Successful translocation of the Seychelles Warbler

The 100th bird on the list - Frégate Island is now home to the Seychelles Warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis). A translocation from Cousin Island Special Reserve was a great success and the new population has adapted extremely well, with the birds dispersing widely over the island and displaying for mates. The translocation took place on the 7th and 14th of December 2011 and a total of 59 birds were transferred. After the birds were caught on Cousin, each bird was individually packed into cardboard boxes, brought to Frégate by helicopter and released on the same day. The warblers were released near to the tennis court, an area previously identified as 'high quality' habitat during a pre-translocation survey. All the birds appeared fit and healthy upon release with no signs of injuries.

After the translocation, the warblers spread quickly away from the release site and within a day or two these intriguing passerines were all over the island. These charming little birds have lovely calls and are easily attracted to the observer by whistling and phishing. The objective of the translocation is to establish another breeding population of the once Critically Endangered Seychelles warbler, allowing the species to be down listed from Vulnerable to Near Threatened and removed from the BirdLife International List of Threatened Bird Species of the World.

Migrant birds on Frégate Island

Birding on Frégate the last few months has provided us with some special sightings including species that have not been recorded here before by us, although they have been recorded on the island previously. A female garganey has made herself at home since November in the pond next to the marina. She was very skittish at first, but these days pays us scant attention and goes about her business as we are not even there. December saw the arrival of two blue-cheeked bee-eaters, with their characteristic calls alerting us to their presence. They were around for a few days before disappearing from the plateau in the area of the spa and Glacis Cerf.

Both frigate bird species were regularly seen patrolling over the island in December, with more than 20 individuals being seen together on a number of occasions. Cuckoos have made their annual return to Frégate with four common cuckoos seen at different locations around the island. We once again look forward to finding some new and interesting species in the next couple of months.