Colour-ringingd Robins - alas, halted by the British weather again!

The British weather - a phenomenon we always seem to be talking about and something where there is genuinely (arguably!) always something to be chatting about! And this morning is of no exception. Helping a Masters student at the University of Bristol with a project on robins we were all set for catching and ringing a few more this morning - but then at 4.30 this morning the rain was beating against my bedroom window and the wind speed had turned from calm (and clear starry skies) to gale force! Time to cancel and re-arrange - again!

The project itself involves carefully catching the robins in  a mist net, putting special colour rings that denote each individual on their legs plus a metal ring issued by the British Trust for Ornithology. Our red-breasted friends are then measured, aged and weighed before being released.

Dan, whose Masters project this is, is looking at the alarm calls of the robins and how the individuals
interact with each other - hopefully over the next few weeks before Christmas we'll be able to ring a few more to help Dan know who is who.

Below is a photo of one of the colour-ringed robins - I'm especially interested to see whether any of the robins disappear (perhaps as migrants) and who stays around or the spring to breed.

Scuba diving at Porthkerris

It's been a busy few weeks - two weeks ago I was away for four days with the University of Bristol Underwater Club. We went down to Porthkerris on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall to get our scuba diving skills ticked off and to enjoy some underwater diving. It was an amazing four days both with regards diving and socially with everyone from the club. I managed to get to down to 14.4 metres and saw everything from a conger eel to crabs, starfish and small corals. On one boat dive we went down to a sandy bottom and saw lots of hermit crabs, edible crabs, two thornback rays and collected a number of scallops to eat later. The weather changed by the hour and birds varied from gannets close to shore to fulmars whipping past the cliff edges. Stonechats sang in the bushes above and while getting one of the boats on to the sea a black redstart flew across the shingle.

Since then it's been busy at work, although this Easter weekend was a great opportunity for a well earned break. Did a little bird ringing on Good Friday seeing my first swallows of the year down by the Severn Estuary and ringed a chiffchaff, a willow warbler, a male reed bunting and a wren. This was followed by a really lovely friend's wedding on Saturday and a break at home on the Sunday and Monday!

Just watching some chiffchaffs or willow warblers, possibly the latter, in the sycamore tree outside my flat window before I get ready for work. They are busily gleaning insects from the trees which is just beginning to burst its buds.