A white tern chick decorated in sunset colours

As one of eleven people living on Cousin Island Special Reserve, I feel privileged. After an eventful boat ride with a saltwater shower, we arrived on the beautiful long stretch of Cousin’s main beach. Walking up the beach the first thing I see is a vast number of birds flying overhead and dropping down into the forest. I quickly see the island is made up of only beach and forest, and understand why the birds choose to be here.

I can hardly believe that I have already been in Seychelles for two months now. But I guess time goes by very fast when you are having fun. Working with Nature Seychelles as a volunteer on Cousin Island Special Reserve is very interesting but apart from work there are also many other great ways to spend your free time. There are a few free time activities that made my trip to Cousin unique and really enjoyable.

 Life's a beach

Cousin Island Special Reserve is a hub of year round activity for a variety of wildlife. In a single day you are guaranteed to spot the several seabird species that nest here, as well as other wildlife species such as the charming Seychelles Magpie Robin (Copsychus sechellarum) the charismatic Seychelles skink (Mabuya seychellensis) and it’s more intimidating cousin, the Wright’s skink (Mabuya wrightii).

 Lesser Noddy and chick

As the bottom of the boat scrapes the sandy beach, you instantly realise you are not alone. In a big city you feel like one out of thousands and here on Cousin Island Special Reserve it is the same. The only difference is that here, you are surrounded by thousands of wild animals which is proof that conservation leadership really works. There are countless birds flying around everywhere, nesting everywhere; you can hear them and smell them.

  With no predators on Cousin Island, tourists can get very close to birds, a treat for many who visit the island

As a ‘veteran’ volunteer of Cousin Island turtle season, I have been able to witness some of the most incredible wildlife spectacles. For example, watching turtles as they emerge from the water to embark on their journey to lay their eggs, then later observing what seemed to me, millions of hatchlings scattered all over these stunning beaches as they instinctively make their way to the ocean. The knowledge that they too will one day return to the same beach to lay their eggs is mind blowing!

The white or fairy tern is pure white - by Peter Chadwick

One of the many exciting volunteer tasks on Cousin Island Special Reserve is monitoring the resident breeding seabirds. During the past two months we have been monitoring the elegant white tern (Glygis alba), and the ferocious looking white-tailed tropic bird (Phaethon lepturus).

As the turtle season draws to a close and the number of Hawksbill turtle sightings diminishes, we’ve had to find other things to get excited about. At the beginning of March we happened to stumble across a Seychelles blue pigeon (Alectroenas pulcherrima) nest, whilst greeting visitors at the beach shelter. A fairly simple nest by most birds standards, but still secure enough to keep the tiny chick safely seated in the branches, patiently waiting to be fed. The Seychelles blue pigeon feeds on a variety of small to medium sized fruits and seeds, including figs and cinnamon, which it swallows whole, regurgitating a milk-like substance to the young chick on returning to the nest.

There are many reason I love my life on Cousin Island Special Reserve. Cousin has perfect (and empty!) beaches with incredible sunsets. There is also excellent snorkeling just off the shore and the weather is great. Well, except for the current lack of rain – but that’s another matter altogether. 

photo by Martijn Hammers

Grace and elegance are two words that I generally wouldn’t associate with myself. Bish, bash, bosh is a more accurate description of my approach to life. The finesse may not always be there, but the job gets done. I’m efficient, but I’ll get dirt under my fingernails and probably spill something down my T-shirt in the process.

Before arriving on Cousin, my own expectations regarding the island and life as a volunteer were largely informed by both the Nature Seychelles website and the volunteer handbook, which in combination provide everything a prospective volunteer needs to know, from the moment they apply and start packing, right up until leaving the island. However, even with all this information on what I might expect from my time here, my experience so far has shown me that not everything was exactly as I had imagined it would be.

The first Hawksbill turtles of the season have landed on Cousin for nesting. On our very first turtle beach patrol on the 2nd of September, we discovered the relatively fresh tracks of a nesting female but were sadly too late to encounter the turtle herself.

Living life on Cousin Island is often equivalent to living in an Attenborough documentary or a living laboratory. Whilst tourists are exposed to an excellent taster during their one and a half hour tour of Cousin Island Special Reserve, its only through living on the Island and total immersion in the wildlife that you get to see some truly interesting behavior.

I have chosen to produce a documentary showing the endless wildlife that calls Cousin Island home and the beautiful habitat they live in. I am Emily Corden, 20 years old and studying Marine and natural history photography at Falmouth University. I am in my third and final year of the course.

The Seychelles Magpie Robin is one the most popular and charismatic birds found on Cousin Island. It also heralds another of the Seychelles great conservation success stories.

Thursday (28th August) was the much anticipated day when the Green Turtle nest in front of our Deputy Chief Warden’s house finally hatched. April had been keeping a watchful eye on the nest and had noted signs of activity from the chamber below evident on the surface sand.