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Guernsey vacation

The Jersey choughs decided to go on vacation in March, with four individuals being spotted on 18th March in Guernsey. We’d like to extend our appreciation to the Guernsey ornithological group and all the local birders of Guernsey who have been tracking, photographing and updating us on the bird’s movements for us.

This ‘island hopping’ which has become more frequent over the years had one difference this time. A young male (Biscuit) joined three females (Skomer, Neufchatel, Jaffa)! This was the first time a male has been seen vacationing away from Jersey. For Skomer & Jaffa, the vacation was short-lived as they both returned to Jersey by 24th March, therefore leaving Neufchatel & Biscuit as a potential pair. During the month of June, a little birdy told us that the two remaining choughs (Biscuit & Neufchatel) were nest building! No success was seen this year, although, they are both relatively young birds, Neufchatel hatched in 2024 and Biscuit in 2025. This could have been a practice year for them.

To our knowledge the pair are both still roaming in Guernsey, so we are very excited to see what next year brings for this pair! Choughs colonising Guernsey could be on the cards for the future!

Photo: Three of the four choughs foraging in Guernsey. Photograph by Kim Wilkinson

Initial Ronez quarry nest checks

The choughs showed an early start to their breeding season this year, and therefore the team organised an earlier initial visit than usual. We walked around Ronez on 8th May and found quite a mix of chick ages which was a surprise, as the choughs which nest at Ronez are usually only a few days apart of each other. The majority of the nests at Ronez are beyond sight or reach until specialist equipment is hired, however, some are visually accessible from the ground, allowing us to judge when the ringing visit should go ahead. 

The three nests visually accessible on foot were: Kevin & Wally’s, Sercq & Iris and Dusty & Archirondel’s. Kevin & Wally had three chicks, which were too young to ring, but would be ready in a few day’s time. Sercq & Iris had two chicks around the same age as Kevin & Wally’s chicks. Dusty & Archirondel looked as though they had three chicks. Although, Lee & Elm’s nest is generally out of sight from the ground, as the chicks were so large, we could see all three of them when their parents came to feed them. The quarry operations manager, Toby, also had a look at Trevor & Noirmont’s nest, however their chicks were almost newly hatched! We didn’t have a chance to hear chicks from Percy & Remi’s nest but believe from the pair’s behaviours observed at the aviary that their chicks were likely a similar size to Lee & Elms chicks. We stood in the secondary crusher to listen for chicks at Dingle & Pyrrhos nest, but the timing wasn’t right and nothing was heard. Another pair that usually nest at Ronez are Bo & Flieur, but we didn’t find any signs of a nest in their usual nesting site. 

Ronez ringing visit

We arranged our ringing visit at Ronez for 15th May. We had five nests to access. The first nest required a cherry picker and this belonged to breeding pair Percy & Remi. To our delight, they had three large chicks. The chicks were brought to the ground and processed. ‘Processing’ includes adding plastic rings, weighing, aging and taking samples for DNA sexing and genetic work. Once the chicks had all the works, they were returned to their nest. As the parents are used to us doing this each year, it was nice to see them being fed almost immediately after.

The next nest visited belonged to Dingle & Pyrrho and this nest required a scissor lift for access. Surprisingly, the pair only had two young chicks who were too young for ringing and therefore were only weighed.  Interestingly, when checking the nest, two adult choughs were watching. But to our surprise it was Sarnia & Pyrrho, not Dingle & Pyrrho! It seems as though Pyrrho has re-paired with Sarnia.

The second nest belonged to Lee & Elm, who we already knew had three larger chicks. When investigating the clutch more closely however, we noticed that one was much smaller than the others, so it will be interesting to see if all three fledge to the aviary. The fourth nest belonged to Kevin & Wally who also had three chicks. All three of Kevin & Wally’s chicks were the heaviest of all chicks processed. The fifth and final nest belonged to Sercq & Iris and this pair had two chicks in their nest.

Photo: Percy & Remi’s three chicks in their nest.

Alder & Angalsea’s nest

A pair that nests in L’Etacq, Alder & Angalsea, had their nest site visited for the first time on 25th March, where Angalsea was spotted in the nest incubating. The team were thrilled at another year of nesting activity from this pair. Visitations on this nest were limited, but by the 28th April, it was clear they hadn’t been successful by their lack of presence and attendance to the area. It is a shame that they failed,  however, there is still hope for success next year. Alder & Angalsea have since been seen visiting other properties in St Ouen, but that’s a story for another time.

Photo: Angalsea sitting tight in her nest.

The chaos begins!

The first three fledglings of the year arrived at Sorel on the 28th May. Aspen & Jaune managed to fledge three out of their four chicks. This year’s colour ring colour is grey, therefore any choughs which have grey as their bottom ring colour (on either leg) have hatched in 2026. The chough chick naming theme for the season is ‘Herbs & Spices’. From 07th June, other pairs started to bring their youngsters to the aviary. Dusty & Archirondel arrived with two chicks. Kevin & Wally successfully fledged two of their three chicks. Percy & Remi fledged one of their three chicks. Pinel & Vicq fledged one chick. First time breeders Sarnia & Pine brought one chick to the aviary. Minty & Manitou fledged two chicks. Sallow & Portelet fledged two out of their three chicks. Trevor & Noirmont fledged two chicks. Another pair of first-time breeders, Oronsay & Liberty fledged one chick. The last chicks to arrive at the aviary were Rougenez & Kent with one chick on 24th June. It’s safe to say that by the end of June, monitoring the choughs at the aviary had become quite chaotic.

Photo: Jaune being chased by Sorrel, one of three of their chicks to fledge.

Where have you seen the choughs?

Over the course of the past six months, we’ve received 191 chough sightings from Jersey residents. The choughs are being spotted across the whole island and on surrounding Channel Islands too. The largest flocks were seen over, Mourier valley (50), St Ouens (22) and Corbiere (17). Choughs were seen visiting: Plemont, St Peter, St Ouen, Corbiere, St Aubin and St Helier the most frequently. Less frequent reports were acknowledged from Les Landes, St John, Trintiy, St Mary, St Brelade’s, Gorey, Grouville, L’Etacq, St Martin, Grosnez, Crabbe, Le Pulec, St Lawrence and Greve de Lecq.