With the breeding season upon us we feel it pertinant that until further notice we won’t be publishing sightings of Cornish Chough on the daily sightings pages. However, we still want you to send in your sightings for our records. We will ensure all your reports are passed on to the RSPB. (Photo courtesy of S.Rogers)
For regular Cornish Chough updates see Cornish Choughs Blogsite.
The youngsters from this year’s broods have dispersed, some further afield than others. Penwith youngsters have been seen around St Ives and near Zennor and last week were around the St Ages area (up to ten birds recorded) and Watergate Bay. Lizard young are venturing west as far as Perranuthnoe. Survival this year has been remarkably good with 15 of the 18 young accounted for still. An interesting record from out of Cornwall came from Gatwick airport!!
If you see choughs while you are out and about, please don’t forget to send us your records, even if you think ‘they must know already’ – cornishchoughs@rspb.org.uk all records are entered onto our database.
Website: www.cornishchoughs.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cornishchoughs
Claire Mucklow – RSPB
2012 has been a hard breeding season for many birds, fortunately the unseasonal weather has not affected the choughs too badly and they have had another fantastic season. This year there were 5 nests to monitor across Cornwall. The fantastic news is that from these 5 nests, 18 chicks have fledged successfully, another record breaking year. We are delighted to see yet another year with 100 % fledging rate and we couldn’t do it without the help of all the staff and volunteers involved in the project, many thanks. All of the young have taken to the wing very well and are spreading further along the coast. As they find their independence it is getting increasingly hard to keep track of them , so if you do see choughs, your sightings would be much appreciated, please email them to cornishchoughs@rspb.org.uk
More exciting news…
Finally, after 11 years of debate and wondering, we are excited to share the original origin of Cornwall’s choughs. As you know in 2001 three unringed choughs arrived on the Lizard, after being extinct in Cornwall for nearly 40 years. Two of these birds settled at Southerly Point and have bred there for the last 11 years successfully raising 44 chicks. A project carried out by researchers at the University of Aberdeen has compared the DNA found in chough feathers from across Europe, the results of their research strongly suggest that the original pair of choughs came from Ireland. For more information visit University of Aberdeen’s website http://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/details-12997.php
Cornwall Chough Project
www.cornishchoughs.org
All in all it has been a very successful season for the Cornish Choughs with 15 new chicks added to our population! Below is a overview of the nest sites:
South Coast sites. 2 nests
Southerly Point Pair: 4 chicks (2 of each sex)
Site 2: 3 chicks (2 female, 1 male).
North Coast sites. 2 nests.
Site 1: 5 chicks (4 male, 1 female).
Site 2: 3 chicks (all male)
Cornwall’s Chough population has had another successful breeding season in the tenth year since they returned to their former home. Continue reading