This week I found my footing. I have rapidly progressed in extracting and processing birds, becoming increasingly confident each day in my identification skills. There are been times where I have surprised myself, particularly when I managed to identify the species and age of a bird from a brief glance (with subsequent verification by the licensed ringers). As I handle increasingly large numbers of birds each day, at increasing proficiency, my belief in my abilities has soared.
As I become more experienced, I am also given more responsibility. Initially, this responsibility weighed on me as a constant reminder that I must be able to perform, to extract, to act decisively so that the birds are handled in the most ethical way. I dreaded finding a situation I knew I could not handle, until I faced one: at this point in the season, there are many fledgelings, and I encountered a net that had caught >10 birds. I knew this was too many birds for me to extract alone, and I knew that the fledgelings caught needed to be removed quickly. After contacting the rest of the team for help, I started working. The pressure felt crushing, as the process of trying to remove a tiny, delicate creature from a tangled, confusing net is complex enough; without the creeping thought that there are at least ten more birds left, and that every minute spent in the net is stressful and exhausting for them. In these moments I was truly tested. My hands would tremble, my breaths reduced to gulps and gasps, the feeling in my legs reduced to jelly-like weakness and the faint sting of nettles. One wrong move could be devastating. It was in these moments that I knew I had to make everything I had learned so far count. All my knowledge and experience becomes meaningless if I cannot perform under pressure, when my skills are needed the most. But it was also in these moments that my hands would become still, my mind clear, and my resolve sharp. After pushing away initial self-doubt and fear, I knew that I was the only person I could rely on. Help was on its way, but I was qualified enough to start.
In these moments of stress I truly found myself. Experiencing difficult situations that required me to not only rely upon my teammates, but also myself, truly taught me the value of courage and humility working in tandem.
Whilst my skills in bird identification, and ringing have developed fantastically, I have also greatly enjoyed the activities we have been doing at the observatory. This week we customised our own t-shirts to commemorate this summer!
As my LiA comes to a close, I feel immensely grateful for this experience. I have made friendships that I hope to maintain for a lifetime and learned so much about the environment, different cultures, lifestyles, and beliefs. Living in the Swedish countryside has been so freeing, and I have had the privilege to see a multitude of amazing creatures from my doorstep, including fox cubs, white-tailed eagles, and elk. Whilst the volunteering work has been difficult, it is incredibly rewarding knowing that I am contributing to databases that assist with the monitoring of wild birds, which in turn informs conservation and climate change policy.