“The end of January was very busy, packed full of events all into the space of two weeks and into the beginning of February. Here’s a taster of what I’ve been up to…”
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
“With the Big Farmland Bird Count coming up I was asked to create some educational resources similar to the ones I had already created for the Welsh website. I created 3 wordsearches, a spot the difference and a memory, card game all available to download from the website HERE… “
IRISH VISIT
“On the 27th of January we had a visit from the Breeding Waders Team in Ireland. 5 team members from the Welsh team along with the Irish team on a farm in Montgomeryshire. We had a tour of some of the farms where Curlew had bred in the previous year and were predicted to return to.”
BIRD RINGING
For two nights in January, the 29th and the 31st, I got the privilege to go bird ringing in North Wales. The first night was a small team of 3, Lee Oliver, Bleddyn Thomas and myself, which meant that I got some hands-on experience and got to learn the process of catching, measuring, ringing, weighing and releasing woodcock safely. On the second night, the group had expanded with the addition of Andrew Hoodless, Logan Crimp and Anthony.
BIG FARMLAND BIRD COUNT EVENT
After travelling back to Montgomeryshire on the 30th of January, in the morning I watched Alun Elidyr, his cameraman and sound man film an interview with Lee Oliver around John Yeomans farm. By the afternoon we had moved to the local community hall, for an event where we got people involved whilst spreading the word about the Big Farmland Bird Count, by building bird boxes.
THE ALLERTON PROJECT
“February kicked off with a 3-day visit to the Allerton Farm Project. Six members of the Welsh team stayed in their new accommodation pods. On the first day we learnt about the history of the project paired with a tour of the land and facilities. Dr Alastair Leake (Director of Policy and the Allerton Project spoke about possible future plans along with current and previous work going on around the site.”
PREDATION MANAGEMENT TRAINING
“At the end of February, I headed to Bannau Brycheiniog National Park with Julieanne Quinlan, Curlew Connections Project Manager, James Warrington and Logan Crimp to hold Predation Management Training for possible predation officers. It was really enlightening to hear about different peoples struggles within the industry and how everyone manages things differently.”
OTHER PROJECTS
“Alongside the main events over the past two months, I have been out in the field helping Katie Appleby get ready for the curlew season and been working on a range of smaller projects from my office.”