From Peter Double, chairman, Action for Wildlife.
I WRITE in support of Mick Dryden’s comments concerning Airport bird strikes and would like to add one or two of my own observations.

It seems to me that there is an extraordinary coincidence here. States departments are looking for somewhere to dump inert waste, and, right on cue, it is suggested that the results of Simon’s sand operations (a fine stretch of open water) are a danger to the Airport and should be filled in.

It’s almost as if some environmentally barren politician had said: ‘OK, let’s solve the problem by dumping inert waste into the aquifer in Jersey’s national park in a spot that has the potential to become the most important man-made wetland nature reserve in the Channel Islands.’

It has been suggested that birds commuting between St Ouen’s Pond and Simon’s sand excavations are the cause of the problem. I understand, too, that most of the air strike incidents are herring gull-related, so we can presumably exclude the rest of the bird species using Simon’s sand quarry: birds such as sand martins, swallows, swifts, little grebes, great-crested grebes, water rails, tufted ducks, pochard, common sandpipers, cormorants, shoveler duck, Brent geese, great black-backed, lesser black-backed and black-headed gulls, lapwings and pied wagtails.
If we add visiting migrants, the list could be twice as long.

Herring gulls love to use thermals, warm air rising up the sides of cliffs. It enables them to gain height without using much energy and keep an eye open for food sources. They do this all around Jersey where conditions are suitable. They are often seen to fly high during the beginning of the breeding season. These are just a couple of reasons why they might present a danger. Another is that they and many other birds love the flying ant season. They are a good source of protein, and the birds will follow them as they too rise on the thermals.

I would suggest that very few birds fly high enough to reach the danger zone over St Ouen’s Bay while commuting from one area of fresh water to another.

It would be far too energy-demanding. It’s not just crows that fly in a straight line.
I agree that St Ouen’s Pond and Simon’s sand quarry attract gulls, and in both cases these wetland havens are sufficiently attractive to gulls to keep them away from the Airport flight path.

Just one other point. How does City Airport manage, with fresh water running parallel to the runway? I understand that the UK Environment Department has been encouraging terns to nest in this wetland area of the Thames for a number of years.
The Old Coach House,
Oxenford Close,
St Lawrence.