Chew Valley RS theory course

Chew Valley Ringing Station undertook its first theory training course in November 2019. The idea for a theory-only course arose out of the Group’s main summer courses in which various talks and practical sessions are held on two of the afternoons. These are always well received and it was suggested that the Group could expand the subjects on offer and run a daylong workshop as a trial aimed at local ringers. Course organiser Mike Bailey and attendee Alexia Michaelides sum up the day.

Once we had decided to hold the course BTO kindly sent out an advert to those ringers in nearby counties, generating an immediate response requesting more details. The course was attended by 15 ringers; three A- and seven C-permit holders and five trainees. Although it was only one day (09:00–17:00), and there were no ringing preparations involved, it inevitably took some time and effort to prepare the presentations, equipment and materials. The fee for the course was £25 and we were able to keep that cost low by using our own building, rather than hiring a village hall, and by asking the participants to bring their own packed lunches; we provided drinks throughout the day.

COURSE CONTENT The day included a variety of seminars on different topics, including the science behind ringing, ageing and sexing criteria, and how to handle larger birds. Participants were asked to choose six topics from a list of 17 (including DemOn, wing formulae, moult, project ringing, holding and ringing larger birds, ageing and sexing, setting up colour-ringing and nestbox projects, other trapping methods,

Learning how to take a primary moult score by examining wings.

repairing mist nets, social media, ringing health & safety, developments in tracking birds, site permissions, Schedule 1 and licensing) which was sent in advance. On the day, a schedule informed participants which of the six topic sessions they would be attending and the timings for the course. Two of the sessions were attended by all course participants and the other four by smaller groups, depending on the choices that participants had made during the registration process. Each session lasted for 50 minutes, which allowed for drink breaks and a smooth changeover between sessions.

FEEDBACK FROM ALEXIA The course content was really informative. The speakers, experienced ringers from the local area, were engaging and explained their topics clearly and precisely. As an early career ringer it allowed me to engage in areas of ringing that I have not experienced yet, such as the handling of larger birds and other trapping methods such as spring traps and whoosh netting. I found it useful that, although the course was a theory course, there were elements of practical ringing, with the opportunity to practice the fitting of larger rings, wing formulae, primary moult scores and a demonstration of how a whoosh net works. These allowed for a visualisation of the ringing theory being discussed. The only downside was that participants couldn’t attend everything on offer. An alternative would be to have fewer topics offered and the chance for every participant to attend each talk. I would definitely recommend the day to other ringers as I felt that it allowed for the discussion of topics that might not necessarily be covered during ringing training and the ability to learn from other ringers who offered their own experiences. I would attend a similar course in the future, if different content was offered.

FEEDBACK FROM MIKE Feedback from the questionnaires was very positive and we would certainly like to give it another go if there is enough interest. We found it was particularly beneficial to have a mix of ringers attending the course as experienced ringers were able to contribute comments and observations to the discussions. Another time we’d like to develop the idea of giving participants the chance to give 15–20 minute talks as well.