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Operation Chough Update 2001
This year has been one of mixed fortunes for the chough in Cornwall. We were all set to release a group of our choughs back into the wild last May. We had the birds all fit and ready in the large flight aviary at Paradise Park, and the necessary radio-tracking equipment. Dale Jackson our assistant Curator, had found a good site that allowed access for observations. It was also secluded enough to give the birds some privacy. Dr Richard Meyer had been booked to be there and observe the initial weeks of the release.
Unfortunately the sudden arrival of Foot and Mouth Disease and the closure of all the footpaths until the summer put all this work on hold. As has happened in previous years, our breeding pairs built nests and incubated their eggs but failed to raise their chicks. Sadly, one chick, which was rescued from an abandoned nest and hand-reared by Dale, survived for several weeks before it also died.
| However, on the positive side, five wild Choughs arrived unexpectedly, during June. These Choughs could either have come from Wales or Brittany and seemed most at home. Staff from Paradise Park went out on several occasions to look for them, and were thrilled to see and photograph them. |
Chough at Paradise Park |
The birds spent a lot of time in a mixed flock with other members of the crow family, feeding in among cowpats. We are still getting reports that these birds are around and we are considering now whether this means that we should hold back on our planned releases, or quickly act to add to the birds already out there, as the habitat must be supporting them well.
Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary, Hayle Cornwall TR27
4HB, UK
www.paradisepark.org.uk
