End of an era

Don't think it has quite sunk in yet that I have finally left the bank behind to concentrate on pursuing a different career path. I think I am too giddy setting off on holiday to feel sad, but it will be weird when I get back to the UK and don't have to get up and go into the office.

I had a fabulous night out in Leeds last night with colleagues past and present, and received some lovely gifts too - a adopted penguin who lives near me so I can go and visit, and a bracelet charm among other things. Hopefully my friends at LBG won't forget me and will keep in touch.  Despite declining the first social event they invited me to, I promise to make it to others!  Only a brief update for now as I have a plane to catch ...

Pond Dipping

Today I carried out the first of my practical investigations as part of my latest OU course - Practical Environmental Science.  The first study block is 'Water Quality', so at lunchtime I wandered across to one of the ponds on the nature reserve and did an invertebrate survey.  I did a dummy run in my garden pond at home yesterday, and was surprised to find 7 species (the most numerous by far being mites).  Today - as would be expected in the location - I had more luck and found 14+ species.  I also had a play with my new macro lense, which allowed me to find a few species I hadn't even spotted out in the field!

The water quality was obviously high as I found several species that rank highly on the BMWP list including damselfly nymph and two different sorts of cased caddis.

On the way back for the site I managed to place the thermometers on the north and south faces of an oak tree, which is the second part of my experiment for my Ecosystems course.

Studying is going well at the moment. The Ecosystem course is tough, but it is a Level 3 course and has a lot of technical content as well as statistical analysis and modelling. I am over half way through, having just submitted the 2nd out of 4 assignments, and the exam is in early June.  In a way I can't wait for it to be over!

I think I will enjoy the Practical Environmental Science module more, as it seems very varied and hands on. There is also no exam, so I can concentrate on the course work and get as good a grade as possible.

Mobile Mapping

Today I attended a training session over the Pennines in Stockport to learn about a new mobile mapper that we will be using to record the invasive plant species at YWT.  This is a hand held GPS device, but has excellent software and base maps included. It uses the Digiterra mapping interface on the PC, and can also exchange data with MapInfo and ArcGIS.  I am looking forwards to trying these out in the field.