DESS - Experts for Nature

Plantlife Wildflower Count

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:40:00 -0400

On Wednesday the DESS Team joined up with Ali Murfitt of Plantlife to learn all about conducting wildflower counts. Plantlife run this annual national survey to monitor the change in distribution and abundance of the 99 commonest wildflower species, which are often overlooked in other surveys. Studying these changes over time can give vital insight into how factors such as pollution and land management practices can effect the wider environment.

It’s easy to get involved and take on your own wildflower path or plot and it is suited for all levels of experience from beginner to Super-surveyor!

You can find out more about getting involved by following this link: http://www.plantlife.org.uk/things_to_do/wildflowers_count/

Here are some photos from the days surveying.

Practicing quadrat surveying.

Lesser Celandine (Ranuculus ficaria). A member of the buttercup family and one of first plants to flower in spring.

Mountain Everlasting (Antennaria dioica) is a mountain specialist and quite a rare find. Certainly not one of the UK’s 99’s commonest wildflowers.

Keying out a wildflower. Heath Speedwell (Veronica officinalis).

Dung Roundhead (Stroparia semiglobata).

And finally, A Rove beetle (Staphylinus erythropterus) identified by it’s two-tone antenna and the yellow pubescence (hair) on the scutellum (triangle between the elytra bases).

Cumbernauld Living Landscape

Sat, 11 May 2013 13:03:27 -0400

On Friday 10th May the DESS team visited a wood in Cumbernauld to look at a site associated with Cumbernauld Living Landscape - an exciting initiative which aims to enhance, restore and reconnect green areas of the town (more details here:http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/living-landscapes/cumbernauld-living-landscape/).

The walkover of the site turned up some interesting findings:

A Green-veined White butterfly was active despite the chilly weather:

The team found a Larch Ladybird, which is not nearly as a bright as its more well-known spotted cousin. Helen poses with the ladybird while Ben takes a photo for our records:

Secretive Grasshopper Warblers were singing from patches of long grass and bushes as we walked through the site. These little birds are the sole representative of the genus Locustella in the UK - well named as their call sounds very similar to the ticking of a grasshopper or cricket. (You can listen to their call here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/grasshopperwarbler/index.aspx)

This strange growth on a dead tree had the DESS team stumped (excuse the pun!) for a while. It was later identified as the slime mould Enteridium lycoperdon (AKA False Puffball). Look out for these in the spring and autumn, especially on the trunks of dead alder. (In the background Claudia thinks she may have spotted an old Sparrowhawk nest).

Whilst looking at a moth on the trunk of a beech tree, the team discovered a strange sight slightly further up - a tail sticking out of a hole in the tree! Upon further inspection we thought it may be the tail of a (dead) grey squirrel - however it has not yet been confirmed. This seems a strange place and position for a dead squirrel to end up - any suggestions about how it ended up there are welcome! (Tweet to us at @SWT_DESS)

As Much Fun as a Barrel of Newts

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:18:00 -0400

Monday was the start of our first residential trip, this time to Culzean Castle in Ayrshire. We met up with NTS rangers, Heather and Deirdre; then, after settling into the cosy accommodation; were briefed on our task – newt surveying!

Setting off at dusk with the rangers (and ecologist John Sweeny), we headed to the nearby ponds (narrowly skirting a confident hedgehog out for a stroll) to set up bottle traps. We used the following simple method:

#1. First collect your trap – an inverted bottle with optional brick

(Never before has someone been so happy at being given a bottle tied to a brick…)

#2. Next insert bottle trap into the water – insuring there is a sufficient air bubble

#3. The following morning, collect bottle from the water…

(Gleefully comparing numbers)

#4. Remove inner ‘spout’ and decant newts (and other beasties), segregating by species and sex…

#5. Experience handling…

#6. Obligatory photos all round

(‘Stop press! No more photos!’)

(Palmate Newt)

(‘Reginald’ – the Great Crested Newt)

#7. Belly patterns are the equivalent of a human’s fingerprints/zebra’s stripes; they are individual indicators. If records of the patterns are kept, they can be compared with newts caught in the future, thus determining whether the same individuals are staying in the same location.

(Example of a Belly Spot Pattern)

#8. Release

We succeeded in catching a good number of both palmates and great crested newts through this method; and observing a greater number when torching during the night.

We still had time for a walk round the estate to collect a camera trap (placed near an otter holt);

partake in a spot of bird-watching;

be ambushed by brown hares and chased by mallards before heading back to Edinburgh.

Woodland botany in East Lothian!

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:04:54 -0400

In the past week the team have had two trips to East Lothian to learn about woodland plant communities with local expert Ben Averis.

Ben taught us about many aspects of woodland plant communities, and despite there not being many plants in flower, there were still many interesting findings - including a broad range of bryophytes.

James is pleased with himself after correctly identifying Mnium hornum (a very common woodland moss species).

Ben showed the team some of the typical species found around the edges of freshwater, such as greater tussock-sedge Carex paniculata (which can be seen in large mounds in the background).

During our woodland explorations, we came across a badger latrine - Lizzie takes an obligatory sniff:

As well as a few woodland plants coming into flower, we also saw a few other signs of spring, such as this common toad and small tortoiseshell butterfly:

We found piles of predated frogs and toads at the side of one of the ponds we visited - a sign of possible otter activity.

John, Thomas and the rest of the team enjoyed the fine, sunny weather, especially after Wednesday’s day in the rain in Cumbernauld!

A visit to Cumbernauld!

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:25:03 -0400

On Wednesday 17th April we journeyed to Cumbernauld to visit some of the sites involved in the Cumbernauld Living Landscape programme. Despite the extremely wet weather, Duncan Clark (Reserves Manager) happily showed us around Glencryan Woodlands and other areas associated with the project.

Despite getting a soaking, it was an interesting and productive day in which the team learned a great deal.

BTO Training

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:30:05 -0400

James Bray from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) spent a day teaching the team bird survey techniques including territory mapping, point counts and line transects, as well as learning some bird calls. We also learned about woodcock surveys and mountain transect surveys that we will be doing later in the year.

Rachel practices surveying techniques along the Water of Leith

James Bray teaches bird calls and song along the Water of Leith

Liz spots a bullfinch. We also saw redwings, grey wagtails, great spotted woodpecker and a dipper as well as many other species. It is always surprising how much wildlife is to be found in urban areas!

Photos from the first two weeks

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:03:00 -0400

The team getting settled into the DESS office.

Eric Coull (Head of Conservation Teams) came to the office to welcome the new team.

Gill Dowse (Biodiversity Data Manager) starting her first workshop on GIS, data management, and in-field GIS for ecological surveying.

Gill showing the team how to use a handheld GPS.

Greg Tinker and Oliver Davies talking about marketing as part of the Scottish Wildlife Trust induction.

Expert botanist Ben Averis giving the trainees an introduction to habitat surveying.

First aid training: Tom pretends to be injured while Sandy from the British Association of Ski Patrollers advises on the best course of action.

Meet the new team!

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:36:00 -0400

James Allison: My innate fascination and passion for the natural world led me to study Zoology at the University of Edinburgh where I graduated in 2009. Since then I’ve developed my skills in ecological monitoring through volunteering for various conservation organisations in some wild and fantastic parts of the world. Highlights include: tracking orang-utans through rainforest in Kalimantan, camera-trapping mammals and birds in Cambodian jungle, and a season of seabird monitoring on the island of Alderney.

The DESS course is especially exciting to me as it will help me develop my current surveying skills in ornithology, Lepidoptera and mammals, whilst learning new skills such as botanical surveying, bat surveying and GIS. This, together with exploring and discovering the unique landscape and wildlife of Scotland, promises for an unforgettable 18 months to come!

Mike Beard: Three fascinating and enjoyable days into the Heritage Lottery Funded training programme Experts for Nature - Developing Ecological Survey Skills (DESS), run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and I am already gaining a reputation as an (ecological) social butterfly and shutterbug (photographer)! The first is because I have a wide network of contacts as I am always actively involved in the local wildlife conservation groups wherever I live. In the past six years this has been London, Sussex, and now Edinburgh & Scotland in general. Meanwhile, I am frequently found with a camera in hand because photographs are invaluable to publicise and explain the activities of these conservation groups.

After fifteen years helping businesses gain the most benefit from information systems, I had the pleasure of spending three years running a biological data management project for the National Trust for Scotland. The experience of working within their Nature Team has confirmed to me that ecology is definitely the career direction that I should be aiming for. I have a wide range of skills and interests including; data management, geographical information systems, project management, volunteer management, photography, birds, bats, botany, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, mammals, and amphibians & reptiles.

More details are available here: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/mike-beard/58/420/61b

Lizzie Drake: I recently graduated with a degree in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh and wanted to pursue a more hands on, field based approach to environmental work. Among other things, I’ve spent time volunteering for SWT on the Isle of Eigg and did some brief work experience with a Department of Conservation bat team in New Zealand a few years ago. Although I am interested in all areas of ecology and I am looking forward to building up my ID skills across the board, I am particularly keen to learn more about butterflies, moths, birds and also fungi. In addition, coming from Coigach, I would like to be able to use this training to get involved in projects back home like the Living Landscapes project.

Rachel Edmans: I only found out I had a place on this amazing course three weeks ago and it still hasn’t really sunk in that it’s real! Ever since I was small I’ve been interested in wildlife; the first book I pulled off the bookcase was on wild flowers!

I studied BSc Environmental Protection at the Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh, graduating in 2009. Since then, I’ve spent the last three years volunteering (with a few work stints with The Conservation Volunteers (formerly BTCV) and the Forestry Commission) with numerous environmental organisations doing a variety of activities: mainly practical conservation work, but also ecological surveying and environmental education. Three weeks ago I was studying for a Master’s degree, but I decided that the opportunity to study such an incredible course with SWT would be far more worthwhile – and not the sort of option that comes around often!

My passion is of a botanical nature, but I hope to expand my knowledge on fungi and birdlife as well. I am looking forward to learning more about professional surveying in all areas as well as meeting field experts. This is going to be an awesome 18 months! (And yes…I like mud J)

John McTague: Hi, I’m John. In the past I’ve done a fair amount of bird monitoring including seabirds and woodland species, smaller amounts of botanical and other surveys and also a bit of wardening and more community-based work. Over the last few years I’ve become more interested in plants and am keen to improve my botanical skills, as well as learn more about mammal ecology and survey, particularly bats and otters. I’m originally from Yorkshire but have spent quite a lot of time in Scotland and am looking forward to exploring new places while learning new skills.

Anthony Taylor-Pigott: Hi, I’m Anthony, though I am known to most as Badger (I’m a nocturnal woodland creature with striped hair!). My interests are broad but I’m primarily concerned with lichens and there is nothing I like more than wandering around woods, up mountains, or around graveyards looking for them. Before starting with DESS I was a woodland surveyor for the Forestry Commission’s Native Woodland Survey of Scotland, which involved me traipsing around Scotland in all weathers whilst recording woodland NVC types.

Thomas Plant: Hi! I’m Thomas. I studied Tropical Environmental Science at Aberdeen University and did a Masters in Ecology and Environmental Sustainability. At university I did my research projects on beetles (first in the tropics then in Scotland). After that I volunteered on lots of wonderful SWT reserves.

I started off at Montrose Basin monitoring wetland birds then moved up to Spey Bay where I was a volunteer with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). Last season I was an Osprey Species Protection Officer at Loch of the Lowes before moving up to Handa Island to spend the summer monitoring seabird populations. I most recently helped with a Manx shearwater project on Rhum before doing some WWOOFING on the Isle of Eigg.

I’m really excited about being part of the DESS Team for the next 18 months and am looking forward to exploring even more of Scotland and learning about everything from bats to bryophytes and everything in-between.

Helen Simmons: Originally from the Isle of Bute, I escaped ‘my island’ in 2005 to study a BSc in Zoology at The University of Glasgow and then an MSc in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University in 2007-2008. During my higher education I have been extremely lucky to be involved in various expeditions abroad to study many of my favourite animals including tropical Birds, Bats, Amphibians and Primates. After leaving university I realised that the majority of my experience was with exotic animals and that I hadn’t actually paid much attention to Scotland’s native wildlife; like many people I probably took it for granted and ever since then I have been trying to get as much experience as possible; paying our native wildlife the attention it deserves.

It’s been a long and tough process to get work in the environmental sector after university, but it is finally paying off; and thanks to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s DESS Experts for Nature Course, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF); I now look forward to a prosperous career in ecology!

I’ve done a lot of volunteer work and training courses in order to get where I am today, and would encourage anyone with a conservation/ecology career in mind to do as much as possible too; it really does help!

Thank you again HLF for this wonderful opportunity!

Ben Walsh: I’m originally from Somerset. After completing my Environmental Science degree last summer at Bath Spa University I spent the rest of the year with the Somerset Wildlife Trust carrying out botanical surveys for the Mendip Hills Living Landscape Project. Through volunteering on this project I greatly improved my plant identification and developed GIS skills. I have also been involved with the monitoring of dormice for the Perch Project near Cheddar and was an active member of my local bat group. My main interests in ecology are plants and bats.

Sharon Yardy: Hi, I’m Sharon. I started a week later than everyone else as I already had a trip to Normandy booked with the British Bryological Society.

I completed an MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation in 2011 at the University of East Anglia. I have previously done some survey work for consultancies and volunteered with The Broads Authority for several years. I’m originally from Norfolk, so am looking forward to exploring more of Scotland and improving my botanical knowledge, particularly with bryophytes. I have been an active member of my local bat group for several years and have been a trainee bird ringer for two years.

Experts for Nature - Developing Ecological Surveying Skills 2013/14

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 06:51:56 -0500

Preparations for the next phase of the Developing Ecological Surveying Skills (DESS) are progressing. The next phase will be starting in March 2013 with ten more DESS trainees being trained for 1.5 years! The programme will be exciting again with great support throughout the Scottish Wildlife Trust and from many other organisations! Of course all of the graduates from the last DESS training programme will be involved in training the new trainees!

I am very much looking forward to the start of the field season!

Donations are of course welcome and details can be found on the Scottish Wildlife Trust website (just select Developing Ecological Surveying Skills course):

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/donate/donate-now/stage1/

There will be more updates following soon!

The Water Shrew Project

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 06:12:12 -0400

The water shrew, lesser known than its cousins, common and pygmy, is one of Britain’s most elusive and fascinating mammals. The live-fast-die-young strategy shrews employ is well known but the water shrew (Neomys fodiens) takes it to a whole new level.

The energy consumption of a shrew is notoriously high, having to consume their own body weight in invertebrates daily. This is due to their small body size and the speed at which heat leaves their body to the air around them. Water shrews compound their energy loss by hunting in water for aquatic invertebrates such as freshwater shrimps, hoglice and caddisfly larvae.

To combat this, water shrews exhibit a number of adaptations that aid its aquatic lifestyle. It is about a third larger than the common shrew, and also possesses a thicker pelt therefore reducing its energy loss. Armed with stiff hairs for swimming on its hind legs and tail, and venom to quickly kill its prey all make the hunt a swift process.

A nationwide survey commissioned by the Mammal Society in 2004 aimed to collect baseline distribution and habitat data to better understand the needs of this relatively understudied mammal. The study was successful in discovering trends in the water shrew’s population, but very little surveying occurred in the Lothians and Borders, so I decided to continue the survey in the area.

I used the same method as the Mammal Society, open-ended tubes known as bait tubes. Frozen maggots or cat food acted as the bait within the tube and it is left for between five and ten days. On collection they are marked and bagged, and their contents are studied under a microscope.

And when I say contents I mean scat! As with most mammals their most obvious field signs are droppings, and the bait tubes attract the water shrews to relieve themselves where I can easily collect it.

The water shrew and its two cousins have very similar scat and it’s only differentiated by the different prey items. The water shrew being the only shrew to eat aquatic prey, therefore I simply pry at the droppings for appendages of shrimps, hoglice and caddisflies under a microscope.

Research has shown that water shrews are very nomadic creatures moving on frequently and after 67 negative bait tubes I thought I would never find one: until the 68^th tube. Within the little brown nugget were the remains of a caddisfly larva, only found in the scat of a small aquatic predator, the Water Shrew.

My project has told me that a lot more time, effort, petrol and volunteers are needed to carry out a comprehensive population study of an area the size of the South East of Scotland and I hope I get the opportunity to continue. I believe that the Lothians and Borders regions provide very good habitat for water shrews and shouldn’t be as hard to find as my results suggest.

By Glenn Norris

The Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre Invertebrate Survey

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:36:22 -0400

Hi. My name’s Glenn and I am the member of DESS who likes the wildlife that you don’t need to spend hours waiting to see or walking around at night to hear. In fact, there in the room with you right now. Invertebrates.

It seems a lifetime ago, being given a tour by the ranger at Jupiter Urban wildlife centre in the fresh February frost and getting a feel for the habitats present on the site. The visit was to begin the planning of a systematic invertebrate survey, the first of which to be done on the site in over 20 years of it being a Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) reserve.

Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre is a nature reserve offering a haven for wildlife in Grangemouth, where both industry and housing dominate the local area. A strange place for a reserve, you might think, but with the continual crawl of cities and towns, the presence of green amongst the grey has never been so important to our environment or quality of life.

The site is situated perfectly from a community engagement perspective, and with this important purpose the reserve staff and volunteers exhibit ways in which local people can aid urban wildlife in their own garden. Invertebrates live a privileged life at Jupiter having the choice of several bug hotels for shelter and nectar supplies from seasonal flowerbeds.

The minute animals at Jupiter provide a diversity mammals and birds could never hope to recreate on the site and, unlike the plantlife which was planted, they have all found their way there themselves. Within a small patch of grass, the bark of a tree or the depths of the ponds, herbivorous bugs feed and spiders roam creating a web of interactions the African plains would be proud of. And all of this is hidden in an urban greenspace only 20 years old.

The aim of the project was to provide a list of invertebrate fauna for the management plan so should rarer species be found, plans for their conservation can be made to maintain their populations. The list would be compiled by a variety of survey methods carried out over an eight month period. This process assures the detection of species that occupy different habitats at different times of year. We found some really interesting species of all colours, shapes and sizes.

This proved to be a huge workload but, with the help of the rest of the DESS team and some RSPB trainees, it was greatly reduced. But even with this help, we couldn’t fight the weather. Our training schedule over the summer was very busy so there was little flexibility in rearranging visits forcing us to survey in substandard conditions. It rained on four of the visits, seriously limiting the capture of sun-loving invertebrates, but reflecting the awful summer had nationwide.

Despite the weather a large amount of creatures across a variety of taxon were captured adding new species to the site every month. We even found a new UKBAP species for the site, the cinnabar moth. Although recently being on the end of population declines the high nectar supply and availability of ragwort (the caterpillar’s foodplant), Jupiter is providing a safe zone for this striking moth.

I have really enjoyed getting to know the reserve and its invertebrate fauna, but it really amazes me that the reserve is only 20 years old. Where a bare patch of rubble once lay, woodland now grows, hiding a complex of ponds and bordered by flower-rich grassland. Without the input of the SWT a desert would remain and there would be no animals whatsoever. I have discovered the large workload required to run a survey monitoring so many different species using lots of methods and look forward to my next project. I hope that the SWT maintains its management of the site so that in another 20 years there’ll be even more invertebrates for me to find!

Glenn Norris

Summer roundup

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:09:34 -0400

Hello from the DESS team.

It has been a rather hectic survey season here in DESS land. Below is a quick round up of some of our experiences this summer (with more to follow for individual projects such as Jason’s Mull experience below!).

June saw us adventuring up north for a fantastic week out on Tanera Mor in the Summer Isles. Our plan: to complete a full NVC survey of the island for Richard Williams and Lizzie Wilder, the current inhabitants of the island, as part of the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscapes Project (of which SWT is a partner).

Below are a couple of pictures of our recording and mapping work across the island. As well as mapping a lot of M15 and H10 some of the highlights included excellent views of bonxies (great skuas) and red-throated divers.

A fantastic week was had, with some time for extracurricular activities (kayaking in the case of Glenn, Nathan, Eilidh, Danny, Claudia and Sara; grassland monitoring for Tom and Carolyn!!).

The end of the week did present some drama, with Team DESS called upon to put out a hill fire spotted by Nathan on his morning run!

A tiring but excellent week all round. Thanks to Lizzie and Richard for making us so welcome!

A fortnight in July was spent helping John Haddow with his Scottish Leisler’s Project radio tagging down at Culzean Castle for the second year. A total of 7 radio tags were fitted to 2 male and 5 female bats, with lots of foraging data collected and several new roosts found across the park. Here’s Jason letting one of the tagged bats go:

There were also several visits out to Jupiter Urban Wildlife Garden in Grangemouth for invertebrate trapping, co-ordinated by spider aficionado Glenn, whilst Sara and Tom took a trip across the Irish Sea for some mossy adventures with the British Bryological Society.

As we come into autumn there are lots of SQA assessments and reports to get finished before the end of the course in November, so many of us are confined to the office at the moment! There is still time for getting out and about, with September being peak bat box checking season. Eilidh went out with Natalie Todman of Historic Scotland ranger service to check the boxes in Holyrood Park.

I thought we would leave you with this photo of a beautiful Tanera Mor sunset, with some of the (by now slightly crazed with all the NVC mapping) trainees spelling out DESS!

Project time on the Isle of Mull

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:56:00 -0400

It has now come to that part in our training where each trainee has picked their own projects for the months of August/September. For mine, I am volunteering with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) based in Tobermory on the Island of Mull. As you can see in the photo above, the office has a better outlook than the DESS office in the centre of Edinburgh!

The HWDT have been monitoring cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) since 1994, a job that has become essential in trying to understand the diversity and richness of life within the waters off the West coast of Scotland. To help promote conservation of these species, education has become an important tool to try and ensure there is a stable future for our sea life, particularly with the increasing demands for wind and tidal developments offshore.

From my first week as a volunteer I have been impressed by their approach of working within the local community. They are fully aware that many peoples’ livelihoods are based on the sea and that to afford protection for these cetaceans, they must work to help people understand the impacts they may have on this much hidden habitat and how they can help to protect it. Yet, at the same time, we must appreciate the livelihoods that depend upon the sea. An example of this is shown through the willingness of local fisherman and tour operators to report any sightings they have had of cetaceans, helping to build up the extensive data that HWDT is gathering for analysis.

In addition to helping with the data analysis in the office, I have been plunged into the realities of how a small Trust carries out its work and tries to survive, particularly within these difficult economic times. From helping run the HWDT shop for a day each week, with the most stressful part being trying to wrestle with the cash register and credit card machine, to help promote the educational side by attending events like the RNLI Gala day in Tobermory and Oban Highland Games.

Personally I have been settling in to life on Mull. The people are very friendly, particularly when you have spent the day painting the outside of the shop on the busy sea front while chatting to some of the locals. I have been out on a whale watching boat, the highlight being watching a Minke whale surface next to the boat. As usual, my camera was not at the ready and I failed to capture its head as it came out the water. I did get its back and dorsal fin but the picture also included someones arm pointing at it!

I am just back from spending 7 days on their research boat “Silurian” assisting the science officer with 6 volunteers who come for the experience of carrying out cetacean surveys while experiencing sailing the west coast of Scotland. Sadly the weather gods were against us with bad weather followed us all week curtailing our movements a bit. We did manage to survey up to Loch Creran (being the furthest East the boat has gone this year) together with the Sound of Mull and Loch Sunart. Up to Thursday we had seen a number of Grey and Harbour Seals together with Harbour Porpoises. On our final day we got a break in the weather and headed out of the Sound of Mull to the North end of Coll. After a week of rough weather we finally had a flat sea. The highlight was 28 Common Dolphins spread over 3 pods. I managed to hang off the bow of the boat and try to get some close-up pictures. Never easy when Dolphins are so quick and agile!

The boat surveys collect a wide range of data in addition to the sightings of cetaceans. With fishing gear, such as creels, being a danger at times to cetaceans with the risk of entanglement, creel marker buoys are recorded when within a certain distance of the boat. Marine litter is also recorded, such as plastic bags, these being another potential risk to cetaceans if ingested. Seabirds are noted since there is a close correlation between seabird activity and cetacean sightings with both being present when feeding on fish near the surface. A very important part of the survey is the acoustic recordings taken from a hydrophone towed 120m behind the boat. This allows any cetaceans within approximately 1km of the boat to be recorded and identified. This is often crucial since the number of visual sightings seen on the surface does not always reflect the number under the surface.

The whole experience has been excellent so far with the added bonus that I have had an unexpected opportunity to go on the next and final survey of the season. Hopefully I will be able to let you know how this goes and highlight the main sightings. Yet as always, this is subject to the West coast weather!

Jason Mackay

DESS trainee Katherine gave a two day course in Phase I surveys....

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 08:07:00 -0400

DESS trainee Katherine gave a two day course in Phase I surveys. The team surveyed the whole of Blackford Hill and produced great GIS maps of the site. The photo shows Eilidh, Katherine and Danny in action!

Lots of things happening!

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 05:24:00 -0400

A lot has happened in the last few weeks! The team took part in the Stirling University Bioblitz, looking for signs of bat roosts on the University campus and showing members of the public how to look for bat roosts.

The series of invertebrate surveys at the Jupiter SWT reserve is continuing. The surveys are led by DESS trainee Glenn, the budding entomologist in the team!

Our team bryologist Sara took gave us training in moss identification. Part of the training was a field trip to Falls of Clyde SWT reserve, accompanied by bryologist David Chamberlain (Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh).

Cauldshield Loch SWT reserve was surveyed foa a variety of species during a Bioblitz, organised by the local SWT group.

The team also mapped invasive species of plants in Cristorphin woods. The survey will inform the site management plans.

Black Grouse Video Diary 1

Sat, 26 May 2012 06:33:22 -0400

Black Grouse Video Diary 1

Dawn patrol

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:19:00 -0400

The first gulf war began at 3am. Having spent the last week surveying for Black Grouse, I can see why. If you were to measure your pulse over the course of a day, you would notice it rose to two peaks at around 10am and 10pm at night, and fell to two troughs, at around 3pm and 3am, which is when the lowest trough occurs. This is precisely when you must get up to carry out transect surveys for lekking black grouse. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VeN3SxFG60

We spent last week in Kilmartin to carry out some Black Grouse transects on behalf of the RSPB, who are this year carrying out a complete census of the Argyll population. Although the news earlier this spring reported signs of an encouraging increase in Black Grouse against a long-term declining trend http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-17260069 , there are concerns that in Argyll they might not be faring so well. As an indication, whereas in the species’ strongholds in the Grampians it would be usual to see ten or even twenty males on a lek, in Argyll the leks tend to be in the single figures, and it is not uncommon to find a pair or even a single bird displaying alone. This makes leks harder to find, hence the need to carry out early morning transects. Fortunately as you would see from the video, the Black Grouse’s call is distinctive, and on a calm morning will carry for over a km.

So once we had had much needed coffee, cereal, toast and more coffee we piled into the van and drove off to our start points, unloading in pairs to head off into the gloaming. Out of the ten transects we carried out, we found two leks overall. We went back to count these on a subsequent day, but didn’t find more birds attending than we had found initially, a pair of males on one, and a singleton on the other. Although we weren’t all lucky enough to find a lek, being up early always has its compensations - its always special to watch the dawn; and from the hills of Argyll we had spectacular views to Jura, Scarba, Luing, Shuna and the Garvellachs, where we could retrace the route of our spectacular November boat trip http://swt-dess.tumblr.com/post/15396275578/we-had-a-fantastic-trip-out-into-the-corryvreckan . The early morning is also the best time for seeing wildlife, and over the week among the group we saw golden eagles, and red and black throated divers.

What more can be done to help the Black Grouse in Argyll? Part of the reason why the birds are doing better in the east of Scotland is climatic - grouse of all kinds fare badly in wet weather in May and June, when the young chicks chill and die of hypothermia from walking through soaking vegetation. Black Grouse need a mosaic of habitats, close cropped grassland for lek sites; deep heather for nesting; wet flushes in which to take their chicks for insects; and birch woodland and willow scrub for shelter and winter feeding. The vast sitka plantations which clothe much of Argyll are not ideal once they get past the thicket stage, so there is an opportunity to make them a little more diverse as they enter their second rotation – leaving areas unplanted, and breaking up the edge with lower density planting of native broadleaves. On open ground the two key influences are grazing and burning. In Argyll it will often be too wet to carry out muirburn, and upland grazing regimes are changing profoundly as farmers in the North and West have reduced their sheep stocks significantly over the last five years in response to farm subsidy changes. That said, the hills I walked last week in Argyll were stocked pretty tightly, and I think there will still be a place for the type of package provided by the Scotland Rural Development Programme to help Black Grouse. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/SRDP/RuralPriorities/Packages/BlackGrouse This offers farmers incentive payments to create new native woodlands; reduce and manage their grazing; manage bracken and heather; and control predators.

However, one of the drawbacks of the SRDP schemes is that there is little monitoring carried out to measure their effectiveness. The schemes have also become very bureaucratically complex, and it takes a lot of time (and money to employ consultants) for farmers to apply. There is also a lack of continuity between schemes. Farmers typically commit to undertake habitat management for a five or ten year period. The budgets for the schemes are tight, so what happens when a scheme comes to an end and a farmer can’t get a place in the next one? I’m worried that a lot of good work and public money could have been wasted in agri-environment payments over the last 20 years - Audit Scotland should look into it.

I also think that the changes in farming subsidy and the subsequent response - a decline in ewe numbers in NW and SW Scotland of over 400,000 animals from 2004-10 [note that that is the estimated total size of the red deer herd] must be having profound consequences for our uplands. We need to know more about the effect this change is having on the upland environment, on our peatlands, on upland vegetation, on red deer, and on birds such as the black grouse. Future work for members of the DESS team!

Tom Edwards

The opinions expressed above are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Note: June agricultural census figures published in the Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture show a decline in breeding ewe numbers in NW Scotland from 818,000 in 2004 (the year before farm subsidies changed) to 606,000 in 2010 and from 1.25m to 1.03m in SW Scotland.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Agriculture-Fisheries/PubEconomicReport

Beavers are creating habitat which is good for bats. It would be...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:11:12 -0400

Beavers are creating habitat which is good for bats. It would be interesting to monitor bats at the Scottish Beaver Trial!

The DESS team was surveying Knapdale. Here are Nathan and Eilidh...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:01:23 -0400

The DESS team was surveying Knapdale. Here are Nathan and Eilidh getting ready to look for beavers!

Biosecurity at Knapdale: Glenn is washing some of the...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:59:03 -0400

Biosecurity at Knapdale: Glenn is washing some of the team’s wellie boots after amphibian surveys were undertaken! Thanks Glenn!