A Cardiff Bird Ringer in Ireland

Seven months ago, Twinkletoes Hallam left Wales to watch fluffy mammals in Northern Ireland, a new C permit in hand. Seven months later, ringing sites were finally secured and the first tentative steps into a world of semi-independence were taken.

What followed were several lessons in habitat assessment and net placement. Clearly the initial net locations were woefully inadequate and were scorned by the local birds, with only a couple of blackbirds and a blackcap to show for the first couple of hours. But lo and behold, moving the 18m net 15ft seemed to make it a much more attractive proposition, and 8 birds were caught in 40 minutes. The two 12m nets are currently sulking after being chastised for poor performance. Unfortunately the clouds decided that the increased success was unacceptable and by the time everything was packed away, all was sodden.

Bird #3. Evidently more photogenic than birds 1 & 2 which the camera decided weren't worth focussing on.

The session was finished with 13 birds ringed, a 6M blackbird being the first. It's a start and it was good to finally get out. Birds were caught, lessons were learned and I'm finally an active C ringer. A-woohoo! The Cardiff Bird Ringing Group has invaded Northern Ireland and we're up and running.