In spring, A and I escaped to the country. The Cornish countryside to be specific. I managed to find somewhere for a decent price online, a whole flat to ourselves in the middle of green fields (with views of a lake too!). To make the most of the decent weather (rain was on the horizon), […]
Spring is taking forever to properly arrive, and more cold weather is due. I’ve sown various seeds, and even have a few seedlings, but spring (let alone summer) feels like years away! Which makes me dream of last summer and its various adventures, especially our week in Latvia in late July / early August. We […]
A few days of sunshine and it feels like spring could actually be on its way! I counted five 7-spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata) in a Bedfordshire garden at the weekend, basking in the weak warmth radiated by the sun. They may regret waking from their slumber, it’s meant to be cold again in the next […]
The title is a little obscure perhaps, but it is reference to the constant learning process that I’m going through, particularly when it comes to the moths whose taxonomic group happens to be Lepidoptera (which also includes butterflies). This week didn’t start off with moths though, it started off with another topic that I am […]
This blog post focuses less on the traineeship and more on what I’ve been doing in my own time, and as with most of my learning so far, the majority has been on birds and moths. First, there was a revisit back to this gorgeous gull – the Iceland Gull. It’s been spending a lot […]
I really like that phrase above, it’s part of a quote I came across this week, I believe by Ray Winstone (corrections welcome if I’m wrong): “… you should never stop trying to get better. You have to teach yourself new things …”. That’s really what the ethos of my traineeship is about, learning and […]
(aka I had underestimated just how awesome this traineeship would be) The original plan had been to write about the traineeship once a fortnight, but that resulted in small essays and cutting out some interesting details. And so for now, I shall be writing every week. The last 7 days have proven my point exactly, […]
Crumbs, what a fortnight it has been! Incredibly busy and full of interesting places. Half term was certainly an eventful week, starting with the closure of the Portland Beach Road and the cancellation of Saturday’s event at the centre. But after a clearup, we were back on our feet and raring to go. I spent […]
If you took part in the species profile poll last month, you may have seen that the winner was the Fallow Deer whose scientific name I absolutely love – Dama dama. I was fortunate enough to work within, and live on the edge of, an amazing country park that was home to three different species […]
The first fortnight of living in Dorset is now complete! I’ve been getting to know the local area, particularly the location of nearby reserves and of course, the public library – always important for a bookworm with limited funds! The reason for moving to Dorset? A traineeship position with the Dorset Wildlife Trust, on the […]