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Overview
Covering nearly 120 square kilometers, Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands and the most popular with visitors. It also holds most of the best birding habitats in the islands including extensive sand-dunes, small wooded valleys and steep rocky cliffs.
Most of the birds regularly recorded in the Channel Islands archipelago can be seen on or around Jersey and there is much of interest for botanists on this island.
Birds
Notable Species
St Ouen's Pond
St Ouen's Pond is the largest freshwater area on Jersey and home to Cetti's Warbler and Bearded Tit as well as more widespread species such as Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler. Great Bittern is often present in winter.
A hide overlooks the pond and ringing takes place here in the autumn. Aquatic Warbler has been recorded several times at this locality and also at Rue de Pres and Grouville Marsh, an area of wet grazing land on the eastern side of the island. The latter is well-known as a migration watchpoint.
Woodlands of interest to birders include St Catharine's Woods and St Peter's Valley. St Ouen's Pond forms part of the Les Mielles Nature Reserve and there is an information centre at Kempt Tower.
Les Landes
The largest area of heathland remaining in the Channel Islands is Les Landes in the north-west of Jersey north of St Ouen's Bay.
Dwarf-scrub, bracken and gorse are the dominant plants of the heath and there is also grassland and sea-cliffs. One of the best birding areas on the island, this heath supports Dartford Warbler and Stonechat and the nearby Gros Nez Point is good for seawatching during strong westerly winds in autumn. Manx Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater and Balearic Shearwater can be seen from here as well as Great Skua, Arctic Skua and Pomarine Skua.
Butterflies are common here and include the very rare Glanville Fritillary Melitaea cinxia. Ouaisne Common also holds Dartford Warbler.
Rarities
Rarities recorded on Jersey have included Short-toed Eagle, Black Kite and Alpine Swift and waders such as Black-winged Stilt, Long-billed Dowitcher and Pectoral Sandpiper. Passerine vagrants are frequently seen and these have included Zitting Cisticola, Great Reed Warbler and Savi's Warbler, Penduline Tit and Red-backed Shrike.
Check-list
Birds you can see here include:
Red-thoated Diver, Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Northern Fulmar, Sooty Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, European Storm Petrel, Great Cormorant, European Shag, Northern Gannet, Great Bittern, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Common Eider, Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Hen Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Water Rail, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Eurasian Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Red Knot, Sanderling, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Eurasian Woodcock, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Ruddy Turnstone, Little Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Tern, Little Tern, Black Tern, Common Guillemot, Razorbill, Atlantic Puffin, Stock Dove, Feral Pigeon, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, European Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo, Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Common Swift, Common Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Skylark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Northern House Martin, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Common Wren, Dunnock, Eurasian Robin, Black Redstart, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Eurasian Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Cetti's Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Sedge Warbler, Common Reed Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Common Firecrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Bearded Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper, Common Jay, Common Magpie, Eurasian Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, European Serin, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Eurasian Linnet, Common Bullfinch, Snow Bunting, Cirl Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting
Other Wildlife
Les Quennevais is an area of sand-dunes on Jersey's west coast famous for its rich and varied calcareous grassland flora. Many southern European and Mediterranean plants occur here including many British Red Data Book species very rare or absent elsewhere in Britain.
The large and spectacular Green Lizard Lacerta viridis is also found here and nowhere else in Britain.
Site Information
Access and Facilities
Accommodation is plentiful on Jersey and the island is small enough to be easily covered from a single base. Jersey can be reached by air or sea from England or by sea from St Malo.
Contact Details
To do
External Links
Content and images originally posted by Steve
