week 1, let the games begin

We're back, Steve, Emma, Connor, Liz and I arrived back on the amazing bardsey island to get the observatory ready for the 2013 season.

Hummmmm a few things to unpack 

Mmmmmmmm not exactly unpacked but its tidier I guess

Cleaning to be had ......"he loves the jobs you hate"

Liz working her magic in the kitchen

Even the bird feeders need a good clean

Being a bird observatory there's got to be some bird work to be had so ben, connor and I set out to try and catch jack snipe by drag netting.

To catch these little beasts we first had to string an old mistnet between two poles, this would be used to drag along the ground and place down where the bird is to catch it. Jack snipe are notoriously secretive birds, so well camouflaged, and ballsy enough to only reveal there presence when you are practically right ontop of them! However when then do flush out of cover they generally only fly a small distance and then pitch down in the undergrowth again, you can then watch where they land, walk the net over to the area they have gone too and place the net over the top of the bird.......sounds easy right?

...........well it wasn't, on more than a few occasions we had watch the bird, seen where it landed in the long grass, carefully placed the net over where we thought it was, stood around puzzled and scratching our heads when the bird didn't show only for it to wizz up out of the grass within feet of where we had placed the net.

After having rings run around us by one particular jack snipe we eventually lost it for good and could not locate it again. Frustrated and almost ready to give up we made a snap decision to try up at the north end of the island on the off chance that another bird ben has seen days before would still be there.........it was still there.

Check this beauty out

Back to cleaning now, man this view never gets old