BTO Ringing

This week I have been assisting Deb, our qualified and experienced BTO Ringer, with the task of ringing some of the gulls here at Stapeley. The purpose of BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) ringing is to enable identification of birds in the future.

Anyone who comes across a BTO ringed bird can report it. Gathering information of BTO birds assists in the study of populations, survival, breeding and migration. Gaining such knowledge helps us to understand patterns of behaviour and reasons for declining numbers.

But before all of that, comes the ‘ringing’! On capturing an individual gull, they are weighed and given a feather inspection to make sure they are suitable and ready for release.

Deb, using specialised ringing tools (or so she said... They looked like a pair of pliers to me, the novice!), carefully places a ring around a gulls leg and uses her ‘pliers’ to close the ring.

This requires careful judgement so as not to be too loose or too tight. I recorded the ring numbers, written next to their weight. We did this for about eight gulls, and very soon they will be released.

Who knows what their journeys will hold? Who knows if we will see them again?!

                                                             

Sponsors of Stapeley's Summer Wildlife Assistant Position