With Sir Clive Elliott leaving the NUBRA (National Unit for Bird-Ringing Administration) in 1974 to work for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Post for Bird Ringing Coordinator was once again opened. As a result Dr Carl J. Vernon took the post in 1975. At the time the Ringing Scheme was still hosted by the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town.
One of the big projects Carl took over from Clive was the computerisation of ringing data onto Hollerith cards (punch cards). Close friend Dr Steven Piper (founder of the Steven Piper SAFRING Trust) assisted in this, although all did not go to plan (Read further details in Carls' Obituary for Steven). Carl has a noted interest in shorebirds which can be seen in the topics chosen for the SAFRING News Articles during his term (Read SAFRING News). Additionally Carl put a lot of effort in promoting colour ringing as a means of improving the resighting counts (Read his first Editorial), and authored three Annual Reports (the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth). During his term at the ringing unit, the First National Ringing Conference was held in Gauteng.
Carl was then offered the post as ornithologist at the East London Museum and left in 1976.
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