"Roll up, roll up". Bird ringing at the fair.

All over the country, qualified bird ringers run demonstrations for individuals, groups or anyone coming to a particular site, such as a nature reserve or a farm. These can be fantastic events for engaging non-ringers, highlighting the scientific importance of ringing and explaining what we can learn from monitoring birds.

One of the biggest ringing demonstrations in the country is at Birdfair (17-19 August). Every year, thousands of people stop by to see how ringing works and to view birds close-up, without the need for binoculars.

Guy Anderson showing the crowd

The Birdfair ringing demonstration runs for the duration of the fair (weather permitting) and, if previous years are anything to go by, should provide visitors with views of some great species. Last year, a Sparrowhawk was caught and really drew in the crowds. The more commonly-caught species include Blackcap, Reed and Sedge Warbler and a whole host of tits and finches.

Anyone want to see a Sparrowhawk?

This site, and locations nearby, are usually ringed by the Rutland Water Ringing Group, and this demo helps to increase the effort on the site and adds to the data already collected from their other projects, including their CES.

And if we don't have any birds to ring, we are usually able to 'ring' people with specially-designed rings... If you are going to the fair this year, do come along and find out what it's all about!

Retail ringing

After undertaking years of training, bird ringers are in a privileged position to be able to catch birds. The information gathered through ringing is used to help answer some of the big questions in ornithology, such as why populations are changing and what routes birds take on their migrations.

Ringing often brings ringers into contact with people who know nothing about bird ringing, and commonly have little contact with birds, other than those in their garden. This is a great opportunity to educate and enthuse the public about the lives of birds, ringing and the BTO. Most of the time, bird ringing is encountered through television programmes like Springwatch, a ringing demonstration at a local nature reserve or even the ringing demonstration at the Birdfair, but occasionally it can be seen in the most unexpected places.


Rutland Birdfair ringing demonstreration. Photo by Sam Franks.

With the permission of the landowners, ringing sessions are held up and down Britain and Ireland; in supermarket car parks (for Pied Wagtails), city streets (Waxwing), waterways (swans and geese) or on the sea front (gulls and waders). Colour rings or flags are frequently used to identify birds that are ringed without the need for ringers to catch them again. This has the added bonus that anyone (not just ringers) can report colour-marked birds (see here for instructions on how to report a sighting of a colour-marked bird), as long as the species is known and the combination is read correctly.


Waxwings enjoying the berry bushes. Photo by Jeff Baker

Occasionally, perfectly healthy birds do get into trouble and end up in places they don't want to be. If they are lucky, the bird identifies the exit and promptly flies out, but sometimes this doesn't happen due to the nature of the building (a large warehouse or a shop with automatic doors for instance). This can lead to store alarms having to be left unset, which has implications for their insurance and can be stressful for the owner. This is where a ringer's ability to catch birds safely can be invaluable.

Ringers across the country regularly step in to help catch the Blackbird in the warehouse, the Blue Tit in the shopping centre or the Robin at the wedding venue (as we have posted previously). Here at BTO HQ, we do not get that many phone calls about birds trapped in Thetford, Norfolk (where we are based), but today was the exception. The caller informed us that: "There is a Robin trapped in Poundland and it can't get out!!!! We've tried everything, including herding it towards the door, but it keeps flying back into the store!".

Robin doing a bit of light shopping in the afternoon. Photo by Lee Barber

Conveniently coming up to lunch time, Lee Barber had the opportunity to nip out and try and release the bird back into the wild. He recounts: it is a strange feeling putting a mist net up in Poundland, with customers wandering around and a Robin flying over their heads, moving mostly unseen. After a quick assessment of the Robin's behaviour and its preferred area in the store, and whilst managing the customers, I quickly put a short mist net up. Within 15 minutes I'd caught the adult Robin, which was promptly ringed and released outside (after a quick health check).

Robin safely in the hand ready for release. Photo by Lee Barber

As this is something that the BTO doesn't do routinely, we must say a huge thank you to all the ringers that we've contacted who have dropped everything to help a bird in need. Some of the locations have been very challenging due to the height of the building, access, and other obstacles in the way, but there is usually a happy ending; sometimes the bird has even left the building of its own accord before the ringer gets there.

See you at Rutland Birdfair

It's that time of year again, when birders from all over the world gather at their 'Glasonbury' - The Birdfair.

Over the years, the Birdfair has raised mind boggling sums of money for bird conservation all over the world. Many wildlife charities attend to help with this cause and promote their charity at the same time. The BTO has attended the Birdfair for many years and this year is no exception, so when you are there, pop over to marquee three (stand 36-38) and say 'Hi'. It would be great to meet our many thousands of volunteers and members and we can let you know what has been going on at BTO HQ recently.

For the Ringing and Nest Recording Team, the pinnacle of the Birdfair has to be the ringing demonstration, run in partnership with the Rutland Water Ringing Group. We're in the same place as previous years, which is next to marquee four and the red car park. Over the years we've had some fantastic birds including Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk, Turtle Dove and Nightingale, but it's not all about the rarely caught birds. All the data collected during Birdfair will go into the BTO national ringing database and supplement all the fantastic work done by the Rutland Water Ringing Group.

Ringing demo in action. Photo by Sam Franks

Our main species caught are Reed and Sedge Warblers, some of which have been ringed in previous years, and now have clocked up quite a few miles during their life by going to Africa and back. Once we have processed all the birds, our attention switches to ringing people. If you are 'ringed' with one of our wrist bands, pop over to the BTO stand (marquee three) to find out what happened to you.

Releasing a Dunnock. Photo by Peter Carr (@wildlifePete)

There is a lot to do at Birdfair, but make sure you visit us at the ringing demo and the main BTO stand, as it would be great to see you (we may have a small slice of cake for you too).

How to get up close to a ringer

Gary Clewley writes:

Another year and another Birdfair at Rutland Water has come and gone. The bird ringing demonstration proved to be very popular again with people (and especially families) regularly able to get up close and see the process of ringing first hand. In total, around 175 birds from over 20 species were ringed or recaptured over the course of the weekend. This gave us the opportunity to show people how ringers are able to identify and age birds in the hand as well as explaining why ringing and nest recording are essential for monitoring how and why populations are changing.
 

Great way to get close and learn about our 'British' birds - Stephen McAvoy

Some species do tend to steal the show however, and the Lesser Whitethroats were particularly popular and also quite relevant to this year’s theme at Birdfair; protecting species in the Eastern Mediterranean. With their easterly migration route, there could be a good chance the Lesser Whitethroats which were ringed could be passing through the Eastern Mediterranean soon.

Lesser Whitethroat taken by Morris Rendall

There was a promising start to the event, when at 8:55 am on the Friday morning, the very first bird in the nets was actually a Sparrowhawk! Unfortunately in this case the bird proved too quick for the ringers and managed to free itself within seconds. So it was an especially pleasant surprise when another adult male Sparrowhawk found its way into the nets on the Sunday morning and even better it already had a ring on. This bird was originally ringed at Rutland Water in 2012 and we now know it is still going strong. A very lucky crowd were able to watch the ringers process the bird.

Adult male Sparrowhawk - Dawn Balmer

Sparrowhawk getting efficiently processed while a lucky crowd watch on - Dawn Balmer

Perhaps the most unexpected bird of the weekend was a House Sparrow (and perhaps a sign of the times since this species has seen a substantial decline in recent years) which is the first ever caught during the Birdfair ringing demonstrations.

Unfortunately, we also had our fair share of unfavourable weather over the weekend so there were times when we were unable to safely catch birds. But nonetheless there were ringers on hand to answer questions and even ‘ring’ some people with the wristbands we had available (if you were ringed you can find out your story here).

The ringing demonstration stand. You can tell where the bird is by the crowd - Stephen McAvoy

It is always a privilege to be able to ring birds and even more so at an event like this. It requires a lot of planning and I would just like to thank all those ringers who volunteered their time to help with the demonstration again for all their hard work, in particular the Rutland Water Ringing Group, as well as everyone who came along to see us.

Eds - There are ringing demonstrations run at various sites across the UK by individual ringers or groups however the BTO, in collaboration with the RSPB, are running their next event on Sunday 30 August at the BTO headquarters from 10 am until 3 pm (catching weather dependent).

Real birds at the Birdfair

Things are now getting back to normal here at the BTO, after the long weekend at the Birdfair (posted previously). There was a nice buzz around the BTO stand in Marquee 3, with lots of people coming to find out more about the work of the BTO and in particular the Nest Record Scheme.

The mystery nest competition went down well. The nests were from Song Thrush, Goldfinch, Willow Warbler, Wren, Blackcap, Long-tailed Tit, Dunnock and Robin. Of all the correct answers Mick Sherwin from Sheffield was first out of the hat. Your Field Guide to Monitoring Nests is on it's way.

Mystery nest competition

The ringing demonstration attracted a lot of visitors again this year. A total of 232 birds of 20 species were processed. Some of the notable species being Bullfinch, Reed Bunting, Song Thrush and Whitethroat. There were several Reed Warblers caught that had been ringed in previous years, and now have clocked up quite a few miles during their life by going to Africa and back. Once we had processed all the birds, our attention was then switched to ringing people. If you were 'ringed' with one of our wrist bands, check our website to see what happened to you.

Chris Hughes showing the process of ringing a bird

The theme of the Birdfair this year was protecting the world's seas and oceans, so we also had some of our new technologies like geolocators and satellite tags which can be used to study seabirds whilst out at sea.

Thanks to all the volunteer ringers who helped on the ringing demonstration and to everyone who came to say 'Hi' at the demo or the main BTO stand. Looking forward to seeing you next year.

BTO at the Birdfair

Described as a birdwatchers' Glastonbury, the Birdfair celebrates its 25th Anniversary year. It continues to raise awareness and funds for declining species and habitats. This year it will support Birdlife International's Flyway Programme, focusing specifically on the Americas.

From Friday 16 - Sunday 18 August at Rutland Water, there will be hundreds of stands covering all aspects of birdwatching. The BTO will be there again this year in marquee 3 (stands 36, 37, 38), and are looking forward to seeing you, so come over and have a chat.

BTO stand - Marquee 3

As well as this, we will of course be at the Ringing Demonstration near Marquee 7, so please come over to say hello and find out all about ringing. There is usually lots to see including the regular Reed and Sedge Warblers, Blue and Great Tits but there have been some more unusual birds including Kingfisher, Turtle Dove, Sparrowhawk and Tawny Owl.

Ringing demonstration - Valuable data is collected on a Sedge Warbler

Lets meet up at the Birdfair

It's that time of year again when thousands of people decend on Rutland for the worlds largest international birdwatching event.

The British Birdwatching Fair (Birdfair) runs from Friday 20th August to Sunday 22nd August and encompasses everything linked to birdwatching, while raising money for conservation at the same time. This year the money is going to be donated to saving southern Ethiopia's endemic birds.


As usual the BTO will be there in Marquee 3 (Friday will focus on the Nest Recording Scheme, Saturday on the Bird Atlas 2007-2011 and Sunday on Birdtrack) ,the Garden Birdwatch stand in Marquee 6 and Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) in Marquee 1. As well as this, we will of course be at the Ringing Demonstration near Marquee 7, so please come over to say hello and find out all about ringing. In previous years birds that have been caught have included Tawny Owl, Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Turtle Dove amongst the more commoner warblers and garden birds.

Thanks to Dawn Balmer for the photo.

Come and say hello at BirdFair

Its the British BirdWatching Fair at Rutland Water this weekend (Friday to Sunday), and we'll be running a ringing demonstration on all three days. So why not come along and say hello and see some birds up close and personal?


The main BTO stand (in Marquee 3) will also have a nifty little application to produce a personalised Migration Atlas of birds from your home postcode, so give this a try too. There are masses of other things to do and see at BirdFair, so do come along.