Meet the Team (Part 1)

If you would like to come along and see some of the ringing you are more than welcome and we would be very happy to see you and show you what it's all about. Below, in no particular order, are short ringing biographies of Team 1 who will be in Norway from 09.08 to 20.08

Colin

I am married with 2 grown up children and 2 grandchildren. I have held a ringing licence since the early 70s, so you will have worked out that I’m pretty old. To make matters worse I am a season ticket holder for one of the worst football teams in the English Football League One—Walsall Football Club—or ‘Walsall nil’ as we prefer to call them....Read more

Chris

I first became interested in ringing in the 1970s at Attenborough Nature Reserve, near Nottingham where I helped out the ringing group at the reserve.   Work and family commitments took priority for several years until I started ringing again in the early 1990s....Read more

Dave

I am married with a grown up son and have been ringing for over 20 years. In that time I have ringed in Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Gibraltar. Having an understanding wife helps a great deal [or one who wants me out of the house and from under her  feet – never worked out which !!]....Read more

Lee

Hi I am 51, married with 4 children, 1 grand child and one on the way. I have many interests, some obscure, some are not, they will have to be explained another time. My interest in birds began early on in life where bird watching was the ‘normal’ thing to do. I then chanced on a ringing leaflet by the BTO and from then on, started to become active in this weird and wonderful pastime....Read more

Paul

I am a ringer from the cultured south of the UK and my interests lie in photography and choral music as well as being a bird ringer with an A permit.  Home ringing territory is the coppiced areas of the lovely Pamber Forest in Hampshire....Read more 

Glynn

Hi, I’m Glynn Middleton, and I’ve been ringing for about 15 years now, having first got the ‘bug’ on a tiny remote, mosquito infested Scottish island catching Storm Petrels....Read more

Phil

I'm Philip Shearwood (to the taxman) Phil, to my friends.  I'm married, to Linda, and have been for  ....I started ringing with Pete Bache who is responsible for all I know (all my mistakes are my own).  So after thirty something years I regard myself as experienced but not expert....Read more

Moira

It is only in the last couple of years, since my retirement, that I’ve become involved with bird ringing. While bird watching on my local patch, Belvide reservoir, I came across the Brewood Ringing group....Read more

Some big steps forward this week!

This week has seen a couple of major steps forward.

Rings

First our Norwegian friend Anders, who is a qualified bird ringer has taken delivery of the rings we will need. The head of the Norwegian ringing scheme, Alf Tore Mjos, has put together a superb set of rings to cover any type of bird that we might catch—so a very big thank you to Alf Tore. You will see a picture of Anders checking through the rings—all 10,000 of them!! He is also working on a schedule to show us English ringers which Norwegian rings are needed by each bird species—thanks Anders!

Equipment

Next, our key contact in Norway, Tormod Amundsen, reports that all of the ringing kit that we have  been gathering together in England , has arrived in Norway. This is a bigger deal than it at first appears. Our concept all along has been to establish sufficient ringing kit in Varanger so that in future, other ringers from anywhere in the world could use it on similar visits to ours in order to increase our knowledge of the birds of Varanger and where they migrate to. This has meant we have had to ship pretty well EVERY bit of equipment such groups are likely to need—over 70 ringing poles to support mist nets; lots of portable walk-in traps for wading birds; tools, wire netting, hand nets and lots of other stuff are now in Norway in a form that means they can be moved around relatively easily by car/van.

Establishing Shots....

Here are a few pictures sent through from our friends in the north. 

It's nice to see a little of the area that we will be operating in and to see potential sites before we even arrive. 

Also included was what we hope are not the facilities....

The 2012 Varanger Ringing Project

What’s this all about?

Well, in May 2011, Tormod Amundsen and Colin McShane met during a birding trip set up by Tormod to promote Varanger as a birding destination. During a lunchtime conversation, Tormod mentioned that he would really like to set up a bird ringing station as part of the birding scene. This was just the challenge for Colin who relishes setting up such schemes—he set up one in Portugal seven years ago which is still going strong.

So tentative plans were laid, which have gradually developed into what is about to happen in August 2012. Basically, two teams of experienced ringers from England are visiting Varanger, based at Nesseby. The first team will arrive on August 9^th and leave August 20^th; while the second team arrive 17^th and leave 27^th.

Our aims are simple—to try to ring as many of the birds in the area as we can, in order to provide:-

-recent data on the birds of the area ( the last such scheme was in the 1970s)

-lots of biometric data on local birds before they migrate

-an opportunity for members of the local community to join us and experience the thrill and privilege of seeing birds at close quarters.

What’s happening now?

Lots! We have been very busy back in England putting together all the groundwork necessary to make this a success. For example:-

-buying/making various trapping systems to catch birds

-having all the equipment shipped to Varanger

-working with Tormod to get accommodation/transport/food etc in place for when we arrive

-improving our knowledge about the birds we rarely see/handle in England

-liaising with Alf Tore Mjos who heads up the Norwegian ringing scheme and  Anders Maeland who is our main ringing contact

What’s next?

We are all gradually getting more excited at the forthcoming trip and can barely wait for the days to pass. We hope many of the people in the area will take some time to visit us –please do. When we know more about the exact location of our base camp etc we will post details on this site. Also every day we will post an update on what we have been catching and ringing so everyone will be able to know what we are about.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING MANY PEOPLE IN NORWAY!!