We'd like to introduce the ourselves and our plans for the rest of the year!
So, Who are we?
We are North Cornwall Ringing Group! We are currently made up of 8 people; Pete, Emma, Bob, Ellie, Josh, Gemma, Josh, Emma and Rebecca (find out more about us on our Meet the Ringers page). We are a varied group, ranging from very experienced birders and ringers to some which are at the start of their training process.
Why and when did we decide to form a group?
The ringing team, headed up by Pete, has been active since 2018. We decided in 2024, that becoming an official ringing group would bring benefits to us, our work and to the birds. These benefits include:
All of our ringing data is now associated with the group, not individuals, which means everyone’s hard work and efforts are credited.
We are now able to coordinate studies and projects on a group basis which will open up more time and collective working improving validity, success and the amount of data collected.
Promoting a group dynamic allows a mix of permit holders with different interests and skills to support and guide the less experienced members. This can be more inviting to new trainees rather than being trained by one individual.
We're now able to have group social media accounts and a website allowing us to share our work more readily.
Where and how often do we ring?
We primarily ring in North Cornwall in a variety of habitats such as moorland, scrub, woodlands and coastal sites. We are active all year round and usually ring at least a few times a month at different locations.
What are we up to in 2024?
We have just finished our first Winter Ringing Project, which ended in February. This took place at Cardinham Woods in Cornwall and we aimed to provide the BTO with more data on passerines outside of the breeding season such as survival trend information. We caught 153 birds of 11 species during this project and the species highlights were Siskin and Coal Tit.
In the summer, we have a few different projects which focus on different species or data collection. We have a summer Constant Effort Site which runs from May until August and focuses on breeding passerines. We also have a colour ringing project for willow tits across Cornwall. And we will also aim to ring some nestlings from boxes and natural nests too!
There will be more info about these projects in future blogs.
For now, please follow us on our social media channels and we hope you enjoy our updates!
Facebook: @Northcornwallbirdringinggroup
Instagram: @North_cornwall_bird_ringers
Twitter / X : @ncbrg
TikTok: @ncbrg
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