Choughs go on the airwaves

Tuesday 11 August 2015

You can soon tune in to the sounds of some of our Jersey wildlife on national radio.

Dusty – the first red-billed chough to be bred in the wild for a hundred years - and the rest of the flock of free-flying choughs at Sorel are starring on Radio 4’s Open Country on Thursday afternoon.

The BBC show’s producer Alasdair Cross and presenter Helen Mark were in the Island a few weeks ago to meet the team behind conservation group Birds on the Edge and find out more about their project to bring back the species that became extinct in the Channel Islands a century ago.

In 2010 the Group borrowed two breeding pairs from Paradise Park in Cornwall to start a captive-breeding programme at Durrell.

In 2013 they released seven birds onto the Island's north coast and 13 more have since joined the wild flock at Sorel. After only a year in the wild, there are now three nesting pairs.

You’ll be able to hear Dusty - as he was named by staff at the Quarry where he hatched in late May – amid the general chough chatter.

Birds on the Edge's Dr Glyn Young said they now have new eight Paradise Park bred chicks and one Durrell-bred one in the release aviary at Sorel. They are just completing quarantine and will hopefully join the wild flock before the end of the month.

The Open Country team also learned about the Group’s work with local farmers to help feed our birds during the winter and interviewed conservationists Mike Stentiford and Bob Tompkins as well as archaeologist Matt Pope.

You can tune in to BBC Radio Four on Thursday 13 August at 3pm and again at 6am on Saturday 15 August.

You can hear the episode on iPlayer here and listen to the choughs’ calling at Sorel here.