Rainy Conservation Tasks

The weather has become more autumnal all of sudden, and it's feeling rather cold and wet.

This week I spent two days on my new volunteering job with West Yorkshire Joint Services. Through contacts made on a conservation task, I am now helping out the ecology team. It is just a desk based job - keying biological records from various surveys that have been done.  However, having studied on the MMU UCert programme, it is interesting to now be part of a biological records centre and see first hand how it works.  It is also really useful to read through the different formats of ecological survey report that are done by different consultants, and I am getting more familiar with Recorder and MapInfo in the process, as well as learning species' scientific names. So it's a win:win situation at the moment, and hopefully I can continue to build my skills and make contacts that will be useful in the future.

On Friday I attended the 'Green Team' volunteering day at TCV Skelton Grange. It was raining heavily all day, but luckily they had some alternative indoor activities planned. We set up a make-shift workshop in the cloakroom, and spent most of the day making bird boxes. My partner and I made three boxes, and I'm quite impressed with our efforts - probably not good enough to sell but certainly good enough for the birds!

Yesterday I took part in a task day with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Lower Aire Valley volunteers.  We met at Kippax Leisure Centre, which is overlooked by Townclose Hills, our site for the day and just a few minutes walk away.  I had hoped to be practicing some coppicing skills, but instead we took out some small trees that were growing to close to the path. As well as improving access, this will open up some parts of the site and create sunnier glades where the undergrowth and butterflies can flourish.  The material that we took out was too small to produce log piles, so we made some dead hedges. These will serve the dual purpose of blocking off some unofficial footpaths and thus protecting some areas of woodland, and providing a habitat for invertebrates and hiberating animals. It was another very wet day, and I finished the task cold but exhilerated for being out working all day, making the cup of tea and hot bath once home all the more welcome.

Today I am catching up on my study notes, and tomorrow I am jetting off to Edinburgh for the CIEEM autumn conference.

Exploring the Great British Countryside

I've had a couple of really great days out in the last few weeks.

First was exploring an area of the country I rarely get to - the Derbyshire Peak District. I attended an away day with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, which was a good opportunity to take time out and brainstorm project ideas with other trainees and members of staff. As part of this, we spent an afternoon on the Monsal Trail - a disused railway line that has been converted to a trail. We hired bikes from the Hassop Cafe (an excellent enterprise with good food and a shop too), and rode the middle section of the route. This took us over a viaduct, and through three tunnels that were repaired and opened to the public just a few years ago. The route was fairly flat, but must have been slightly uphill as it felt a lot easier peddling back!  The trail links various wildlife reserves and other sights, so it was interesting to think how nature conservation could link to different activities like walking and cycling trails. The autumn colours were spectacular, and views of the valleys and gorges were stunning.  Despite practicing at home every night for the past week, I was still a little slow and seemed to be at the back of the group (it has been a while since I was last on a bike!). It would be good to go back again when there is a bit more time to explore and to detour into some of the reserves.

This weekend was spent with a couple of friends up in the Yorkshire Dales. We stayed in our camper van and frequented the Station Inn at Ribblehead, in the heart of three peaks country, which was spookily decked out for Halloween with the staff looking rather gruesome.  We caught up over dinner and a few pints on the Friday evening, and had a leisurely start on Saturday morning. The cloud was hanging low and covering the top of Whernside when we set off, so we ambled up the valley and took time to explore the viaduct, waterfall and aquaduct. The cloud seemed to be clearing, so we turned left and took the long path up the back of Whernside. The sun came out when we reached the top, giving spectactular views north to Dentdale, but it was still bitterly cold in the wind so we just stopped briefly for a picnic lunch. We then started the descent, steep in places but giving great views over the other two peaks and the Ribblehead viaduct. It was nice to get out in the fresh air and stretch the old legs.

I've also managed to squeeze in another small mammal survey before the weather turns too cold. I supported one of the YWT Reserve's Officers with some trapping at Hollinhurst Woods near Leeds. The results were a little disappointing; as it is a very public site we only left the traps in situ overnight (if they had been pre-baited and left longer, we may have caught more and different species). As it was, we caught two field voles and four wood mice out of 26 traps. At least it has given us an idea of what is on site and which types of habitat they seem to prefer.

Another cute Wood Mouse picture