MSc Residential Weekend

In September I commenced postgraduate studies, on the MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation with the University of Leeds. I am studying part-time over two years, hoping that a slightly more relaxed study pace will help me really embed the learning, whilst allowing me to continue to volunteer and gain practical experience in conservation and ecological surveying.

One of the first events was to join all the other MSc students and meet some of the staff on a residential weekend held at Malham Tarn FSC in the Yorkshire Dales. This differed from other weekends I have spent at FSC centres in two major ways:

• Normally I drive which means I can chuck as much kit in the car as I want and be prepared for any weather/eventuality. This time I went on a coach from the university, meaning I had to be very selective in what I took as I had to (a) fit it in a rucksack and (b) carry said rucksack half way across Leeds before I could get on the coach.
• The pace this weekend was very relaxed with late starts, early finishes, and plenty of time to chill out. This contrasted sharply with residentials for the MMU UCert, which usually start early and finish late, with no free time to yourself and the stress of being tested hanging over us all weekend.
• Oh, and a third point - the weather was awesome all weekend!

As we went a coach, this could not take us all the way to the field centre as the roads are just to narrow. Instead, a van picked up our luggage and we walked the 3+ miles from Malham village up to the FSC at Malham Tarn.  I have done part of the walk before, but never the section in the middle. Leaving the village, we climbed up the side of Malham Cove and had good views from the top before following the path through a narrow valley then walking around the tarn.

On Saturday we had various activites to try out, and split into smaller groups. In the morning, we met some of the National Trust staff that look after the estate. We did a practical conservation task, using hand saws to chop down willow from the fen. This wasn't too bad, but we then had to remove all of the wood from the fen, dragging it for what felt like a long way (probably less than 0.5km) along the boardwalk to the road. It certainly gave us a good work-out, and I think we were all a little pleased when lunchtime arrived and we could swap tasks.

After lunch we had a go at pond dipping. We tried various techniques, using a figure of eight motion to take samples from different depths of the pond and from vegetated vs open water areas. We decanted the aquatic invertebrates that were caught into sample pots, and took them back to the lab to try and identify them. We were a little short of time to do a very thorough job, but my lab partner and I managed to identify 12+ species.

After afternoon tea (and the compulsory cake), we had a bird-ringing demonstration. Nets were erected close to a bird feeding station, and the fine black netting was virtually impossible to see. Birds that were caught were carefully removed and placed in cloth drawstring bags before being brought back to the table to identify.  As well as identifying species and gender, age and moult status were recorded. This seemed quite hard, as it involved looking at the growth of feathers, and comparing different colour patterns and how much they had faded. We were lucky enough to capture a great spotted woodpecker, so got the chance to see this lovely bird up close. We also had the chance to handle and release the birds.

In the evening, dusk occured just after dinner so we went outside and used bat detectors to identify where the bats were emerging from. We used nets on long poles to catch some of the bats as they were emerging from their roost in the roof of the stables. These were taken inside and we had an interesting talk from Professor John Altringham, and also got the chance to look at live specimens up close and personal.

On Sunday morning, I got up before dawn to watch the bats return to their roost.  I sat in the courtyard and observed their swarming activity, so will know what I am looking for on future bat surveys.

Before breakfast, I also helped with some more birding ringing. On a one to one basis, I got another hour's practice in and it was great to handle a variety of small birds. I am not sure this is something I would like to pursue though: the rings themselves are very tiny and the numbers are difficult to read, and it also needs a lot of patience and manual dexterity to get the birds out of the nets.

Overall, a superb weekend where I got to know the other students and staff a little better, and learned some new techniques.