Wild Birds Breeding Report

A young chough stretching its wings - August 2005

Once again the pair of wild choughs on the Lizard have produced a clutch of chicks. This year they have truly excelled themselves, and reared a total of five young. The total number of birds raised by this single pair is now fifteen - quite an amazing number!

The young birds behaved much the same as the previous broods, spending the first weeks after fledging with their parents in the local area. All the birds at this point would return to the nest site to roost each evening, and were fairly easy to watch.

Over the course of the summer the young birds began exploring further afield, and have now extended their range to Lands End and Zennor (see “The Visitors” article). There have been plenty of sightings of the youngsters (and parents), and plotting their movement is most entertaining.

Youngsters begging for food - June 2005

Three of this years young have taken up residence around Nanquidno, near St just, and unfortunately on of these birds has died. It is presumed to have been killed by a peregrine falcon. The surviving two birds continue to explore the local area, and have just been joined by two of their siblings from 2004. These two birds have been previously spotted around the Lands End / Porthgwarra area.

The two other youngsters from this year are still around the Lizard area, and continue to frustrate observers by disappearing for days at a time. The parent birds have now gone into their winter routine, and can be seen regularly along the coast from The Lizard to Kynance Cove and Predannack Head. There are now up to fourteen wild choughs living in Cornwall, probably the largest number for over fifty years. Let us hope the expansion continues…

Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary, Hayle Cornwall TR27 4HB, UK
www.paradisepark.org.uk