And so with all the summer sun and fun behind me, it was time to return to Bangor University for my final year, studying Zoology with Animal Behaviour.
My summer had been jam packed with Scotland, England, Wales; North, East and West, birding, ringing, driving, lamping, land management, making new friends and contacts, renewing old friendships, driving, new boyfriend, Bardsey, gardening, driving, new qualifications, farm management and more driving. Despite being fairly exhausting, I had loved every minute of it ! My visual bird identification skills had improved immensely, and my ringing and practical conservation training had progressed far further than I thought they would in 3 months. I'd gained experience in many and varied areas of ornithological conservation, and all this has helped towards clarifying which jobs I would enjoy after university.
I want to use this space to thank everyone who contributed to my epic summer and I hope to see you all again soon!
My Summer in pictures
Sea bird monitoring
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| Puffin Island ringing |
2 trips to Puffin Island at the start of summer. One to GPS tag Guillemots (Uria aalge) and the other to ring this years auk and cormorant (Phalocrocorax carbo) chicks.
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| Guillemots and Razorbills off the East coast of Bardsey |
Counting sea birds in their nesting colonies on the East coast of Bardsey.
Upland surveys at Vyrnwy
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| Watching an Eagle - makes a change from Hen harriers and empty moors |
Ringing
June
Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) pulli colour ringing in the North Wales quarries.
July
Sparrowhawk pulli ringing
in Lancashire along with various
other passerine species.
July
Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) ringing
in Mid-Wales as well as more Sparrowhawks
and many Dipper (Cinclus cinclus).
July/August
Bonxie and Storm petrel ringing
on Eilean Nan Ron, off the north
coast of Scotland. I found 2
storm-petrels on the nest and
several bonxie chicks! My field
skills have improved considerably
over the summer.
June + August
Manx Shearwater ringing, both adults and chicks during the 4 weeks I sent there.
Late August also involved a long week of wader ringing in Lincolnshire/Norfolk with The Wash Wader Ringing Group.
Beautiful Sunrises, Sunsets, Camping and Locations
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| Sunrise - Lincolnshire |
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| Sunset - Bardsey |
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| Camping - Eilean Nan Ron |
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| Locations - Above - Bardsey. Also many other stunning places during the summer |
And the rest
Lots of birding and photography
Fishing
Gardening and farm / land management
Bonfires and a lot
of clearing work /
general maintenance
New boyfriend and lots
of new friends made.
An excessive amount of miles travelled in 3 months. A lot of my exciting travels wouldn't have been possible without my little car.
It did very well indeed !
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