A ringing demonstration... without much ringing

As part of the RSPB's big wildlife weekender at Creswell Crags this past weekend, Sorby Breck ringing group was asked whether we would be able to do a ringing demonstration over both days. As we were the closest people to the site and had already ringed there before, it was entrusted to us to provide the public with a snap shot of the bird ringing experience. Thanks to Eleanor's hard work, the BTO had sent us enough promotional material to recruit a small nation. The groups nest recording had meant we had enough old nests to use in a "Guess the Nest" quiz, whilst Mary's feather collection provided a brilliant "Match the Feather to the Bird" quiz.

It was a good job we had so much other stuff going on because the birds were not playing ball. As many of you may know, feeding station ringing is generally a no no in the summer, whilst ringing into the afternoon often doesn't turn out much results either. Extreme heat isn't something that's great for bird activity either and, you guessed it, we just so happened to fall on the two hottest days of the year so far. Add those to negatives together and you get a total of 12 birds for the Saturday (many of them ringed before the actual event opened at 11am) and only 4 birds for the Sunday... Including one retrap from the day before. The species we caught were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Nuthatch, Chaffinch with our efforts to bag a Moorhen flawed despite having one run into the bottom shelf of the net only to free itself and escape. It has to be remembered though that every bird caught is fascinating to those members of the public who are interested as it is unlikely that they've seen wild birds so close, and it was great to talk to them about what we do and give them information about the birds.

It's rock art of an Ibis... only upside down

The staff at Creswell Crags and the RSPB were fantastic all weekend and continuously offered us water and snacks. The Crags staff also let those interested go on the two cave tours that they run to see Ice Age rock art or to explore a cave and learn about the Ice Age people. Free cave tours wasn't something I expected to be given when I signed up as a bird ringer, but I enjoyed both greatly! Stick a top class cafe in the mixer and you've got a brilliant site and altogether brilliant weekend.

Perfect end to the weekend