After getting back to Bangor at 10pm last night, and then having to unpack and sort ourselves out, it was a late night last night. This didn't make getting up any easier this morning! We had a 06:50 start to meet up with a friend and then head over the Llyn Alaw Reservoir on Anglesey to conduct the WeBS count that I'm now in charge of. The reservoir itself is huge and takes about 3 hours to survey. This is not made easier by the fact that the paths haven't been maintained for several seasons and so a bit of bashing through brambles and climbing over fallen trees is required.
The count itself went well but there weren't as many birds around as last month. This was probably due to the high water levels and mild breeze pushing the birds into the sheltered inlets and reed beds, and hence making it very difficult to see them.The water had got so high in places that it had flooded the paths. Chris being Chris had forgotten his wellies so I had to give him piggy backs across the worst bits. It was pretty hilarious though!
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| This is the proper way to do a WeBS... Promise! |
We'd finished by 12pm and then headed back to Bangor via Treborth Garden Centre to get Chris some new wellies. He then got the train to meet Alex Jones in Rhyl and I cracked down to some uni work...finally! I've managed to put together a presentation for Monday that I'm very pleased with, organise the rest of my group for their part of the presentation, and catch up on the 56 emails that had built up over the week... just can't get away these days. Then did the food shopping and cooked dinner.
All that work took me up to 10:30pm, at which point Chris finally came home after having found 3 dippers with Alex, met up with 2 other friends, caught 2 dippers (1 retrap, 1 new) and 2 woodcock! Seems that neither of us can sit still for long.
Now it's time to fill in my Trainee permit renewal form and get to bed. Got a 05:30 start tomorrow for a ringing session, then it's back to my home in Shropshire for a bonfire party, and for Chris to meet my sisters, and then back to Bangor in time for my presentation.
I'm already missing my relaxing week in Scotland but it's good to be back in the thick of things again.
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