The KBO Team
Colin Cross
Warden/Ringer in charge & KBO Chairman
Colin began birding aged 7 years in his native county of Norfolk. He trained as a ringer with the Rye Meads Ringing Group in the early 1980s and has now been ringing for over 30 years. Colin helped establish the North West Norfolk Ringing Group in the early 1990s. In 2004 he started to make trips to The Gambia to ring birds at Kartong. In 2009 he settled in Kartong and with Jez Blackburn established Kartong Bird Observatory, the first and only bird observatory in West Africa. Colin has an extensive knowledge of the birds of the Kartong area and acts as a bird guide for visiting birders. A teacher by profession, he taught children with Special Needs in London and Norwich and ecology at The How Hill Trust on the Norfolk Broads. Colin is married to Binta Janneh and he has two sons, James and Alieu.
Roger Walsh
Ringing Course leader & KBO Vice Chairman
Roger started birding in his early teens when he watched Buzzards nest building on the cliffs of Pembrokeshire. From that moment he was hooked and this led to seasons working as a Voluntary Warden first on Skomer Island and then between 1977 - 1980 on the Farne Islands where he also began his passion for ringing. A Headteacher by profession, Roger takes a keen interest in training and is an A Permit ringer and trainer. He has been ringing in Israel as well as on numerous trips to Kartong and led the trip in 2015.
Jez Blackburn
Ringing course leader, KBO Treasurer & Secretary and UK contact
Jez is a BTO 'A' Permit ringer and trainer. He has been ringing for 30 years and has ringed at many locations in the UK and helped set up the Kartong Bird Observatory with his friend Colin. Jez organises and leads the ringing courses, is the Cannon Net endorsement holder and is the contact in the UK and for the BTO ringing scheme, and maintains the website.
Other KBO team members
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Binta Janneh is from Bakau and moved to Kartong in 2009. Binta has worked in the tourist industry for ten years.