Getting into ecology and conservation

Ask any ecologist or conservationist how they got into this line of work, and almost all will tell you about how they got stuck in with volunteering, and what awesome days they were!

Me in 2012, volunteering on a Water Vole survey with Row Baker at Arundel

Volunteering for the Sussex Wildlife Trust opened up to me a new world of local wildlife, and the passionate people who are trying to conserve it. There are many wildlife organisations out there wanting to engage with volunteers and recruit new members, and now social media makes it even easier to connect with these groups... a healthier use of Facebook and Twitter!

Myself and Laurie Jackson (who I also met through volunteering) have come up with a list of wildlife groups and recording schemes which people can get involved with, whether you're a student of biological sciences, a recent graduate, or just someone who is looking to get outdoors more and discover an endlessly rewarding new hobby...

Firstly, consider starting to keep a species list by signing up to iRecord: http://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/

Events/ short courses in wildlife identification, ecology and field skills:

Sussex Wildlife Trust https://www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/category/adult-learning
Surrey Wildlife Trust http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/whats-on?categoryid=7&categoryid=7
Knepp Wildlands Safaris https://www.kneppsafaris.co.uk/Safaris
Field Studies Council (FSC) http://www.field-studies-council.org/individuals-and-families.aspx

For families and kids:

Sussex Wildlife Trust family events https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/whats-on/category/family-events
Surrey Wildlife Trust family events http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/whats-on?categoryid=9
Amateur Entomologists' Society Bug Club  http://www.amentsoc.org/bug-club/
Field Studies Council family activities http://www.field-studies-council.org/individuals-and-families/family.aspx

Specialist courses and training ecological consultants:

Bat Conservation Trust http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/professional.html
Mammal Society http://www.mammal.org.uk/training
Amphibians and Reptiles Group http://www.arguk.org/events
British Trust for Ornithology http://www.bto.org/news-events/training
Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) : http://www.cieem.net/events/category/56/cieem-workshopstraining
Acorn Ecology http://www.acornecology.co.uk/ecology-courses
Field Studies Council (FSC) environmental professionals http://www.field-studies-council.org/professional/courses-for-environmental-professionals.aspx

British Entomology & Natural History Society http://www.benhs.org.uk/about/meetings/

Freshwater Biological Association https://www.fba.org.uk/courses

The best advice after going on any training course or event? Get involved with wildlife surveys or field meetings straight away, either through the organisation you've just trained with, or a wildlife group local to you. Carry on with the learning and keep those newly acquired field skills honed; we all started out somewhere! 

National recording schemes & surveys:

• National Plant Monitoring Scheme http://www.npms.org.uk/
• National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme http://www.narrs.org.uk/
• National Bat Monitoring Programme http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/nbmp.html
• Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society http://www.bwars.com/
• Butterfly Conservation http://butterfly-conservation.org/110/recording-and-monitoring.html
• Bumblebee Conservation Trust https://bumblebeeconservation.org/get-involved/
• Beetles and Beetle Recording in Great Britain http://www.coleoptera.org.uk/home
• British Trust for Ornithology http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys
• British Dragonfly Society http://www.british-dragonflies.org.uk/content/recording-dragonflies-and-damselflies-britain
• Mammal Society http://www.mammal.org.uk/surveys_and_monitoring
• British Arachnological Society http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/wiki2015/index.php?title=Main_Page
• British Lichen Society http://www.britishlichensociety.org.uk/
• Dipterists Forum http://www.dipteristsforum.org.uk/
• Hoverfly Recording Scheme http://www.hoverfly.org.uk/
• Buglife https://www.buglife.org.uk/activities-for-you/wildlife-surveys
• British Entomology & Natural History Society http://www.benhs.org.uk/about/meetings/
• British Mycological Society http://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/mycology/field-meetings/
• Pan-species Listing http://www.brc.ac.uk/psl/about

There are many more than I have listed here, so you could also take a look at the Biological Records Centre website: http://www.brc.ac.uk/recording-schemes

Most these groups also have facebook pages with very active online communities, so there are always people to turn to for advice.

And for those of you more local to the Gatwick area, check out these active groups...

Wildlife groups and recording in Sussex:

Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre http://sxbrc.org.uk/
Sussex Mammal Group http://www.sussexmammalgroup.org.uk
Sussex Amphibian and Reptile Group http://www.sussexarg.org.uk
Sussex Bat Group http://www.sussexbatgroup.org.uk/
Sussex Ornithological Society http://www.sos.org.uk/
Sussex Botanical Recording Society http://sussexflora.org.uk/
Sussex Moth Group http://www.sussexmothgroup.org.uk/
Butterfly Conservation – Sussex Branch http://www.sussex-butterflies.org.uk/
British Dragonfly Society - Sussex Group http://www.webjam.com/bdssx
Sussex Sea Search https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/living-seas/sussex-seasearch
Forest Row Natural History Group https://naturesbook.wordpress.com/events/

Sussex & Surrey:

West Weald Fungus Recording Group  http://www.westwealdfungi.co.uk/

Surrey:

Surrey Biodiversity Information Centre http://www.surreybic.org.uk/
Surrey Mammal group (Facebook page) https://www.facebook.com/groups/surreymammals/?fref=ts
Surrey Dormouse Group http://www.surreydormousegroup.org.uk/
Surrey Amphibians and Reptile Group http://www.surrey-arg.org.uk/
Surrey Bat Group http://www.surreybats.org.uk/
Surrey Birding Club http://www.surreybirdclub.org.uk/
Surrey Botanical Society http://www.surreyflora.org.uk/
Surrey Butterfly Conservation - Surrey & SW London branch http://butterfly-conservation.org/286/surrey--sw-london-branch.html
RiverSearch & RiverFly surveys http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/what-we-do/living-landscapes/conservation-projects/riversearch

So there you go! My apologies as if I missed any off - please comment below and I can add to the lists.

Biodiversity and the Beaver

I had an excellent opportunity last weekend to join a group of ecologists visiting the Devon Beaver Project, a trial study looking into how Eurasian Beavers (Castor fiber) adapt their surroundings, creating vital wetland habitat.

Beaver lodge and pool - the enclosure is about 2.8ha in total

Led by Mark Elliott of Devon Wildlife Trust, this fascinating project has now been running for 5 years. Beaver pools and dams provide excellent ecosystem services; holding the excess water, allowing gradual release back into rivers and streams after extreme flooding events (it turns out they might be even more effective landscape managers than us costly humans).

One of several Beaver dams - this one extends for over 20m

Their forte is creating a series of staggered pools, interconnected by small canals so that they can ferry woody materials around. They carry out all their own maintenance and repairs, needing absolutely no input from us.

Horizon pool (something I've always fancied in my garden)

These fluffy aqua-engineers have been gone from our landscapes over 400 years, hunted to extinction for their meat, fur and some weird medicinal value of their glands. Beavers are a 'keystone species', meaning their presence is important for the structure and function of a particular habitat. Remove the keystone and the habitat changes so drastically that the whole ecosystem on that site collapses.

   Beavers are nocturnal, so we didn't get a chance to see them in person, but the field signs of these massive rodents are pretty unmistakable...

Is that some Beaver hedge-laying? Tom Simpson himself would be impressed

Mark explained to us that many of these partially felled trees will continue to grow, with the fresh coppice regrowth creating Beaver 'salad bowls', on which they feed.

Not a T-Rex, but the Right hind footprint of Beaver, Europe's biggest rodent

Data are being meticulously gathered with the help of the University of Exeter. Water monitoring stations collect vital information on changes in flow and water quality on the site, all of which are improving for the better.

Of course, the thing us ecologists noticed the most after stepping rather gingerly into the site, is how Beavers create incredibly stunning, biodiverse and lush habitat! 

The act of opening up the dense scrub, allowing light to reach the network of pools and canals has resulted in a true habitat mosaic - all the work of just two adult Beavers.

   Increased amounts of frogspawn indicate a benefit to the amphibian populations...

The wet wood is no doubt a haven for aquatic invertebrates, hidden away in the cracks and crevices of the dams. Certainly the can fungi benefit from all of this fallen deadwood...

Scarlet Elf Cup (Sarcoscypha coccinea)

Blushing Bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa)

Miniature water gardens contain many plant species, a few of which were not only new to me...

Beaver burrow

Young basal leaves of Marsh Ragwort (Senecio aquaticus)  - identified by Mark Elliott

Water Forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides), Water Mint (Mentha aquatica) and some type of Crowfoot…

...which turned out to be Round-leaved Crowfoot (Ranunculus omiophyllus) - identified by Dave Green

Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella) - identified by Mark Elliott

Lesser Spearwort (Ranunculus flammula) - identified by Mark Elliott

I can only imagine how spring and summer will bring even more burgeoning wildlife to this site. 

Thanks to Mark, Penny, Dave and David for letting me tag along, it really was a privilege. 

Find out more about the scientific benefits of Devon's Beavers in this report, and the positive effects on communities in the below video.

Battling with beetles...

If the ground beetles (Carabidae) are like the European Knights of the 13th century - soldiers encased in ungainly, heavy steel plate armour...

Carabus nemoralis - Goat Meadow at Gatwick

...then the rove beetles (Staphylinidae) are the fearsome Mongolian warriors of the steppes, with overlapping scales of iron and flexible leather, allowing for furiously fast attacks on the enemy (I've been reading a lot of Conn Iggulden historical fiction of late).

Devil's Coach Horse (Ocypus olens) - Photo by W J Heeney

As mortal enemies, Carabids and Staphs will go into battle and the result comes down to the size of beast, which is highly variable. The biggest, baddest of the rove beetles is the Devil's Coach Horse pictured above, which makes Genghis Khan look like a lovable chap who'd give out free hugs.

Last Saturday was the Staphylinidae Identification Workshop with the British Entomological and Natural History Society, lead by Roger Booth and Peter Hodge. It was another excellent day of networking with beginner and expert entomologists alike, learning about the fearsome (and sometimes beautiful) variety of rove beetles.

Roger Booth lead the workshop on Saturday at Dinton Pastures

For me, it was throw back to entomology lessons at Royal Holloway University - Dr Angus was the lecturer who described invertebrate sexual strategy in such graphic detail, that his lectures became infamous (there's even a facebook page in his honour, with one lengthy thread on locust bits which is very NSFW).

A clumsy abdominal dissection

However, I'm not really sure how Dr A. would feel about this; my first attempt since uni at beetle genitalia dissection in order to determine the exact species... Needs a little more practice.

Tergites IX and X, plus one really mashed up aedeagus (male organ)

Aedeagi aside, all beetles at have the same basic body plan. Instead of iron, their exoskeleton is actually made up of a hardened material called chitin, particularly obvious in the solid wing cases (elytra). In Staphylinids, the wings are folded away and the wing case is particularly shortened, allowing for more flexibility in the body.

From Staphylinidae of Britain and Ireland

These are a few I've found about the place so far at Gatwick, usually lurking underneath reptile refugia and bits of bark...

Devil's Coach Horse (Ocypus olens) - a monsterous 30mm

This little bullet-shapped jobby is Tachinus rufipes - around 6mm in length

Drusilla canaliculata (some species names make even adult entomologists snigger), about 5mm

Mongol warriors, about 5ft 7"

Platydracus sp. Another large staph at around 20mm.

Photo by W J Heeney

There is something like 1,000 species of rove beetles in the UK, so lets just say I've got a few more to go! Thanks to Roger and Peter for a brilliant and inspiring workshop. 

Adastra - 2016

My top-tips for making it through an all-day seminar:

1. Curb alcohol intake the night before
2. Sip water constantly; keeps brain alert and banishes drowsiness (particularly if you disregarded point 1)
3. Ignore all the above if you're going to a Biological Recorders meeting; the talks will be riveting anyway and your day will fly-by!

The 27th Sussex Biological Recorders seminar took place on Saturday at Adastra Hall in Hassocks. This is a meeting of like-minded nature-explorers, open to people of all ages, abilities and interests in wildlife watching and recording.

The Royal Air Force motto - Per ardua ad astra

Adastra Park and Hall were named for members of the Royal Flying Corps who lost their lives in World War I. The motto roughly translates as 'to the stars through hardship'; rather fitting for present day biological recording with continual habitat loss, the decline of most species and funding cuts to wildlife organisations. Fortunately, events like the Sussex Biological Recorders Seminar light the way forward, inspiring conservationists to fight on.

A rabble of around 190 biological recorders arrives - this event books out every year

The day consisted of talks by different wildlife conservationists from around the county (plus a few from further afield), beginning with an update from the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre (SxBRC), summarising the victories and challenges of the year just gone. The main talks commenced with a presentation by Dr Nikki Gammans on 'The Plight of the Bumblebee'...

Next up was a talk on the variable state of our Local Wildlife Sites, formerly known as Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (we have one here at Gatwick: Horleyland Wood). We then delved into the hidden world of Ashdown Forest's rarest plants, followed by an exploration into the stunning variety of shield bugs to be seen around Sussex.

A particularly shocking message was that of the RSPB about Turtle Doves in the UK; only a handful now breed in Sussex and the south-east, with fewer returning each year. I'd no idea that in my lifetime this gorgeous bird could go extinct.

However, the message wasn't all doom and gloom. With the help of farmers and continued support of nature organisations in the years to come, Operation Turtle Dove hopes to reverse the decline of this beautiful, charismatic bird.

Coffee breaks between the talks gave people the chance for yearly catch-ups, exchanging ideas, endless questions, plus checking out some of the excellent display boards around the edges of the room...

Towards the end of the day, there was even a surprise guest appearance by one of our most famous Sussex naturalists... TinyBirder himself!

The overall message from this day is very clear - the hard work being put in by passionate wildlife observers provides evidence of a very clear trend of declining species, all easily observable in my lifetime (only just 3 decades).
 

Along with all county record centres across the UK, the SxBRC is the go-to place for local wildlife information, collecting historical and current distributions for hundreds of different species. This hot-pot of clever, kind, and welcoming staff act as a central point for other wildlife organisations and nature-novices to look to, for help and guidance with all our records and never-ending questions.

More pictures from the day on Twitter: #2016Adastra

A link to the full 2015 Adastra publication (you can read my piece on recording wildlife at Gatwick on page 44): http://sxbrc.org.uk/biodiversity/publications/Adastra2015/

Top 10 Gatwick natural history highlights: 2015

Seeing as I'm desk-bound and continually procuring new strains of rhinopharyngitis previously unknown to medical science, this seemed a good time to round up my Gatwick wildlife highlights....

1. Black is back

One sunny morning early in the year; a stunning, entirely black Grass Snake...

Grass Snake (Natrix natrix)

It turned up on several occasions in the North West Zone, so fingers crossed it will make another appearance this coming spring.

Grass Snake - Natrix natrix subsp. persa?

Also hanging out with blackie was his unusually stripey pal... perhaps related to the European subspecies of Grass Snake, which are also striped. Some DNA swabbing and testing is hopefully in the pipeline....

2. Encounters of the fluffy kind

Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius)

Two of them!!! Found after around 3 years of surveying the ancient woodlands in the Land East of the Railway Line...

TICK.

3. Another Long-horned beastie

Long-horned General (Stratiomys longicornis) female - Photo by Andrew Halstead

On our Wildlife Recording Day back in May, along the River Mole, Andrew Halstead turned up our star find - an impressive soldierfly named the Long-horned General. This very scarce species is normally associated with coastal habitats and salt water, but a few have recently appeared in land-locked areas.

Andrew also swept our first Long-horned Bee (Eucera longicornis) of the year.

4. Tigers on our Jerseys

It was just another evening at Gatwick Moth Club with bickering, car-biscuits and male Glow-worms trying to mate with the green generator light. 

A massive Tiger Moth turned up suddenly on Brad's jumper, sparking off another, erm, discussion....

Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria)

In the end we had to believe our eyes; not just one but two Jersey Tiger Moths at Gatwick Airport... A new tick for life-long moth-er Jake Everitt!

5. Ashley's new record

Grass Snake (Natrix natrix) Photo by Julia Gregory

It might just be a plain-ol' Grass Snake, but for us it was a landmark moment as this one had turned up in Ashley's Field... another first in 3 years! This is hopefully an indication that our grassland enhancements are paying off, with amphibians and reptiles benefiting.

6. Ninja bats

I spent a suspenseful dawn with Laurie Jackson, standing in the twilight with detectors on, awaiting bat re-entry into the roost at the old Charlwood Park Farmhouse...

Pipistrelle activity on a bat detector

We picked up plenty of activity and had great views of Long-eared bats landing up on the eastern side of the building, scurrying up and disappearing under the loose tiles. At least three different species of bat are using this building as a roost!

7. The Lost Jewel

Jewel Beetle (Agrilus sp.)

A bitter-sweet highlight (and one Scotty Dodd has not yet forgiven me for) was the time I let go of this stunning Jewel Beetle before he had identified it to species. Not matter that we also procured a carabid beetle called Amarus strenua (Red Data Book 3 species), which was probably even more interesting, so should more than make up for this.

Scotty's tentative i.d: Agrilus sp. indet. cf.bickerisabloodymindedliberator

But I think insult to injury were my rubbish photos.

8. Badger Badger Badger Badger

Just that one step closer to getting some good footage of Badger (Meles meles) at Gatwick.

A Work In Progress (like all of my photography).

9. My kind of human

Meath Green Primary School counting our nest boxes in the Dormouse Challenge

The Forest Schools are Tom Simpson's project, and I've really enjoyed meeting this keen bunch from Meath Green Primary. These tiny humans have been learning all about their surroundings in Gatwick's woodlands, east of the railway line.
   I wish I'd gone to this school!

Woodland festivities

10. The smallest of owls...

Undoubtedly one of my best moments was all the way back in February, while on a bird survey with Tom Forward. This was my first sighting of a Little Owl (Athene noctua) in the wild.
Is it very tiny, or just very far away... or perhaps a blurry picture of a lumpy branch?

Coming up in 2016: even more wildlife photography!