Weeks 36, 37 & 38 -Gulls, Mud & More New Arrivals!

It feels like forever since I have written my blog – the end of my traineeship is looming and so the stress of spending all my free time on job applications has begun! As a result this poor blog has been a bit neglected, so let me bring you up to speed!

Week 36 began with our return to Loscombe where we finished clearing the fenceline by cutting some overhanging trees, followed by heading round the corner to lay a bit more of the hedge. Then on Tuesday we finally took our volunteers to Brownsea Island for a day trip – something which had been rained off before Christmas! I gave our volunteers a guided walk and thankfully the birds were putting on a good show. It was fantastic to see all the black-headed gulls starting to squabble (loudly!) over nesting territories on the islands in the lagoon; not even their blotchy faces could dent their confidence!

Black-headed gull displaying.

Black headed gull calling.

April 3, 2016 by amybrocklehurst Categories: UncategorizedTags: Brownsea Island, calf, Dormouse, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, HLF, Kingcombe, lamb, slime mould, Traineeship, Wildlife Skills Leave a comment

Weeks 8 & 9: Bats, a lobster, a dormouse and a chainsaw!

Phew! This has certainly been the most exhausting two weeks of my traineeship so far! I’ve done so much that I haven’t had the time to blog, so apologies for the long catch-up post, though hopefully the photos will keep you interested!

Week 8 was a bit of a bat bonanza! We started off checking the boxes on our DWT reserve on Brownsea island, where we found a total of 89 soprano pipistrelles and 17 Natterer’s bats. I don’t understand how anyone can find these little creatures scary, just look at those sweet mousey faces!

A tiny soprano pipistrelle.

The soprano pipistrelle has a tiny ridge inbetween its nostrils.

Natterer’s bat.

A large roost of natterer’s bats inside a bat box.

August 29, 2015August 31, 2015 by amybrocklehurst Categories: UncategorizedTags: Bat, Brownsea Island, chainsaw, Dormouse, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, HLF, Kingcombe, Traineeship, Wildlife Skills 2 Comments

Week 3: Brownsea Island Residential!

What a busy and exciting week it has been! For the first time since being accepted onto our roles, all 16 trainees from the 4 county Trusts on the Wildlife Skills scheme (that’s Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire & Devon) met each other and got together for our first residential trip: Brownsea Island.

The 2015 cohort: All 16 trainees together at last

July 19, 2015July 19, 2015 by amybrocklehurst Categories: UncategorizedTags: Brownsea Island, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, HLF, Traineeship, Wildlife Skills Leave a comment