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A season of change and growth

Monkwood nature reserve in spring by Paul Lane

Matt reflects on the start of spring and the growth he has seen in the natural world and personally through training...

Since my last blog in January, spring has come into bloom and the nature reserves are looking full of life. While we have been out getting jobs done, I’ve also been getting to know some of the spring flowers you can find around the reserves. I’ve been fortunate to have had some days working at The Knapp and Papermill nature reserve, where there is an abundance of ramsons/wild garlic in flower and beautiful bluebells in the woodland areas. In the meadows I’ve spotted cuckooflowers and cowslips and along paths there’s the odd herb Robert or wood spurge – all in one nature reserve! And that’s just flowers at this time of year; I look forward to discovering what the later seasons bring.

With spring being a season of change, it’s also brought a change in the trainee team. We’ve had to say our farewells to Charlie and Patrick. They’ve been a pleasure to work with and wherever they go will be lucky to have them - I wish them all the best! The past few weeks I’ve been enjoying getting to know and working with my new teammates Jack, Derren and Jess.

The traineeship offers a budget to pay for courses and training, which is fantastic to build a skillset for a career in conservation. Last month I attended a beginner course with the Field Studies Council on animal monitoring and management. Led by our tutor Mike Deane, I learnt alongside fellow trainees Anna and Jess about what key animal species are surveyed, survey methods and relevant legislation. It was a great way to build my base knowledge in general ecology and what’s involved.

Pond at Bishops Wood

Pond at Bishops Wood by Matt Martin

The course was held at the Field Studies Council centre at Bishops Wood. The first half of the day was spent inside going through a short presentation from Mike. In the second half, we visited different areas of the site to see what signs of wildlife we could spot. Our first stop was a nearby pond that was reported to have great crested newts in! We had a quick activity using the habitat suitability index for great crested newts that, as the name suggests, is a way of assessing the habitat to get an idea of how suitable it is for these amphibians. The score is a decimal between zero and one where a higher score (being one) generally means that there is optimal habitat for great crested newts and a lower score (zero) has the least. The index considers ten factors, them being:

  • Location
  • Pond area (m²)
  • How often the pond dries
  • Water quality
  • Shade
  • Waterfowl presence – fowl can pollute water and stir sediments
  • Fish presence – certain fish, like stickleback, can predate the newt larvae
  • Number of ponds
  • Quality of terrestrial habitat (cover and foraging opportunities)
  • Macrophyte coverage (aquatic plants)

Great crested newts are a protected species so any survey methods that are likely to cause disturbance or involve capture require the surveyor to have a licence to conduct them. During the day in the spring and summer, the newts tend to seek refuge near the edges of ponds; this could be under logs, rocks or habitat piles. This allows them to forage for food like insects while sheltering from any predators. Mike showed us around the pond, he carefully checked some likely spots where he thought some newts could be hiding – this survey technique is known as refuge searching. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any so hopefully they’re still in the pond! Since this can disturb the newts, a licence is required and anything moved when searching should be moved back to its original position. Although I’m still yet to see a great crested newt, it was a valuable experience learning all that is involved in monitoring the species.

Barn at Bishops Wood

Barn at Bishops Wood by Matt Martin

Our next stop was at a barn-like building where we learnt about what signs you can spot for the presence of bats. A simple technique is checking for bat droppings, which will accumulate under roost spots. Roost spots tend to be higher up in snug crevices like the eaves of roofs and the tops of lofts. The droppings can be quite similar to mouse droppings but there is a way to distinguish between the two. Unfortunately, though, it does mean getting your fingers mucky! All you need to do is roll the dropping between your fingers and if it crumbles easily then it’s a bat dropping. This is because the bats we have in the UK are insectivores, which means that their droppings consist of dried insect remains. If you’re experienced enough, then you may be able to tell what species of bat the droppings belong to based on its size and texture. Since the droppings we found were fairly thin and smooth, Mike believed they could belong to common pipistrelle bats.

Our final stop was in a secluded corner of woodland. Hidden in the blue and green carpet of bluebells, you could spot several brown mounds of earth. Inspecting further, we discovered these mounds of earth to be holes made by badgers, entrances to a network of tunnels and chambers known as a badger sett. A badger hole tends to look like a capital D on its side and if you’re lucky you might be able to find a loose badger hair nearby and we were fortunate enough to do so! Badger hairs are white with a black band and a silver tip.

Badger hair

Badger hair by Matt Martin

As I progress with my traineeship along with the seasons, I'm putting my new found knowledge to the test, looking out for species on our nature reserves. Whether it’s been a recent discovery like badger setts or a new species of flower I’ve not seen before, it makes each day exciting. I have around four months left of my traineeship and everyday presents an opportunity to learn something new, from my fellow teammates and colleagues, our team leader Andy B, the reserves officers and volunteers; they’re all willing to help and I’m grateful to be a part of such a fantastic team.

Having gained an appreciation for the natural world through painting and countryside walks, Matt was inspired to consider a role in conservation. He is enjoying his traineeship so far and looks forward to learning new skills and gaining more practical experience.

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