Hello, friends

A quick update on what I am up to these days:

1. The zoo! I was lucky enough to be given a second day, so every Wednesday and Sunday sees me there, pootling around on the bird section. I've gotten to know all the rounds pretty well now so the keepers can pretty much turn me loose and I know what's what. I'm really enjoying getting to know the birds better, too - we have some fantastic ones. And now spring has sprung the zoo itself is looking better and better. The animals love the warmer weather and are out and about more, for better views, plus the icing on the cherry is our two Asiatic lion cubs! It's a critically endangered species, so it's a brilliant achievement for the zoo, but more importantly they are super cute.

2. Bird ringing! For those who don't know, all bird ringing (ie. the placing of little metal bands around birds' legs for identification) in the UK is overseen by the BTO. There are ringing stations dotted about where volunteers get together most weekends to ring birds. The BTO collects all the records and information, and it all forms a hugely important resource for conservation and research. Bird ringing lets us find out things such as migration routes; lifespan; population size; territory size etc. etc.

The practicalities are these. Every Saturday, I get a lift down to the Chew Valley Ringing Station south of Bristol. We get there for around eight in the morning and set up mist nets. Then we sally forth from the station every half hour, extricate any caught birds from the nets, put them individually in cloth bags, take them back to the station, and commence recording. They are weighed, measured, aged and sexed; their fat score and body condition is assessed; their ring number recorded or a ring placed if they are a new bird; if they are exciting (for instance, an eight year old dunnock we caught a few weeks ago) they are photographed; and then they are released, none the worse for wear.

I love working at the zoo but it is something else to actually handle a real, wild bird. And there is so much to learn - getting the birds out of the nets itself is quite an art - and every species has its own little quirks and tricks.

3. And that is all! I quit the letting agents, because it was rubbish, and so I spend the rest of my days at home, playing games, reading, whatever. When we first moved to Bristol I felt a little lost and I was often unhappy at home on my own, but I have adjusted, and I'm a lot better at finding things to do to keep me busy and happy.