Weekend roundup

This weekend was typically busy and involved a lot of travelling. After a busy day on Friday, I packed the car with 4 boxes full of uni stuff (I'm starting to move out), and then headed over to Chris' in Ormskirk. We spent the night there and most of Saturday too. I spent the morning sorting out all my ringing details for my C permit application, not an easy task!

We then drove to my farm in Shropshire in the evening, which is conveniently close to the place where Chris was having his interview for Bardsey the next day. A nice, quiet, evening in with my parents was much welcomed after a busy week.

Sunday morning was a drive over to Penkridge for Chris' interview. Thankfully it went very well, and he's now just waiting to hear back. Fingers crossed! We then drove back to mine for a quick cup of tea before I dropped Chris off at the station, for him to head up to Dumfries (guess neither of us can sit still for long). I then spent the rest of the day with mum and dad, and helped mum sort out her new iPad. This was classically entertaining, with many wrong buttons pressed, but I think she's got the hang of it. I left there at 19:30 and was back in Bangor for 21:30. A quick car unpack, shower, room sort and prepare for the morning was all I had time for, before my brain totally gave out and I got some sleep.

This morning was a 6am start for my first February ringing session! Despite some unwelcome drizzle, we had a good session with ~50-60 birds. Conor (new trainee) managed to make it along this morning, and I think he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He's one of the keen birders from the uni, and I'm glad I've helped him get into ringing. I'm hoping he'll be the replacement chairman of the Uni Birding group once I'm gone, as well as taking over the BTO Student Ambassador role, and my nest recording site in Abergwyngregyn. The ringing session itself did wonders for boosting my confidence, and consolidated the fact that I feel ready for my C permit. 

So, after a long weekend, I've travelled ~400 miles, and suspect it'll be the same again next weekend with a trip down to Cheltenham to meet the team I'll be working with on Skomer.