Countryside Management students show that their practical skills are the bee’s knees

Countryside Management students have recently been looking at habitat improvement as part of their Ecology Unit. Having looked at the importance of insects within habitats in the classroom it was time for the group to put their practical skills to the test! All students had the opportunity to create insect boxes which are the perfect hiding place for small insects over the winter months. With the college housing its own on site bee hives the importance of insect diversity on the farm is clear.

The group threw themselves into the task with great gusto and were soon reaping the rewards of their efforts. By the end of the session there was a collection of well-constructed insect boxes as well as a couple of a slightly more rustic nature.

The newly created insect boxes will be hung in areas of woodland local to the college to act as imitation tree hollows. This is a habitat that has declined significantly in some areas due to health and safety concerns surrounding dead trees in public areas.

Countryside and Environment Students see light at the end of the tunnel.

 Moulton College Countryside and Environment students have been exploring the Northamptonshire Countryside visiting several country parks and recreation sites as part of their Access and Recreation module. Students particularly enjoyed their visit to Kelmarsh Tunnel. The 480 meter tunnel which was opened in 1859 is a great example of British engineering. Sadly the tunnel was deemed surplus to requirements as railway line in 1984. The former Northampton to Market Harborough Railway is now a beautiful car free trail forming part of Route 6 of the National Cycle Network.

The students arrived excited and apprehensive about walking through the disused railway tunnel which is also rich in local history. The tunnel is pitch black and students had to work together to make their way through safely. Inevitably, students attempted to scare each other throughout the walk through the tunnel!

Afterwards the group looked at how the access route differed from others that they had visited in previous lessons and how it has become a visitor attraction.

Further Education - Greenwood Craft and Countryside Management – a Curious Tale of ‘Bodging’ and Harry Potter Brooms!

 A growing interest in the sustainable management of woodlands and forests  in England has created some economic opportunities, and the renaissance in greenwood crafts has been core to this. With a long-standing collaboration with the Forestry Commission giving access to woodland sites in the county, further education students studying countryside management at the College have been getting to grips with the very ancient practice of ‘bodging’ (i.e.: wood turning using a ‘person powered’ pole lathe to you and I), fashioning rustic hurdle fences from living trees, carving spoons and whistles and even making ‘besom brooms’ – as featured in the Harry Potter books and films! Of course all this is done around the camp fire to keep the student spirits up. Keeping country crafts alive at Moulton College is core to our countryside management courses, so whether it’s greenwood crafts, hedgelaying or dry stone walling they are all featured in our courses and delivered by enthusiastic staff. To learn more about opportunities for countryside management courses, get in touch now!

 

Higher Education - Moulton College Higher Education Student Receives Business Enterprise Grant

Current BSc Land Management student David Wallis is now the proud recipient of a business start-up grant from The University of Northampton to help support his new business venture in producing specialist wildlife telemetry equipment.

Over the last year David has been busy designing prototypes to develop into a range of commercial products, not least an autonomous method of monitoring small mammal populations using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. This very specific innovative technology will give an improved insight to support all manner of mammalian and landscape ecology research and development on a global scale, and provides a long lasting and cheaper alternative to conventional radio tracking.

David has been working with PhD student Emily Howard Williams and staff member James Littlemore, and the results of the first pilot study will be disseminated at a Mammal Society conference this year. Students studying at Moulton College are firmly encouraged to live up to their true potential just as David is doing – so why not you? To learn more, get in touch or check out our web-site!

Higher Education - Gamekeeping and Conservation Research in Countryside Management: Keeping the Balance…..

Countryside staff and their students not only get to carry out interesting practical work, but also undertake innovative research activity to inform the industry too. A recent and ongoing example of this is the project that has been set up to see if gamebird feeding hoppers provide winter food for non-target wildlife species on farms and shoots in the East Midlands. This was co-ordinated by staff member James Littlemore and student Sean Willmer.

Since the mid-1970’s, agricultural intensification and changes in land management practices have been linked with declines in biodiversity amongst key faunal groups, including farmland songbirds. With 7.3 million hectares of land currently managed by gamekeepers in the United Kingdom, there is a requirement to understand the indirect effects of game management practices on the conservation of non-target species. From January to May 2012, gamebird feeding hoppers were monitored at two small sized mixed farms participating in Environmental Stewardship in the East Midlands using passive camera traps. A total of 3428 video sequences were captured from January to May 2012, which showed that hoppers were used by a total of 27 different species. Surprisingly, pheasants and partridge made up only 12.2 % of total visits to hoppers; 28.0% were from songbirds including five UK Biodiversity Action Plan species and 38.2% were game pest species. The most abundant species recorded overall was yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella – with 654 observations. Locating the hoppers in hedgerow or woodland habitats did not influence species diversity or number, but species number and diversity was significantly higher during the day than at night across the survey period. The type of hopper spout also affected frequency of use, with a significant preference for the ‘tray’ feeding head. The findings show that feeding hoppers are well used during the winter period by a range of songbird species, which may positively affect their survivorship at a time when natural food resources are scarce.

The initial results were presented at the British Ecological Societies (BES) Winter Meeting at The University of Birmingham in December (link to conference proceedings here : http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/documents/meetings/2012_AM_abstracts.pdf). The results have also been written up as a scientific paper to be published in volume 10 of the online journal Conservation Evidence (http://www.conservationevidence.com). This story was also featured in Keeping the Balance, the journal of the National Gamekeepers Association. Another countryside management student, Dan Small, is currently looking at what happens on larger shooting estates that undertake more pro-active predator control, so check back here in the future to see what he finds.

You can also find a link to some of the fascinating camera trap footage that was obtained– look out for the hopper rocking badger!

Higher Education - Woodfuel – an Economic Boost for neglected Farm Woodlands

 Many farm woodlands remain neglected and land owners are largely unaware of the potential amenity, conservation and commercial benefits gained from managing these assets in a sustainable way. To illustrate how economic returns can be derived from woodland products, Foundation Degree students in Countryside and Wildlife Management were treated to a site tour and in depth discussion with Boughton and Buccleuth Estates woodland operations manager Jonathan Plowe. Jonathan manages nearly a thousand hectares of mature woodland on the grade 1 listed estate near Kettering, with the major source of revenue being firewood sales, the production of woodchip for combined heat and power units and the felling of timber for pulpwood. He was able to illustrate how a balance was achieved between often conflicting woodland commercial enterprises, conservation, game management and public access. As this visit illustrates, relating practice to theory is integral for the workforce of tomorrow – so if you fancy a career in the ‘great outdoors’ why not get in touch to discuss your course options?

 

Higher Education - Bringing back the Ghosts: the Legacy of Disappearing Flood Meadows in Northamptonshire

 Traditionally managed wet meadows that once proliferated along lowland river floodplains are now very much ghosts in the landscape, having been lost as a consequence of land drainage, agricultural intensification and river channel modifications in the last century. But an ambitious restoration project at Dovecote Farm in Upper Heyford is bringing the ghosts back to life. BSc Land Management students from the Agriculture Subject area were treated to a personal if somewhat bracing tour from the landowner David Banner and Dr Robin Field from the River Nene Regional Park. Together with Natural England, they have successfully put back 1 % of the nations wet meadow grassland with the assistance of agri-environmental funding and a lot of determination. Moulton’s link with the site is also developing, as recent Land Management graduate Sarah Still used the site for some research which later led to her appointment as a flood defence officer with the Environment Agency. This is one example of a whole host of ‘added value’ events that take place on our higher education courses – to learn more, get in touch now!