It was slightly chilly when I got to the garden to find a group of people ringing birds that had been caught already. The birds were hanging in bags from the back of a van, sometimes the bags would move as the birds struggled to free themselves. The birds were taken from the bags rung and then released. The process seemed to be fairly stressful for the birds but otherwise none the worse for wear.
There was one bird in particular (a song thrush) that was having a bad time and in its struggle to free itself had managed to get its beak tangled in the net along with its wings. It was defiantly the Thrushes Redwings and Blackbirds that managed to get themselves into a real tangle. The Tits did not seem as bothered about the process and just hung upside down struggling from time to time. This may be due to the fact that they are much more acrobatic than the Thrushes and Blackbirds and are used to hanging upside down from branches.
A good thing that I feel came from this was that a pair of Bullfinches was captured adding another bird to the list that i have seen in the Garden.
Now I am not against the ringing of birds; it provides a wealth of information on a species. However it would have been nice if they had not done it right in front of an obvious hide where people observe the habits of these birds. I fear that now the birds have been disturbed just as they are starting to build nests (potentially in boxes with cameras) that they might abandon them and go elsewhere. The birds no longer come to the feeders when I am at the hide.....i am going to have to start the whole introduction to my presence again. I also wonder if this is worth the effort, for all I know they might keep doing these practicals till the end of the year.
I am shocked at your ignorance.
ReplyDeleteThe work carried out by the university of exeter is ongoing research carried out by trained proffesionals with liscences, the birds were also caught and ringed last week in the walled garden and some of the same individuals returned this week so cannot have been as distressed as you seem to think.
Are you also aware this is a common method for monitering birds and is used worldwide?
The data collected will be submitted to national databases and be used for conservation purposes. Particularly useful for birds such as the firecrest which was caught and ringed last week. What exactly do the birds gain from you taking photos of them?
someones jelous they didnt get to ring a bullfinch...
ReplyDeleteok id just like to make this clear. i am not against ringing birds, infact i all for finding out new information on birds and finding ways to protect them....what i am anoyed at is that the campus is very large and that there are loads of other places that this survey could be done without disturbing other peoples work. yes the birds will be fine and go about there business almost as soon as they are released but it will take a couple of weeks for them to get used to people being in the hide.
ReplyDeleteand to be quite honest yes i am slightly jelous its a great opotunity for you guys i just think that it should be done elsewhere on campus.
Trained proffesionals with liscences and an inability to spell correctly
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ReplyDeletei think that people are missing the point here slightl, probably my falt for putting across the wrong inpression in my writing. of cause te birds will return theres no doubt about that and they are returned to the wild un harmed after they have been ringed. what it is that i am trying to say is that they may well be a little bit more weary of the pressence of people in the hide after they have been captured right in fron of it. maybe you could try only capturing the birds from the other end of the garden. i dont no maybe ill take this post down was not meant to cause offence.
ReplyDeleteAnd what makes you think that your work is more important than ours? The reason the nets were set up in that area is because it was most abundant in birds, so moving to the other end of the garden would have been unproductive.
ReplyDeleteIf you wanted to carry out your project in an area that is undisturbed by humans then the walled garden was clearly an unintelligent choice. If you had conducted any research or investigation into the garden you would quickly realise that it is used by many staff and students from multiple courses all the time.
There is no need to accuse bioscience students and staff of causing harm and distress to birds simply because you are in a bad mood.
im not trying to blame anyone, isnt a blog meant to be a way of writing how one feels? i ask you the smae question? why do you feel that your work is so much more important as to risk effecting the work of others? so you think that it is fine to also use my work in attracting the birds to the area? I have been putting food out there since just before Christmas. I am not trying pick a fight with you guys your a nice lot of people (got some friends on your course) merely stating how I feel.
ReplyDelete"The walled garden, as far as I know, is for the use of all campus students."
ReplyDeleteSo perhaps then, they should have used a different area...?
"This frustrated and angered me as I have been working hard to get the birds used to my presence"
ReplyDeleteI suspect that during your multiple visits to try and get the birds 'used' to your presence, you will have interrupted their feeding patterns and caused them distress by hanging around their feeding ground and scaring them off when they are clearly trying to feed.
The group of students and staff do far more for the conservation and well being of these birds than you. I think it's safe to say that you should have thanked the staff and students for providing you with your first interesting shots of your course. You should also be thanking conservationists for their work to provide you with subjects to photograph in the future. It's just a shame you sacrificed the interesting colour details of the plumage in order to create the monochrome Schindler's List referenced stills.