One misty morning

The view from my window this morning was a little surreal as a dense mist had settled over the field opposite my house. The crop has been harvested only yesterday which I think adds a 'wasteland' sort of feel to the scene.

As well as the view, I awoke this morning to the chatter of sparrows and starlings, most probably taking advantage of the newly unearthed seeds and insects.

I even saw this cheeky chappy having nap in his paddock among all the mist.

Some practice at a Phase 1 Habitat Survey

In order to help gain some experience in ecological surveying, I decided to conduct a Phase 1 Habitat Survey on an area local to me in South Fambridge. The area in question has been the centre of some controversy of late due to a business being set up in the small industrial buildings on this site which have been empty for around 30 years. The main activity of this business being car repair and dismantling. 

I've been interested in this area for some time as I regularly walk the dog there, it is a beautiful and peaceful location which is situated right along the River Crouch and there is an abundance of different habitats from arable farmland to tidal mudflats and saltmarshes. You can often see a variety of bird species with farmland and wading birds being particularly abundant. There have also been past sightings of bats, the odd barn owl and various reptiles on the site.

Its the perfect location to get a bit of practice at carrying out a survey as most places are fairly accessible and there are plenty of species to identify. The written report of my Phase 1 survey can be viewed here. If you would  like to leave any feedback or advise for improvements please do so in the comments or drop me an email as I'd love to get your opinions. 

My work experience at a vets practice

Its been a long time since I did my work experience at David Cuffe and Associates Vet Surgery in Clapham, London but the skills I learnt from this have stayed with me even today. 

I did this work experience as part of a careers module at secondary school where each student took a 2 week placement in any industry they wanted, as long as they could organise a company to take them on. I decided I wanted to go to a vets so I scoured the local area for every surgery I could find and called them all up, one by one, to see if they had anything they could offer me. Unfortunately, no luck was to be found in the area as most surgeries either had no places available or were not willing to take on a young student. 

It was suggested by my dad to look further afield, he knew of a surgery not far from where he was working at the time, in South London, so he paid them a visit to ask if they would offer me some work experience. To my surprise they said they'd be more than happy to accommodate me for the 2 weeks, I was so excited as finally I was going to get the chance to experience working in my dream job. 

It was scary at first, as it always is when you don't know anyone, and on top of this I was in a huge city which I had not visited often before this. I had to get up very early to travel to London in the car with my dad where he would check in at work and drop me off at the surgery. After being there for only a day my fears had gone as all the staff were so friendly and helpful, they made me feel welcome and like a real part of the team. 

I was surprised at the amount of responsibility they gave me from giving injections to animals (under close supervision of course) to sterilising surgical equipment, running various machines for blood testing, helping in operations and general tasks around the practice like sorting stock orders, mopping the floors and answering the phone. All the time I welcomed every task they gave me and enjoyed the challenge of mastering new skills. It never felt like they were using me for free labour (like some internships and work experience I've heard about) but instead they saw me as a trainee nurse and they wanted to teach me everything they possibly could while informing me about lots of different aspects of the job.

At the end of the experience they gave me the best possible compliment by saying I was the best work experience student they had ever had in the practice. I'm grateful for their kindness, patience and willingness to give their time to teach me and even though I did not end up on the medical career path, I still value all the skills I learnt during this time. 

Uni field trips: Devon

In March 2012 (my second year of uni) we took a week long trip to Watermouth Bay in Ilfracombe, North Devon. The trip was part of our Practical Biology module and was designed to teach us lots of different surveying techniques on a variety of flora and fauna on location. It was a great "hands on" experience not only to learn field skills but also to try them out for ourselves, I always find this a more effective way of learning rather than just taking everything out of a book.

We stayed in log cabins with 7/8 people per cabin, since our class was so big it meant we basically took over the site for the week. Despite this the owners of the site were very accommodating and clearly have a really good relationship with the uni. Plus having all our uni friends together in one cabin was very entertaining and made for some fun evenings.

Everyone had decided on the activities which we wanted to do before hand so everything was well organised and timetabled for us. I chose to go bat detecting, bird surveying, badger watching, surveying a rocky shore, sampling invertebrates in a nearby stream, radio tracking and plotting rabbit warrens in sand dunes using GPS devices.

 As well as individual activities each group of students had a research project which we carried out whilst on the trip. While most group completed their studies over 1/2 days, we chose to base our project around small mammal trapping which involved setting traps every evening and getting up a the crack of dawn to check the traps and log any mammals we found. Although it was hard work, learning how to set traps and how to handle small mammals was extremely useful and we even got the chance to teach other students about this as a group of people were interested in our project and wanted to learn more about the techniques we used. Here are some pictures of some of the mammals we caught. 

We also aimed to get up early enough to catch the sunrise as it came over the hills.

The trip ended in several tests; one which was about identification of various species from pictures, sounds and samples and another on technical aspects of the survey methods which we had learnt. It was a great trip where we learnt a lot of useful practical field techniques and got to spend some quality time with our friends and lecturers away from the academic environment and in the beautiful countryside of Devon.

Uni field trips: The Isle of Rum (Scotland)

Its been several months now since I left uni and its true what they say about it; you never realise how much you enjoyed it until you've left. I was looking through some old pictures yesterday and I came across a load of albums from residential trips which I went on at uni. I thought it would be good idea to share some of these pictures and tell you about the wonderful things I saw.

The first real trip I went on was to The Isle of Rum in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. I had only been at uni for no more than a month when I set off on this trip so it was bit scary, especially since I didn't know everyone there yet. However, this turned out to be the best way to meet lots of people on my course and get to know the lecturers. I'd never been to Scotland before, so everything about it was exciting, even the 14 hour drive to get there (although this seemed a little less appealing at 4am when I couldn't sleep due to lack of leg space).

The main reason we went was to see the red deer rutting as it was well into the breeding season when we arrived. We walked to the site, which took a good hour but the views were amazing. When we arrived we perched ourselves on a little ledge made from an outcrop of rock on the hillside and we sat in silence for hours watching the deer. It was a really special moment being able to see all the little dramas unfold as the males fought for groups of females.  I managed to get this picture of a female and her offspring which came really close to the hillside.

Along with this rather proud looking stag...

As well as deer we saw a variety of other animals including some golden eagles, a few common seals, wood mice, porpoises and some very friendly ponies. We even found an abandoned manx sheerwater chick which had been left behind as the migrating flock had already left for Africa.

The best view by far came from the top of Halival. I'm not sure if you'd call it a mountain as such but compared to what I'm used to it was huge, so climbing all the way to the summit was no mean feat. Somehow, with a lot of stamina and perseverance, I made it to the top and I was greeted by this sight...

   I absolutely love Scotland, its a beautiful place with fascinating wildlife and a wild and rugged landscape and I'm determined to go back in the future. If you'd like to know more about the Isle of Rum and its wildlife click here for more information and for how you can visit for yourself.

Plenty of Updates to Come

I'm going to be spending time over the weekend updating my blog with all my past experiences at uni and other work experience to try and get it completely up to date. So expect to see plenty of posts and pictures in the next few days including a visit the Isle of Rum in Scotland, Devon and the botanic gardens in Cambridge.

Swallows in South Fambridge

Now is the time of year where we expect to see swallows settling down to nest for their second brood and we have been lucky enough in the past few years to host a pair of swallows in the eves of our house. They have already had one brood in the usual spot this year, but it seems the eves have become too crowded with their old nests and they have decided to take up residence next door instead. Luckily I managed to snap this picture just after the first chicks fledged.

Rachael Nind BSc

I've finished my degree! After 3 years of studying and hard work and I achieved a 2:1 in zoology about which I am ecstatic. I am so glad that all my hard work has paid off and I am now looking forward to the next part of my life (finding a job) and the adventures to follow. My official graduation isn't until October, but I may post some pictures of the event.