An early alarm call for ringing ...

AND now more native news…

Seven o’clock on a Saturday morning, many people are still tucked up in bed; not the Flamingo Land native wildlife research assistant (me!) and the volunteers from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

Instead, we were out setting up the fine nets used by the BTO for bird ringing.

Having never been bird ringing before, I didn’t quite know what to expect, but it wasn’t long before our nets were filling up with birds.

Bird ringing helps us to study how long they live and when and where they move; all questions that are vital for bird conservation.

Placing a lightweight, uniquely numbered, metal ring around a bird’s leg provides a reliable and harmless method of identifying birds as individuals.

The BTO have been ringing at Flamingo Land for the past two years, but recently we caught not one but two reed buntings; a Flamingo Land first! We caught 19 birds of various species in two hours, including several ‘old friends’ - birds that had been previously ringed at Flamingo Land.

It was a fascinating and enjoyable morning; definitely worth the early start! When you are walking around Flamingo Land keep an eye out for our bird boxes, these give birds a helping hand during the winter and allow us to monitor the birds in the area.