Birds and frogs of Montserrat

This video says about itself:

19 aug 2010

Alien-like” scenes of tadpoles feasting on eggs emerging from their mother have been caught on camera.

The footage marks the success of a captive breeding programme for the critically endangered mountain chicken frog, one of the world’s largest frogs.

In April, 50 of the amphibian giants were airlifted from Montserrat after a deadly fungus swept through the island, devastating the population.

Now several breeding programmes are under way to save the frogs.

Once numbers have been boosted in captivity, researchers hope to reintroduce the frogs back into the wild within the next two years.

Bizarre sight

The remarkable footage was recorded at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey, which took in 12 of the rescued frogs. Twenty-six others went to Parken Zoo in Sweden, and 12 are now housed in ZSL London Zoo.

From BirdLife:

Monitoring birds in Montserrat’s Centre Hills

Mon, Apr 16, 2012

Forestry staff from Montserrat’s Department of Environment are currently in the field conducting the annual bird monitoring exercise to determine the bird populations in the island’s Centre Hills Important Bird Area.

The exercise consists of two teams visiting 87 predetermined sites, located on 11 monitoring routes that encompass wet, moist and dry forest types. The number and species of bird are recorded both by visual observation and by sound.

Prior to 2011 each site was visited once, but in an effort to strengthen the integrity of the statistical data, all 87 points will be visited three times over a 4-week period. This will give a better estimate of the number and distribution of birds in the Centre Hills, enabling the Department of Environment to make informed decisions regarding conservation of the birds and their habitat.

Accompanying the foresters in the field is Dr. Steffen Oppel, Senior Conservation Scientist with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB, BirdLife in the UK). Dr. Oppel is particularly interested in analyzing the data for the globally threatened Montserrat Oriole Icterus oberi (Critically Endangered) and the Forest Thrush Turdus lherminieri (Vulnerable). Ms. Sorrel Jones, a volunteer from the RSPB, is also involved in the monitoring exercise.

Montserrat (a UK Overseas Territory) is home to 12 restricted-range bird species, including the endemic Montserrat Oriole. A number of environmental impacts, such as habitat degradation, invasive species, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes, may negatively affect the island’s bird populations. Therefore, the annual bird monitoring exercise acts as an early warning system that will help equip conservation managers take appropriate action in a timely manner.

Gerard A L Gray

Director of Environment

Encouraging signs of survival for Montserrat’s mountain chickens: here.