'When global warming and human interference on the natural world is so great, ringing provides data & evidence to support conservation initiatives that have the potential to hugely benefit birds' More than a million birds are ringed annually in Britain
David and the group discuss how many of their wing feathers these lesser redpolls have moultedWhen I say it's an early start, I don't exaggerate. In winter our ringing group arrives at the bird reserve two hours before sunrise, to put up the 10ft high mist nets. Some reserves have fixed nets that can be unfurled very easily.
"Migration fascinates me, especially during the summer when we're ringing reed warblers from Africa. They come back and get caught in almost exactly the same spot they've been trapped in previous years, which is about half the size of a tennis court. I find it incredible they can go to tropical Africa in winter, and find their way back here in the springtime.
The training is rigorous, under the close supervision of an experienced ringer, and lasts around two years. Mistakes are easy to make - how many birds have I released too early through not holding them firmly enough; or mis-identified, or got their age and sex wrong, or cack-handedly put the ring on wrong. Bird extraction from the mist nets is a skill I have found very hard to learn.
"While work does offer it to an extent, it's more indirect. But to be able to come out here and know that I'm contributing to a long-term, growing dataset is very rewarding."Kathryn Dunnett, who works in conservation, agrees that a ringing licence will be helpful in her career, but says there's a more personal reason, the"excitement and thrill when you go to the nets and see what we might have trapped".
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