Category Archives for Survey
Smooth Newts in Bottle Trap
Two males and a female caught in a bottle trap in mid-April. Smooth newts have spots on the underside of the chin and males can develop quite dark colours with large spots and stripes on their head and body. Note also the orange on the tail of the males along with a blue iridescent strip above it.
Final Consultancy Reptile Survey
I have just completed what is probably my last survey this year, with the end of September generally representing the demise of the surveying season. Again at the Wales site checking for reptiles, we managed to see a reasonable range of specimens. However colder, wetter conditions definitely had an impact on the number of finds. [...]
Consultancy Reptile Survey
A second reptile survey in Wales today and I saw a great range of specimens which I feel has greatly improved my identification skills. The weather wasn’t ideal but this didn’t seem to make much difference as a similar number of individuals were found on my last trip to this site. As well as finding 2 grass [...]
Consultancy: Bat Re-entry Survey
I helped out in another dawn bat survey this morning. Very little activity to report and I personally recorded just one bat (Daubentons) completing 3 passes along a river.
SLBG: Swarming Survey
Last night I and around 10 other members of SLBG took part in a swarming survey at an abandoned mine in Blackburn. It was undoubtedly my best conservation experience to date! The survey required bats to be caught and handled, nets to be checked and measurements to be completed on the specimens, offering a great range of [...]
Consultancy: Reptile Survey
I had a great experience surveying at a site in Wales today. Saw plenty of Slow worms and one juvenile Grass snake as well as mice, voles, frogs and toads. Slow Worm Unlike my first reptile survey where the species were a no-show, this opportunity allowed me to see numerous individuals from 2 target species [...]
Consultancy: Bat emergence and re-entrance survey.
I completed my first overnight bat survey last night, conducting a dawn and dusk survey at a warehouse site in the North-West. Within a team of 4, each of us were designated our own section of the building to survey over both dusk and dawn periods. Equipped with the standard equipment, (detector and recording device, [...]
Southern Cemetery Update
I heard some great news today regarding the bat survey we completed at the Southern Cemetery a few weeks ago. It seems that the survey provided critical evidence to support the sites nature reserve bid, which is now set to be awarded the desirable status by the governing body, Natural England. This is great news as it [...]
Consultancy Reptile Survey
After a bit of persistance I have been fortunate enough to edge my way onto the radar of a local ecological consultancy firm and today was invited out to help prepare a site for reptile surveillance over the coming weeks. The site in question, which I should probably keep classified, is being assessed for reptile activity in [...]
Bat Survey: Millponds
Last week I completed a couple of days surveying with SLBG , aiding out in there flagship annual survey conducted in the Kirklees Valley. The Millpond survey has been running at the same site since 1994 and has amassed a considerable amount of data applicable to bat conservation within the region. The structure of this ongoing [...]