of Steatoda, probably false black widow spiders. If so, they can deliver an unpleasant bite, but will only do so if handled roughly. They have been moved to the Community Woodland! An exciting discovery was Alderney s second-ever specimen of the startling black-and-red shieldbug Graphosoma lineatum, a species that has not yet been seen in UK. DW Graphosoma lineatum Birds on Buildings Survey Alderney Wildlife Trust, together with La Societe Guernesiaise and La Societe Serquaise, are asking for help from the public to carry out a Birds on Buildings survey this year. We are trying to find out more about where our most familiar birds breed in the Bailiwick. Resident species such as the house sparrow and starling, and migrants such as the swift, swallow and house martin are in decline. Apart from a few well known breeding sites, we have little idea as to how many breeding pairs of, e.g. swift and house martin we have in the islands. We need your help to map them. We are essentially looking for information on birds nesting in or on any man-made structure. This includes birds nest boxes; both specially made owl/kestrel boxes as well as normal nest boxes for smaller species. So if you see any birds nesting on buildings this year, be it house martin, collared dove or swallow, please log on to La Societe Guernesiaise website ( and follow the link through to the Birds on Buldings Survey it s very quick and easy to complete! JA Steatoda Small Tortoiseshell, in February Large Tortoiseshell 14 Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 15

9 Where are they now? Staff Update Liz & Julia s leaving party Sarah in Cambodia SARAH EDWARDS S TRAVELS Since I left the AWT in August 2010, life has definitely not been dull. A few days after leaving the Trust I travelled to Namibia to complete an Environmental Impact Assessment for De Beers on the potential impact of new diamond mining areas on the brown hyena. Towards the end of my time in Namibia I was contacted by Frontier, a not- for-profit NGO who conduct scientific research for conservation worldwide and asked if I would be interested in a Principal Investigator position on one of their projects. Naturally I jumped at the chance, and two months later I was on my way to Cambodia. Having never travelled to Asia before I was apprehensive of what to expect, but I really shouldn t have worried. Cambodia is a beautiful country with lots of bizarre and interesting wildlife, stunning temples and the people, despite the recent horror of the Khmer Rogue genocide, are so happy, friendly and welcoming and most of them, well, just bonkers! My project was based near the Thai border in the Kulen-Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, in an area of forest that had never been surveyed before. During the year I had eighteen volunteers, four British staff and four local rangers working with me for various periods. This is where I met James, now Ecologist for the Trust, when he worked as staff for six months. We had some amazing wildlife discoveries throughout the year including camera trapping sun bears, gaur (a massive wild forest cow), Asiatic golden cats and lots of porcupine and civets. We also had some smaller, yet no less exciting, discoveries including the extremely rare caecilian James found, and new range extensions for various species of frog, including the striped sticky frog which really lives up to its name. Life in the forest was basic; we slept in hammocks under tarps, cooked on wood stoves, washed in the river and made our own camp every ten weeks from scratch. The year was not without its problems, however, with illness, monsoon rains and flooding making for a steep learning curve. However, with the local Khmer rangers on, camp life was never dull and it has definitely been one of my most challenging yet ultimately rewarding experiences. Since returning from Cambodia in November, I have been writing up our research for publication in journals. I have had a piece on sun bears published and a couple more accepted. I have also been organising my PhD which will see me travel back to Namibia in June to start studying human-wildlife-conflict on farmland. I cannot wait to get my teeth into this next challenge and whatever the future may hold. Adam Offler - Reserves Officer Unlike the others, my background isn t in environment but in archaeology, which I studied at Edinburgh. My favourite bit of this was working outdoors, so I took up conservation volunteering with Durham County Council, while studying arboriculture at a local agricultural college. As Reserves Officer, I ve been able to combine my interests in history and trees, as I m helping to develop the Community Woodland and am about to start working on the Wildlife Bunker on the south coast. James Allison - Trust Ecologist I spent much of my childhood exploring the wilds of Scotland, discovering and watching the spectacular and diverse wildlife found there. This interest naturally led me to study Zoology at the University of Edinburgh where I graduated in Since then I ve spent much of my time volunteering on research projects in South-east Asia highlights include tracking wild orang-utans in Borneo and bird surveying in Cambodia. Here in Alderney, I ll be continuing the research that has been done on Burhou over previous years and have already managed a few trips out there. It really is a beautiful and very special place. In my spare time I enjoy walking, birding and fishing so Alderney seems like an ideal place for me to enjoy these hobbies. I ve already seen some new birds and caught a few big crabs no fish yet though! Aurelie Bohan, Ramsar Officer I went to the University of Portsmouth and studied Marine Biology, going on to do a Masters in Coastal and Marine Resource Management, graduating in Previously I have volunteered with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and got to be involved in some really exciting seal and seagrass projects and am excited to see what I can get involved in with Alderney Wildlife Trust and the Ramsar site! My love of the marine environment came from having spent my summers here in Alderney, so I was keen to move here and get more involved in the island s nature and community! Gareth Price Having arrived in the island in January in wet weather, it s really nice to be experiencing an Alderney Spring as the Trust ecologist. With a keen interest in birds and botany I have been monitoring passage migrants at Longis filter beds and acquainting myself with Alderney s diverse flora. I ve already made several trips to Burhou and have enjoyed walking the South Cliffs. Having come from land-locked Leicester, where I worked for the local biological record centre, I m really enjoying being by the sea, setting crab pots and watching dolphins off Raz. I have a keen interest in developing Alderney s biological record centre and enjoy using geographical information systems. Before Leicester I lived in North Somerset, where I graduated from the University of the West of England in geography and environmental management. [ In the past month Gareth has left us to take up a conservation job in UK. We wish him well ] Sarah Lewington, Conservation Officer I studied Applied Ecology at University of Wales, Bangor and graduated in Since then I have worked with Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale and volunteered with the Lancs Wildlife Trust. You ve probably all seen me cycling around the island. I m a self-confessed bike addict and even cycled home from Armenia last year! I ve been on Alderney for two and a half months now- I ve been helping out with volunteers, looking after the cows and attacking the dreaded hottentot fig. Roland s working us hard, but it s great fun and I can t wait for the summer events! 16 Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 17

10 The Alderney Wildlife Trust Interview No 21: Jane Aireton talks to Robin Whicker Missing Bird - a new puzzle for all the family. When you have identified 20 Alderney birds from the clues, find them in the word search panel by reading from right to left, left to right, up, down or diagonally. One of the birds is missing; which one? What is your earliest wildlife memory, Jane? Jane: We lived in London, so I suppose it must have been birds and caterpillars in the garden. I remember watching ants for hours! How long were you in London? Jane: Oh, until I had finished my nursing qualifications. One of my fellow trainees moved to Alderney, I came to visit her, and it was the old story I met a man and stayed! You can t live on Alderney without being aware of wildlife and my then husband Richard was farming but I was too busy raising children to have much leisure for my own interests. So how did you come to be engaged in the work of the Trust? Jane: It started with the plans for a Community Centre. Mike had kept bees for years and bees are inspirational. In its whole life one bee can make just half a teaspoonful of honey and for 1lb of honey the bees that produce it must collectively fly one and a half times round the world, but they are not deterred by the size of the task. I thought we could help raise money for the Centre by sponsoring Alderney bees at the same time as repaying the bees by supporting the cutting-edge research on bees at Sussex University. Kerry Wedd was involved with plans for the Centre and thanks to his brother David I encountered the wonderful world of moths. I took the dogs out walking and found that it was the Trust that maintained the paths and had re-opened old ones. Then there was the tree planting scores of people of all ages merrily planting trees in the rain just getting on with it. The Wildlife Trust is the ideal community activity, bringing people together for an essential common purpose good for people as well as wildlife. I agree! What next? Jane: Well then I bought a bat detector fascinating. We are so lucky to have real experts on this little island. David for instance has got the children really interested, first in wildlife and now in the conservation garden at St Anne s. There s the Peace Garden, too. Jane: Yes, that began just with some seed on a bank at the site for the Community Centre. Tom Croxton made a herb bed and the children added ceramic plaques and built a willow dome. We re now growing pollinator-friendly plants and Tom is developing a wildflower meadow. Down at the Recycling Centre, Mark McManus is recycling wheelie bins to make tubs for growing pollinator-friendly flowers. You obviously love Alderney but which is your favourite part? Jane: The island is astonishingly diverse, and anywhere by the sea is bound to be full of variety - but my favourite bit of all is the stretch from Longis to the lighthouse. You are not alone in that! Thank you. C S P U D L O I C E K E E R P E R E G R I N E E T G U P I C O O T O S S R L F C B W I E N T T T W R F K K N N G R S R M W N I I C N N F R N E B O T N C A I N I O R L I R L H G L I H E W U B K R R W R B L G C E T R D A P A O U I U T B L A C P T R O P S I G A A W I S N I P E T H W U B D B Clues: 1. Ouzel-cock 2. British bluebird 3. Bald water bird 4. Black scavenger 5. Little grebe 6. AWT logo 7. E.g. Herring 8. Windhover 9. Disc-faced hunter 10. Wandering raptor 11. Woodie 12. Sea Parrot 13. Redbreast 14. Shoot from cover 15. Latin passer 16. Iridescent flocker 17. Snail killer 18. Pebble shifter 19. Songster 20. Jennie 18 Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the future 19

11 Dates for your Diary June 11 th - 17 th June 21 st - 23 rd June 23 rd June 30 th July 7 th July 14 th August 4 th - 11 th August 17 th - 19 th August 25 th -28 th August 26 th August 31 st - September 1 st Bloomin Alderney, gardens open National Moth Nights Watch Rock-pooling (Braye, 3.30) Watch Bat Walk (time tba) Keep Alderney Clean Watch Bat Walk (time tba) Alderney Week Alderney Week Plus ALDERNEY WILDLIFE FESTIVAL FAYRE Channel Islands Moth Nights For further information, visit the Trust s website (see below). Protecting Alderney s Wildlife for the Future Alderney Wildlife Trust, 51 Victoria Street, St Anne, Alderney, GY9 3TA Tel: info@alderneywildlife.org