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ALDERNEY
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| Environment |
Alderney’s proximity to France means that species found on mainland Europe but not in Britain, are sometimes seen here. Among Alderney’s more unusual residents are black rabbits and about 1,000 extremely rare blonde – yes blonde – hedgehogs, also known as “Alderney Spike Girls”. The origin of the blonde hedgehogs which carry no fleas, remains a mystery, although some claim the first species arrived, on the island in the 1960’s, in a Harrods shopping bag. Not albinos, these hedgehogs have a rare recessive gene giving rise to beady, button-black eyes and attractive creamy-coloured spines and Alderney is the only Channel Island known to host them. What’s more, they don’t carry fleas.
The island is also on the migratory route of many birds, and the island has some very unusual guests.
Ornithology
Birdwatching on Alderney
Alderney is a magnet for birdwatchers. The island’s proximity to France means that species found on mainland Europe but not in Britain, are sometimes seen here. The Island is famous for its seabirds, especially the gannets . About 5000 pairs nest on the Channel Island’s two gannetries, Ortac and Les Etacs.
Puffins, fulmars, guillemots and kittiwakes are regular residents.
Burhou Island, just 2 miles NW from Braye Harbour, is a bird sanctuary. The island, owned by the States, has a small hut containing rough accommodation and can be rented for a small sum. It is closed from March to July to protect puffins and storm petrils on the small rocky island during these months.
The Alderney Society’s official bird recorder is Mark Atkinson whose annual Ornithological Report published below will provide you with a seasonal account of Alderney’s feathered residents and visitors. He can be contacted on atkinson@cwgsy.net
A comprehensive database of all recorded sightings for the past fifty years is also available from the Alderney Society Museum.
A listing of birds which can be spotted during the different seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, is published below. Alderney resident Jill Watson has published a special "Come Birdwatching in Alderney" website. Click http://jillwatson.members.beeb.net
A comprehensive database of all recorded sightings for the past fifty years is also available from the Alderney Society Museum.
The Alderney Wildlife Trust
The Alderney Wildlife Trust aims to promote the conservation and protection of Alderney’s terrestrial and marine wildlife and associated habitats, also to promote the conservation and protection of places of scientific interest, amenity value or natural beauty.
The Trust seeks to educate the public about the importance of sustainable development, biodiversity conservation and Alderney’s wildlife, and to promote research in all branches of nature study.
Alderney is an the third largest of the Channel Islands and the second largest Island within the Bailiwick of Guernsey. At approximately 3.5miles in length by 1.5miles at its widest point the island totals only 2000 acres. However, Alderney is sparsely populated with just a third of the number of people per acre in comparison to Guernsey.
Alderney is the most open and rural of all the Channel Islands, due in part to its unique history and the existence of the Channel Island's only greenbelt, and is therefore a haven for wildlife.
Over 900 species of vascular plant are currently recorded on the island including rarities such as the spotted rockrose. The Island's bird list contains almost 300 species, and includes 2% of the world’s gannet population as well as fan-tailed and Dartford Warblers, making Alderney a favourite among the British bird watching community .
However, owing to the decline in agriculture and the increasing pressures of development many of the island's diverse habitats are under threat.
The Alderney Wildlife Trust was formed to counter this threat. Its aims are to promote the conservation and protection of Alderney's terrestrial and marine wildlife and associated habitats as well as to promote the conservation and protection of places of scientific interest, amenity value or natural beauty.
The Trust seeks to educate the public about the importance of sustainable development, biodiversity conservation and Alderney's wildlife, and to promote research in all branches of nature study.
Funding the trust
The Trust is the 47th and newest member of the British Wildlife Trust Partnership. However, Alderney has perhaps the most unusual form of local government anywhere within the British Isles. The Island is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which is a Crown Dependency and not part of the United Kingdom (UK) or the European Union (EU). Alderney itself is self-governing in many aspects, making it partially independent from Guernsey.
This unique system of government has ensured that Alderney maintains its old world charm. However, it has also meant that the island is ineligible for financial support on any matter, including the environment, from the UK, EU or Guernsey. The Island also lacks almost any form of wildlife protection within its local legislation.
Therefore, unlike all other British Wildlife Trusts, the Alderney Wildlife Trust is funded entirely through its membership, fundraising and contracting activities, with no access to Landfill or Heritage Lottery funds. This has meant that the Trust has had learn how to make less go further.
To continue its work the Trust needs your help, either through membership, through volunteering a few hours, days or even weeks, either in its information centre or as a conservation volunteer, or through donations or project sponsorship. If you would like to know more about the Trust's financial situation please contact the Alderney Wildlife Trust.
Flora
Alderney is the top area in the British Isles for Wild Flowers
Report by Alderney botanist Brian Bonnard
For the purposes of wildlife recording the British Isles have been divided since Victorian times into 113 Vice- Counties. These largely follow the old county boundaries, with very large counties like Yorkshire divided into two Vice-Counties (VCs).
The Botanical Society of the British Isles, (BSBI) follow this system, with the whole country divided into “hectads” of 10Km. square more or less following the physical (former) county boundaries and each VC has one or more “recorders” . Our duties are to confirm, correlate and record the records of plant sightings submitted by both local and visiting botanists. The Channel Islands are all lumped together as VC 113, or “S” (for Sarnia), originally for 40+ years under a single recorder but, for the last 12 years or so, each now has their own recorder(s) of which I act for Alderney.
In 2003 Prof. Stace of Leicester University and 3 other eminent botanists published a 405 page “Vice-County Census Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Great Britain, The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands”, to which all of the recorders submitted their records of the plants found in their areas over many years.
A summary of the overall findings has just appeared in the September 2004 edition of BSBI News. This shows the total numbers of Wild Flowers recorded in each VC, divided into Native and Alien (naturalised) species (or taxa); the area of each VC in square kilometres; and the ratios of the number of plants per sq. km.
Surrey, with 2,409 taxa has the highest number of different species recorded in its 1,960 sq. km area, giving a ratio of 1.229 species per sq. km., whilst Wester Ross in Scotland has only 902 taxa recorded in its huge area of 3,360 sq. km. and a ratio of only 0.275 species per sq. km. The average ratio for the whole UK is 0.955 species per sq. km.
The Channel Islands between them have 1,725 species found in their total area of only 194 sq. km. and a ratio of 8.89. The nearest number of taxa found in a UK VC is Nottinghamshire with 1,727 species in 2,180 sq. km. and a ratio of 0.792 species per sq. km.
Alderney with 1,042 species recorded since the first records were published in 1839 and approximately 900 still to be found today in its 9 sq. km. area thus has a ratio of at least 100 species per sq. km. if one includes only the current flora, rather than all the species ever recorded as is probably the case with the UK VCs.
It is therefore obvious why Alderney, with a wild flower density more than 100 times that of the average UK VC and ten times that of the other CIs, is of such interest to visiting botanists and other naturalists and, with the appropriate publicity, is in a position to attract large numbers of “wildlife tourists”.
This has long been noted and, in Marquand’s “Flora of Guernsey and the Lesser Channel Islands” published in 1903, he was able to write; “Alderney is in several respects without a rival, even in this favoured archipelago...and a visitor will find here in a single day’s botanising a larger variety of really rare plants than in either of the other (larger) Channel Islands. There are certainly not many places in England where, within an area of four square miles, a dozen plants may be found equal in rarity to the following:--” (a list followed, all of which and several more, now on the Endangered Species lists for the UK, are still to be found in the island today).
Fauna
The Significance of Alderney
WILDLIFE
Alderney's wildlife is one of its unique features with many of the species present today having continental links. This is partially due to the fact that Alderney, along with the other Channel Islands, was joined to the continent during the last ice age, but also largely due to the French coast being only 8 miles away. The wildlife here, as anywhere, can be split in to two broad categories, marine and terrestrial.
Marine
Not surprisingly the island is greatly effected by the sea and the extreme tidal streams found in the surrounding waters. The strength of the tides can be quite astonishing, flowing up to 10-12 knots and high tides of 6.8 meters. As a result of these strong currents marine species such as Conger eel, Grey Lipped Mullet and Small Eyed Ray can be among the largest of their species caught in British waters.
The Ormer beds in this area are the most northerly of their range in British waters and are thought to be the genetic pioneers of their species, being the strongest and most resilient putting up with the cold water and high powered tidal streams. There is a long-standing tradition that families would keep secret the location of their own Ormer beds, hence there is a lot of respect for the Ormer and it has a deep cultural significance within Alderney.
The island also has some interesting visitors such as basking sharks, which are regularly seen in Braye bay each year. They are harmless plankton feeders reaching up to 13.5 meters.
Another visitor to the local wasters was a baby whale who became stranded on the shore of Saye bay in June 1982. It has proven difficult to identify as it was not fully grown but it is thought that it is either a Sei Whale or a Minke Whale. A huge community effort was made to keep the young whale wet while the tide came in and eventually it managed to swim back to the safer deep waters. This whale was only about 5.5 meters where as at maturity a Sei whale may reach 12-16 metes and live to up 65 years. Although it is rare for whales to wash up on Alderney shore these species are widespread in the Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland.
The Common seal, Grey seal and the Atlantic seal may be seen around the island however there are no seals that breed in the Channel Islands. The Common dolphin, Bottlenosed dolphin and Stripped dolphin along with the Common porpoise are also seen in the area. In August 91 there was a report of a dolphin pod with around 25-40 individuals off the Alderney coast. The waters around the island are also relatively rich in fish as there is limited commercial fishing due to the tidal stream however unfortunately is has been suggested that fish numbers are less than they were in the past.
The rocky shoreline of Clonque bay is an important site for many species including crabs, molluscs, starfish and sea anemones. There is a particularly interesting prawn found on seaweed in rock pools. It is known as the Varying prawn, which lives up to its name and varies its colour depending on the colour of the surrounding seaweed. A very common resident of the rocky shore is the Beadlet anemone.
There are several species of crab to be found including the large edible crab, Chancre, the Green crab and the Lady crab. The Lady crab is striking with dark colouring and blue and red lines. It is very fierce rearing if confronted and can draw blood. Large Spider crabs are found in lobster pots around the island but they do not come in to the littoral zone.
Terrestrial
Although Alderney's fauna is not as diverse as its flora there are several species of high importance and interest. One of the reasons for the low mammal diversity is the fact that it is an island and therefore cut off from source populations on the mainland. Many of the mammals on the island have been imported by humans, whereas plants have often got very effective seed dispersal methods and can overcome the sea barrier. However it must not be forgotten that humans have also brought many plant species to the island. In total there are 10 species of mammal, 1 reptile and many insects, butterflies, moths and dragonflies
One of the most famous residents is the Blonde Hedgehog, which is thought to have arisen from imports from Harrods! They are a genetic variant of the common hedgehog and not albinos as often thought. The other interesting point about the blond hedgehogs is that they carry none of the fleas that the mainland hedgehogs have. These Blondie's are very rare in Britain with only 3 examples found in 30 years of research but on Alderney about 25% of the hedgehog population is blonde. They can regularly be seen caught in car headlights after dark.
The Greater white tooth shrew is also a resident on Alderney. It is a common species in Europe but is absent from Britain. It is however found on Guernsey and Alderney. There is another species, the lesser white toothed shrew that lives sympatricly with the white toothed shrew in Europe. This species is not found in Alderney but is found in Jersey, Sark and the Scilly isles whereas the Greater species is not.
On Alderney there is a significant population of Pipistrelle bats along with evidence of Soprano Pipistrelle and a slight indication of Nathusius' Pipistrelle. Another species very rare to Britain is the Grey Long Eared bat. Evidence of these furry creatures has been established through the sad discovery of around ten dead animals within the last 12 years, however no colony has ever been positively identified. There is an active bat group on the island and informative bat walks take place periodically. For more information email the Alderney Wildlife Trust: info@alderneywildlife.org
In the past pet rabbits have escaped in to the wild populations and caused an increase in the number of wild black rabbits. There is also a theory that black rabbit numbers are grater than on the mainland because there is less predation and therefore the conspicuous colouring is not as much of a problem as it is on the mainland. However, recently rabbit numbers seem to be dropping. The exact reason is unknown but it is thought to be a combination of myxomatosis and a reduction in suitable habitat. Monitoring of this loss habitat is ongoing through a grassland management program. Information available from the conservation office.
Rabbits
An other resident is the mole, which is now a pest on the island and can be found almost every where apart from very sandy soils. It is interestingly enough not found on Guernsey but is on Jersey.
The other mammals on the island are the Black and Brown rat, the House mouse, the Long tailed field mouse and the Bank vole. Out of these species only the Long tailed field mouse and the Bank vole are native to the island. The others are thought to have been introduced by man.
There is one reptile on the island, the slow-worm which is a legless lizard, but it is not known what the population is as they are very secretive. It has been suggested that they arrived on the island after swimming from France however it may be more likely that they were here before Alderney split from the mainland.
A species which is unique to the island is the Alderney bee. It is a small bee with a brownish thorax, yellow abdomen and a black remainder and is very similar to the Scilly Isle bee.
An uncommon species that is found on Alderney is the Long cone head grasshopper, which likes the damp habitats provided by Longis common and pond.
There are large numbers of butterflies and moths on the island and you will be hard pushed to miss the colourful displays as you stroll along the footpaths. Longis pond is a particularly good location for butterflies where Painted Lady and Small Copper may be found. The abundance of these creatures may be a result of the small amount of pesticide used on the island and the vast array of wild flowers.
There are also 9 species of Dragonfly, particularly at Mannez pond, and in 1980 the Southern Emerald Damselfly was seen, which is a species not found on the other Channel Islands.
There is a wonderful and varied bird life to be seen on the island with the number of resident and visiting bird species totalling around 270 in the last ten years.
PTGH wish to thank Alderney Tourism for their help in providing the above information. 22/11/05
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