Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog!

Foundation Degree Countryside and Wildlife Management students accompanied your resident blogger to set some very crafty 'bottle traps' to try and capture a highly elusive and secretive creature that is protected by law - the great crested newt. With trapping success in one farm pond last year, students were pleased to find that the specialist traps had snared live specimens in another pond where they had previously never been recorded before.

Matt and Tim (pictured below) were careful to obtain some pictures of the belly markings of each animal which gives each a discernible identity (akin to a finger print). Studies have shown that these surprisingly long lived creatures can return to the same pond for up to 20 years! The presence of great crested newts on the farm clearly shows the health of the farmed environment for wildlife which to the untrained eye would appear of limited value to any native rare species. Indeed, these amphibians exist in 'a population of populations' (or a metapopulation) where breeding animals can migrate up to 1 km between different ponds. But how they are able to do this, no one knows!

Paul's group of BTEC Countryside Management students have also done their bit by expertly fencing off one of the ponds to protect it for future surveys.

Bee-ing a Student on a Moulton Countryside Management Course!

Countryside Management lecturer Jonny has been able to share his passion for bee-keeping with students on the BTEC Countryside Management Diploma's this year. The College currently has two hives and is exploring options to offer a range of short courses to the general public. You can see some images of the students working with the bees below, but can you tell who is who?!

Hornets: Friend or Foe?

As one of our most imposing and feared insects, the hornet (Vespa crabro) carries quite a reputation as an insect to avoid. So imagine the surprise of your resident blogger when he noticed a king sized 3.5 cm specimen nonchalantly ambling across his shoulder as he sat on the sofa at home last night! I am not sure how you would react but after quickly running into the garden and jumping around a bit the stowaway launched idly away to patrol the nearby gardens.

But do they really deserve this fearsome reputation? Building their nests from chewed wood, they are true construction artisans and although will sting if provoked, they will generally avoid conflict. They also predate heavily on the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris), which are far more numerous and aggressive - so perhaps the hornet doesn't deserve its reputation after all.

But if one lands on your shoulder, I'll let you decide!

James

Incubation Success

Countryside management lecturer and technician Matt Thorley reported some good news this morning - the first ever successful hatching of grey partridge. Once common, this native species has undergone major declines due to unsympathetic land management and is now classified on the 'red list' of birds of conservation concern. You can see the chicks in the image below:

Also successfully hatched are some white and silver pheasants (see below):

The James Littlemore Trapping Adventures

Trapping: Episode 1 - Introduction

 

Trapping: Episode 2 - Removing from Bag

 

Trapping: Episode 3 - Longworth Traps

 

Trapping: Episode 4 - Weighing and Identifying

 

Trapping: Episode 5 - Trap Resetting

 

Trapping: Episode 6 - Set and Work Tube Traps

 

Trapping: Episode 7 - Final & Expert Advice

 

College staff attend the Kelmarsh Game and Country Fair!

Well - did you see us there?! College staff Paul, Lou and Jonny went along to meet prospective students at the annual Kelmarsh Game and Country Fair last weekend. If you missed us - there's always next year!

Lewis York in line for national award!

Recent BSc Land Management graduate Lewis York has been nominated as one of three student undergraduate finalists for the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) awards of 2014. 

Lewis worked closely with supervisor Dr James Littlemore and staff from the Centre of Ecology and Hydrology at Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire on his undergraduate thesis which examined the habitat preferences and population dynamics of woodland birds at Monks Wood National Nature Reserve. It is a remarkable achievement for Lewis who was up against the best ecology Graduates from all participating UK Universities – he will find out if he has won at a special awards luncheon taking place on 26^th June at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. 

To learn more about the CIEEM awards, follow the following link: http://www.cieem.net/cieem-awards-2014.

We run a range of interesting higher education programmes in countryside and wildlife management, land management and agriculture supplying Graduates to all areas of the land-based sector – to untap your potential, why not drop us a line now?