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Fungi placement at SNH

I spent the last 3 weeks on a terrific placement with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) at Great Glen House, Inverness to learn how SNH works and where fungi fit in. I spent time with Dave Genney, the Policy & Advice Officer for Bryophytes, Fungi and Lichens and I worked on two main projects. The first project was to help write the text for a fungi page on the new SNH website launching later this autumn. I attended an SNH web writing workshop to help me understand the content, nature and amount of text required and also how SNH wanted to communicate to their audience. Watch out for the fungi page on the new SNH website coming soon!

The second project was to visit a SSSI notified for fungi to report on any change, disturbance or damage since the last site condition monitoring in 2003. Here I am doing some surveying!

One of the fungi species protected here is the Bleeding tooth fungus (Hydnellum peckii) which really is a beautiful sight. We found it here already fruiting on the site along with the remains of fruiting from last year, wonderful.

A pretty good sign that the site is still favourable - the same species in the same place 9 years on!

Photos by Dave Genney.

Butterflies, Big Jim and disgruntled dogs

Things have really been picking up in the Farm Environment office, and I have been busy working on yet more applications for the SRDP. We have quite a few clients who are going through for the next round of judging in November and the deadlines are approaching fast. I have been given one farm application to do completely on my own, for Ransfield Farm. So far, I have done a full farm survey to look at all the current features on the farm (involving lots of tramping around, getting my trousers snagged on barbed wire and falling into wet holes), to allow me to make management suggestions. I then met with the farmer (a.k.a. Big Jim, my boyfriend’s Dad!) to discuss options such as hedge planting and management, small scale tree planting, wildflower meadows and unharvested crops. Jim was happy with all my recommendations, so I went ahead and completed a Statement of Intent (the first stage in the SRDP application process), which includes a short summary of the work we intend to carry out, and a series of maps.

A line of mature trees at Ransfield. As well as having landscape value, these mature trees are an excellent habitat for insects and birds. I have suggested creating a wider grass margin at their base to encourage more insects and small mammals, which in turn will encourage more birds.

I am now waiting to hear whether the case officer assigned to this application thinks we should go ahead or not. It is a tense time for us in the office, as we put a lot of time and effort into this first stage of the application, and it is somewhat disheartening to hear that they haven’t got through. It is particularly tense for me, I would feel pretty bad if an application I had completed didn’t get in, and also Big Jim knows where I live! I am hopeful that all our applications will make it through to the next stage, as they all involve whole farm environmental plans, and are therefore going to be favoured over applications that are seeking funding for small scale conservation efforts.

A boggy area at Ransfield may prove to be quite profitable if managed as a wetland under the SRDP. Alongside the office work, I have been finishing off the last of my lapwing surveys for the RSPB. Over the last few months I have been surveying four farms across the Borders, and recording the number and location of various wading birds, with the main focus of the study being on lapwings. The aim of the study is to see if farms that are carrying out agri-environment options for wading birds (such as wetland management and mown grassland for wildlife) have a greater number of wading birds. Three of the four sites were found to have lapwings, though on some sites the birds were not spotted regularly. I carried out my last visits yesterday, and was delighted to see a huge flock of 50 lapwings with young chicks (a bit unsteady on the wing, one even crash landed onto the back of a sheep!).

A glorious day at one of my lapwing survey sites. I have also been to a Pentland Ranger Service training day where I learnt about the common butterflies in the Pentlands. We were supposed to be doing a survey for the green hairstreak butterfly in the afternoon, but the weather was abysmal, so we just visited the sites where we may expect to see the butterflies! I enjoyed the course so much that I have also enrolled in a moth and butterfly course next Tuesday, at Vogrie with the Midlothian Ranger Service. I am keen to learn as many plant and animal species as possible during the summer, as now is really the time to be getting out and about, so I will be looking for extra opportunities to brush up on my ID skills. I have been making the most of my lunchtime walks with Fiona, our admin assistant, who is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to birds. It does mean that we don’t manage to walk very far, as she is often whipping out her binoculars or camera (often both at the same time!) to peer into bushes and trees (much to the disgust of Tiggy, Fiona’s dog, who does not enjoy the interruptions to her walk and has an expression of mild irritation on her face on such occasions!). It is amazing what you start to notice when you are really looking. I know that sounds a bit stupid, but before I was an apprentice, I used to march around and I only saw walking as a way of keeping fit, now I take my time and I am often stopping to try to identify a small flower, or a butterfly or bird that I may not have noticed before. Incidentally, Rory (my dog, not my colleague) shares Tiggy’s feelings on my new found interest in things in the hedgerow and is often disgruntled that his walks take twice as long yet cover half the distance!

Into the Ravine by Oliver Moore

During a recent workshop for those folk interested in bryophytes we took the opportunity to do some recording from an area that had no previous records. This involved a scramble up a ravine - looking into every nook and cranny on the way for lurking mosses and liverworts. Once again I got to see many new species and my knowledge has mushroomed. Hopefully, my feet will not mushroom since I decided to keep my shoes and socks dry and wade bare foot in places. It was most refreshing wading thigh deep in plunge pools. The photograph (courtesy of Sallie Jack) shows some of us at the bottom of this lovely waterfall. Further up the ravine we had the option of returning the way we had come or scrambling out and upwards. I chose the latter option and reflected that I am not just improving my identification skills but my nerve at dealing with perilous slopes is also becoming stronger. My love of natural history also benefits my fitness levels - which certainly beats attending a gym on a regular basis. We saw some marvellous bryophytes such as Orthothecium rufescens which is quite a chunky moss tinged with pink. Bryum alpinum was present in beautiful wine-red cushions and then there were the miniscule species of liverwort such as Cololejeunea calcarea which were a bright yellow-green quietly sprawling about the rock and other bryophytes. What I love about my placement is not just the opportunity to develop my expertise in bryophyte identification but also the chance encounters with other wildlife in the Scottish countryside. Being able to feel the soft fronds of beech fern or observe the bright orange glow of Bog Beacons amongst the gungy pools of Sphagna were a delight. Seeing an Argent and Sable moth for the first time in my life was a real thrill. (Photograph courtesy of Sallie Jack). Mossing is fun all round - I thoroughly recommend it.

Too much sun!

I LOVE the sun but have discovered that fungi don’t and so are proving difficult to find as I start getting out and about on field trips. But it’s a good time for Dryads Saddles (Polyporus squamosa), Common Ink Caps (Coprinus atramentarius) and a kind of slime mould, Wolves milk (Lycogala terrestre).....photo below.....

I also found some fantastic bright orange Eyelash fungi (Scutellinia scutellata) which are cup like with hairs around the edges.....photo below.....

I found all these species on damp, decaying, rotting trunks and logs, so worth keeping an eye out for if you are in a woodland area.

As well as learning more in the field I have been out and about with BTCV Scotland and the other apprentices at events across the country to mark the 50th birthday of BTCV. Here are some pics from Drumpellier Country Park where we had a brilliant time on Friday helping with wildlife identification.

Preparing the Natural Talent tent! Louis, Viv, Oliver & Amy (L to R).

Me and a very large fungus!

Louis and Amy identifying pond life!

Mr McFarlane - ever thought of modelling for a catalogue?

And now the time has come……………….

Well we’ve moved into the final 3 days of my apprenticeship and as usual it’s all going a bit mad. Ending your apprenticeship slap bang in the middle of plant killing season is not an easy task for any invasive species manager but somehow (with the help/patients from John) I am just about holding it all together……..Honest!

Buddling old knotweed in the hope the weather will hold to spray the fresh stuff!!

Things have been mental since I last blogged, lots of invasive species have been put to death and we’ve had a breakthrough in dealing with the disappearing/reappearing/disappearing/reappearing rat problem. YAY. So luckily there will be one final massive surge of energy this winter to finally rid Rams Island of its unwelcome squatters. Also, wildfowl counts on the Island over the past breeding season show productivity has gone mad and there were little ducklings everywhere – bliss.

On the plant front it’s been slow progress, after the foul weather last summer and most of the spring this year, which made spraying very difficult, we are now faced with weather that is, gulp dare I say it, tooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sunny! So, we’ve been out on the river earning our mud, sweat and cheers badges digging out the hogweed that will flower this year. It’s hard but satisfying work that will make consecutive spraying years much easier.

Before (2008).....

During......

After! (last week)

My training and development has been going really well, I’ve begun giving training days on Invasive Plant Management for CVNI (BTCV in NI) and gave a very sniffly (I was full of a nasty, nasty cold!) talk at the Invasive Species Ireland Conference in Belfast this year. It went great and, even though I had the ‘slot after the slot after lunch’ I don’t think I heard any snoring!

So, my apprenticeship, has it worked? Well yesterday someone asked me what I did and I said “I’m an Invasive Species Officer” and the little voice of doubt inside my head said “Are you? Do you know enough to actually call yourself that!!!!” and for the first time in my life I said a great big confident YES YES YES! So I’d say that, yes the apprenticeship scheme has worked, not just to give me the knowledge I needed to build up my career but also the confidence to believe in myself and actually have faith in my abilities. Things haven’t always gone how we’ve planned but in the end the result is what we all hoped and as with everything in life the ups and downs are what make you a stronger person. (I was gonna say ‘well rounded’ but couldn’t type for laughing!). So the future, well it looks relatively bright. No job to talk of yet but I have no doubt the right one wont be too far away. I still have a few conferences to attend and a bit of training to do, thanks to the guys at CVNI, and a little bit of volunteering for the RSPB on Rathlin I hope – I need my seabird fix! So I’ll be busy for the next few weeks! Also, being a bit of a workaholic, I’m sure I’ll find myself pottering around on the river, spade at the ready and murder in mind……………… It’s been a very eventful 18 months and I’ve had the best time. I’ve made some great friends and met some exceptional people. It’ll be strange leaving the welcoming arms of BTCV Scotland as I’ve come to feel like part of their big happy family over the past year and it will be even stranger leaving Natural Talent behind as we’re the coolest gang of nerds I’ve ever known! lol. But sure, I’ll do rightly ………………………………………………………

I'm frrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee................

The trials and tribulations of hoverfly identification

“It is time you became familiar with the male genitalia” were the words spoken by my Mentor as a crowded X47 bus laboured toward central Edinburgh, much to the mirth and consternation of nearby passengers. Unabashed he continued to tell me about the collection he had gathered and had stored in alcohol back at the museum, at which point there was a coincidental mass exodus from the bus. He was, off course, referring to the terminalia of male hoverflies and their use as final arbiters in distinguishing superficially similar species. Generally differences between species are more or less clear cut involving distinctions such as modified shapes or extra features to the body e.g. colour patterning, size and shape, etc. There are a number of species, for instance, Scaeva pyrastri, Epistrophe elegans, Episyrphus balteatus, Merodon equestris and the Volucella, where the differences are such that accurate identification can be made by comparison with colour pictures in a book.

Volucella bombylans

Then there is a whole suite of hoverfly species where the differences are very slight requiring the use of a magnifying lens or microscope to see them. For example, the distinguishing feature separating Platycheirus immarginatus and P. scambus is the latter lacks a small white bristle at the base of its front leg! Among other groups of species, particularly the species-rich genera such as Cheilosia, Sphaerophoria and Pipizini, the differences in structure or colour patterns are either non-existent or too variable among individuals to enable accurate identification. So, rather than being merely a perverted curiosity, the “hidden treasure of characteristics” (as eminent 19th century hoverfly expert C.L Metcalf put it) found in the structures of the genitalia can help resolve problems in distinguishing many apparently identical appearing species. Thus I have spent many a happy hour bent over a microscope getting to grips with these organs and making identifications that were hitherto impossible. Armed with my net and various tubes of varying sizes I began recording spring hoverflies in the first warm, sunny days of March. Apart from a small number of species which I was able to accurately identify in the field (Eristalis tenax, E. pertinax, E. intricarius, Portevinia maculata, Helophilus pendulus and the males of Melanostoma scalare and M. mellinum), my practice has been to collect a small sample of specimens on each trip. These I then took home and cooled down in a fridge, and then keyed out with the help of Stubbs & Falk’s Guide to British Hoverflies. For species such as male Platycheirus albimanus and Syrphus torvus this appears to be an adequate practice on most occasions. However, for other species such as Melangyna lasiophthalma, Cheilosia pagana, Parasyrphus punctulatus, Neoascia meticulosa and Eristalis arbostorum voucher specimens were taken for microscopic examination and comparison with preserved museum specimens to enable certain identification.

Helophilus pendulus

An interesting sideline from hoverfly work has been an attempt to identify the flies that have turned up in my lunch! With a batch of peppers and tomatoes freshly bought from Morrison’s I spotted, in the nick of time, a number of flies, mostly exotic Drosophila (Fruit Flies). It is fascinating what occurs in your salad and how cosmopolitan it all is with vegetables sourced from Spain, Italy and Israel. But, more common place species can occur also. One time I found a small puparium on the stalk of a Tesco’s Broccoli. Out of curiosity I placed the floret into a plastic tube and after a few days a lovely Episyrphus balteatus (a very ubiquitous species whose larvae feed on aphids) emerged!

Episyrphus balteatus

Kindrogan, Science festival and all the rest of it.

Hello folks, A new season is upon us and I've sprung into action (alright, don't vomit!). I've had an exciting couple of weeks! I first went out and about in the borders, to warm up for my looming lichen identification course. Spring was in the air! and as usual I saw some pretty impressive lichens, check out this Calicium viride. It makes a big fluorescent streak on the trees. This is what it looks like from a distance. You can hardly miss it! Then it was swiftly on to the Kindrogan field studies centre in Perthshire learning lichen identification skills from the first couple of Lichenology: Brian and Sandy Coppins. We went out and about to some gorgeous places including Braemar (pictured left) and saw some amazing new lichens such as this Peltigera britannica. The course was great for improving confidence and increasing the range of species I can now identify in the field. It was fantastic. But right slap bang in the middle of it I nipped back to Edinburgh to run a lichen course for kids as part of Edinburgh's Science festival. It was fantastic fun. I even got a full grown man to dress up as an algal cell! This cuddly toy is (OK, with the exception of the eyes) actually a fairly accurate representation of the common lichen cyanobacteria: Nostoc. It made a great teaching aid. I'm signed up to teach at the science festival again next year. Can't wait! And on Sunday in the glorious weather Oliver, Nev and I went out and held stalls at the Darwin 200 exhibition at Yellowcraig. It was really busy so a very successful day. Everybody loved getting a chance to use the microscopes we brought. Here's a few pictures from the day! Ha ha, thanks to all that helped us get everything together. Especially you Nev, good luck with the new baby when it finally arrives!

Islay, a summary

It’s all systems go here at the Farm Environment office. We have a lot of work lined up for the coming months, including some work on SSSIs throughout the Forth area, more SRDP applications, and some interesting projects. Last week, I met up with Lisa Webb from the RSPB to arrange some wader surveys for me to do over the next few months. I also went out to my boyfriend’s farm outside Edinburgh to do a full farm survey for them, and have come up with a lot of “tree hugger” options for him and his dad to consider. All those things aside, I thought it was time to update my blog and summarise my visit to Islay with the RSPB.

The mudflats at Loch Gruinart reserve. The flats are an area of controlled flooding behind the sea wall. The water levels are manipulated by the wardens to suit the birds at different times of year. While on Islay, my time was divided between working with the wardens to carry out surveys and practical conservation work, and talking to the farmers, and land managers about their management practices. Most of my time was spent at Loch Gruinart Reserve, where I was able to spend time with Eion the farm manager, discussing the benefits and limitations of farming on a nature reserve. Most of our conversations took place while tagging calves, running for our lives from mental heifers, and shovelling up a number of unmentionables from the calving pens. Our conversations reminded me a lot of conversations with my father on the farm, or indeed with any farmer. We started off having a pleasant chat, until something went wrong (invariably, a swift kick to the shin from a calf, an escapee bull, or an interfering visitor), and things would quickly descend into a number of expletives being shouted, followed by “Do you see what I have to put up with?!” There is no doubt about it, farming is hard. It is made even harder by the number of rules and regulations which have to be adhered to. As a farmer on an RSPB reserve, Eion has additional rules to stick to. There are literally thousands of geese on his fields, which have munched every last scrap of grass available, so he will have to pile on the fertiliser once the geese leave (about now) to ensure he has enough grass to feed his cows. He is also restricted in his silage cutting dates; he has to wait until the flooded fields are dry enough, and in many areas has to wait until August to ensure he doesn’t harm any nesting birds. However, for Eion, conservation is at the heart of his farm and he enjoys seeing the benefits of his work. He is passionate about what he does and his work really does make a difference to the wildlife on Loch Gruinart.

An area of managed moorland on Loch Gruinart Reserve.

I also got the chance to carry out a number of bird surveys, mostly trying to learn how to identify the “wee brown jobs”. Farmland birds have seen a massive decline over the last 50 years, so it is important to monitor each species to record any changes, and the RSPB do bird surveys throughout the year. I wanted to learn as many species as possible while I was there so that I would be able to carry out basic bird surveys on farms. It took me a while, but I eventually managed to tell the difference between a flock of skylark and a flock of meadow pipits (both small, brown and speckled!). I also learnt a number of waders including lapwing, redshank, curlew and snipe. I saw a number of wee birds hiding in the woodlands including the stonechat, reed bunting, tree creeper and wren. I also saw a LOT of geese.

Barnacle geese flying in to roost on the saltmarsh at sunset. I spent some time with Andy Schofield, manager of the Oa reserve on the south of the island. The Oa is one of the RSPB’s biggest reserves, and Andy has a lot of good ideas to manage the site. While I was there, he showed me his plans to control a huge area of rush which is preventing the site being suitable for the majority of birds. He had started to cut some of the rushes in order to encourage lapwing to nest next to one of the lochs. He also has plans for a number of abandoned fields, which he intends to bring back into agricultural production. He grazes a huge area of cliff for chough, and I was lucky enough to see the resident golden eagles at the same time, pretty exciting! The cliffs on the Oa reserve, where the golden eagles roost. Overall, my time on Islay was incredibly rewarding. Not only did I learn how to identify a number of bird species, but I also learn how the management activities on the Reserve were having direct impacts on the wildlife. It just goes to show how conservation and farming are dependent on each other.

Liverwort Quest

Leaving the mournful song of a mistle thrush behind we began our ascent. Initially it was a forestry track, this soon became the tricky terrain of clear-felled woodland and heather and then we were scrambling up a precipitous scree slope. Our aim was to find and monitor the sexual development of a liverwort known as Athalamia hyalina. It is known from just two sites in Britain and we visited both of them in the same day - not many folk can make such a grand claim even fellow bryologists. As part of my apprenticeship I am trying to cram in as many bryophytes into my mind as I can. This may be through lab-based identifications, background reading and field excursions with experts. Consequently, I was thrilled to be invited along on the trip to Braemar. What I had not realised was that this rare liverwort grew in such breathtaking locations on friable Dalradian limestone rock ledges. The Cairngorm massif was under heavy snow but where we were searching the weather was fantastic and most of the day was spent in a t-shirt - not bad for mid-March. Whilst looking for Athalamia hyalina I was encountering so many other species that I had never seen before. This would prove to keep me busy over the next few days in the lab as I reflected on this magical site. In the photograph kindly supplied by my mentor David Long it is the female of the species (although the reproductive structures are not yet at maturity). I never got to see any male material since we were running out of time and since it would have involved descending 200m and then climbing 450m on steep terrain we gave it a miss on this occasion. Incidentally, how my companions were nonchalantly photographing is a mystery to me when I was just concentrating on staying on the slope. This sounds a bit light-weight but then I have only just moved from perhaps the flattest bit of Britain in the Suffolk Broads and probably below sea level for that matter. My hill legs will soon return with a few more excursions like these. This is just one of the reasons why bryologising in Scotland appeals to me.

The old boys

Yes, don’t choke on your cornflakes, it’s me (Viv) writing a blog post at last. So what have I been up to? Well recently I’ve been researching an old lichen collector called James Morrison Crombie. Born near Aberdeen in around 1831. Crombie, like many collectors of his era, was a member of the clergy. He spent most of his career based in London but made frequent trips back to Scotland where he discovered many new and unusual species. Although Crombie’s collections are well known to most lichenologists, information about where and when he collected is scattered. So I’ve been trying to bring it all together! As most of Crombie’s collections are in the Natural History Museum lichen herbarium a trip down to London was in order. Tempted by the lure of a cheap megabus (rather than spending a fortune on the train) I embarked on an epic 9 and a half hour journey. The journey was fine in the end and I got a double seat to myself and plenty of reading done. It was nice to be greeted by a good friend and a rather marvellous pub when I got there. The Natural History Museum is vast! It seemed to take an age to even get to the herbarium and it was weird to walk up dark back staircases and then through the bustle and grandness of the public museum and back into a dark passageway again. It felt like an amazing privilege to be behind the scenes and the public gaze and where so many great minds have buzzed away over the years. The lichen herbarium has old fashioned wooden doors adding to the sense of history. The specimen folders were a treasure trove of crombie collections And as a bonus there were also a number of lovely little paintings of lichen fruits in section by Isaac Caroll, a contemporary of Crombie’s. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, the herbarium is well organised and the eminent scientists resident there couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly if they tried. One thing that I have noticed about lichenolgists so far is their great enthusiasm for welcoming new people to the flock. There really is a great sense of community among people of this particular specialism. So, now I’m back it’s time to make some sense of all the information I’ve collected. I can’t wait to see the results! Adios amigos Viv x (P.S. I wouldn’t recommend trying to get an overnight bus back from London. That was a different story entirely!)

Winter wonders!

I'm 5 months into my mycology apprenticeship, how the time is flying. The autumn time is often seen as the best time to find fungi , but some brilliant wood rotting fungi is around all year - have a look at some of the fallen branches from trees or on old rotten stumps - you might find some bracket fungi or crust fungi happily rotting down the wood.

My apprenticeship is focusing on this group and I have been enjoying forays with the Fungus Group of South East Scotland in Penicuik wood and Roslin Glen and Peebles, where we have found some great winter wonders including Turkeytail, Hairy crust, Dead mans fingers, Candlesnuff and the Artists fungus.

On a recent field trip to Dawyck Botanic Garden with Roy, we found the unusual bracket fungus, Ischnoderma benzoinum, pictured right, and an array of crust fungi and ascomycetes on the sculptured pod, pictured left, including Stereum hirsutum, Stereum rugosum and Hypoxylon multiforme.

At Dawyck, Roy introduced me to a log, pictured below, which will become the basis of a project for my apprenticeship. It is a Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) which was planted at Dawyck in the 1840's from seed in the Forest O'Mar, near Braemar. It blew down in January 1993 and has been left to decay naturally as a habitat for fungi, flora and fauna. Roy has kept records on the kinds of fungi growing on this log and my project will continue this recording, producing a report on the history of the tree and the fungi involved in its decay over the last 16 years. So more blogs on my log to come soon!

I really do give a chough!

I have to say, being a Natural Talent apprentice is never dull! In the last fortnight I have gone from overseeing pond digging in West Lothian, to learning how to do bird surveys on the beautiful island of Islay.

Loch Gruinart Reserve on Islay, what a place!

While Tony and Rory (my mentors at FWAG) are setting up the new business (the Farm Environment), I felt it was time to go out and get extra experience. So after some discussions with Tony and John, I decided to come here to Islay. My Uncle is the Reserves Manager over here, so I have volunteered here in the past, but it is interesting to see the Reserve with new "Natural Talent" eyes.

There are 3 RSPB reserves on Islay, the Oa, Loch Gruinart and Smaull Farm. All of the reserves are managed primarily for birds, but all are also active farms. It is an ideal spot to learn about how the birds and farmers interact, and some of the things I have learnt are surprising. Firstly, it is great to see farmers so involved and interested in the birds on their farms. All the farmers are tenant farmers, and lease the land off the RSPB. They therefore have certain management agreements about the grazing, cutting and fertiliser use on the land. Secondly, it is interesting to see just how much the birds rely on farming. There are many birds that need grazing to take place to shape their faboured habitat. One of the rarest birds here on Islay is the chough (pronounced "chuff", hence the title, chuff, get it?!) and it relies on invertebrates which it finds in cow manure in closely grazed fields. They nest in old barns and ruined houses, and are fascinating to watch. Today I have been out with one of the wardens, stealthily creeping up on the chough in a very conspicuous landrover to try and read their leg rings! Nearly all the birds are ringed to record when and where they pair off and breed, and this will be one of my jobs while I am here.

Chough country! They feed on the grazed areas along the mudflats, and nest in the barns and ruins nearby.

Another bird which relies on specific farmland habitat is the corncrake. The corncrake winters in Africa, but summers all over the UK, mostly on agricultural land. There has been a huge decline in corncrake numbers due to the changes in agricultural practice, mainly the earlier silage cutting dates which obliterate nests and chicks. On Islay, there is a corncrake management agreement with the tenant farmers, and other farmers off the reserve land have also signed up. They have agreed not to cut their silage before the 15th August and to cut in a certain way to allow chicks to escape. On the Reserves, the RSPB have also planted some corncrake corridors, areas fenced off and planted with quick growing plants such as nettles. The corridors are usually grazed late autumn to prevent the grasses from going rank.

I have also been learning about the goose management on Islay, as there are literally thousands of geese wintering here. The barnacle geese and white-fronted geese graze winter crops and grass fields, causing a considerable amount of damage for farmers. The farmers are compensated for their agricultural losses, and once the geese leave (around mid-April) they frantically start applying fertiliser to get the yeilds they need to feed the cattle in the winter. The farmers are working to a tight time-frame and the weather conditions on the west coast make farming here considerably difficult.

I look forward to the next three weeks here, I feel I am learning a lot and feel very inspired by what can be done with a little thought and negotiation. It shows that understanding farming is essential for Scottish conservation, and without the cooperation of the farmers who manage our land, we would struggle to conserve all the wonderful species we have here in Scotland.

Gone but not forgotten, bon voyage Nev!!

So Long Nev, It's been an absolute pleasure

Next week sees the end of a chapter in the life of Nev Kilkenny, our apprentice Mycologist. But it's not all bad news. As one door closes, another opens and we are hopeful that Nev will continue to work closely with BTCV through our environmental training programme. He will also be providing mentoring support for Sam, our new Mycologist.

I remember the first time I met Nev, and to be fair I wasn't too sure what to expect. What I found was that he was, and still is, fanatical about Fungi, a very nice chap all round and a credit to Natural Talent.

It was after meeting Nev that I really 'got' Natural Talent. I knew that these guys and girls were a special breed of individual, but most have some academia experience behind them. Nev came from a carpentry background, which makes his achievements more incredible. I too chose to change career in later life and i know the pressures that it can bring with it, not just on yourself but on your family. Nev should be applauded for his achievements over the past 18 months. By all accounts he can knock up a loft conversion in the blink of an eye...

I've been fortunate to see Nev in his native habitat on several ocassions, usually under the guidance of his mentor, the eminent Mycologist Roy Watling and on all of these ocassions, Nev's knowledge, and even more so his energy and enthusaism have shone through. Who can forget his epic performance at our inaugural Natural Talent training day, what a star.

And talking of stars. He's even found a species of fungi never before recorded in the UK!!

The False Earthstar fungi (see beolw) or Mycenastrum corium if you prefer the Latin.

And this is where Nev's journey began. He had a Rob Roy moment, in this very hut. A few days before his interview, he visitied Dawyck Botanic gardens and as he sat in the wee hut looking for inspiration, he saw a spider struggling as it climbed up it's web.....actually thats another story. What he did see was a copy of the lower plant strategy, which he read, and it inspired him to deliver a killer presentation and the rest, as they say, is his story........

We'll miss you Nev, but the door to Balallan House will always be open for you, except on Sundays, most Saturdays and bank holidays.

Oh and Christmas.

And New year too.

Did i mention the Easter weekend?

;-)

More Fame!

Many thanks to Scotland Outdoors magazine who featured Natural Talent in their latest edition. To have a read of the article please click here and scroll down to conservation: bridging the gap

End of an Era

From a young age I have been interested in how farming and the environment work together, and it was this interest which led me to study Conservation Biology at Uni. While at Uni, I looked into a variety of careers in conservation, but for me, a job with FWAG was the ultimate goal. I couldn’t believe my luck when this apprenticeship with FWAG came up, and was even more delighted when I got the job. As some of you may know, FWAG Scotland went into administration two weeks ago, and I am sad to think that my dream job of being a FWAG advisor no longer exists. However, things are not as bleak as I first thought. Tony and Rory, my colleagues and mentors at FWAG Scotland, have started a new business called the Farm Environment, which will aim to build on the good work done by FWAG. In many ways, my job may be even more enjoyable, as we will be able to take on extra projects and advisory work, which may not have fitted in with FWAG. Already, we have secured some work for the following round of SRDP applications, and we are looking at new projects to do.

This week, I finished off the last of our FWAG work, and went to Seafield to dig the Great Crested Newt ponds, which I have been planning since the start of my apprenticeship. Unfortunately our funding fell through when FWAG went bust, but West Lothian Council stepped in to provide funding to dig the ponds at Seafield Local Nature Reserve. We dug a total of six ponds, as well as sorting out some of the drainage issues at the site. Below is a video of our second day of digging, to give you a bit of insight of what a day as a BTCV apprentice involves.

One of the pond sites, at the start of excavation, with Tony looking on.

One of the ponds nearing completion.

Life after the apprenticeship

As my time as an apprentice is coming to a close (only 3 months left now, sob) I had to start thinking about what I want to do next. Browsing the job websites made me realise just how many skills I've gained from the apprenticeship, and I'm in a much better position now to get into the environmental sector than I would have been without the experience I've had with Natural Talent. There are lots of options for a graduate of the scheme! And I'm really grateful for having had the opportunity. I so enjoyed my research project in the summer that I decided to go for a PhD. I'm starting a project later in the year researching into how pollinators interact between native plants and the invasive species Himalayan balsam (a plant which fellow apprentice Lyn knows all about - a very handy person for me to know!).

Pollinators - we can't live without them!

So the next few months are going to be very busy - I've got lots I want to fit in before I finish; conferences, training workshops, education activities at the museum, field work, identifications, collections management work, oh and running a workshop too!

Forsinard Flows, it snows!!

OMG, what a place to spend the next 15 months!!!

it's oh so quiet

it's oh so still

you're all alone

and so peaceful until...

Sometimes you have to take chances in your life. I took a chance going to Uni at 33. I also took a chance driving up to RSPB Forsinard on Thursday given that there were reports of very heavy localised snowfall in Dundee and parts of the A9. But i had a meeting to go to in a place i'd never been. And you know what Dell Boy would have said,

'he who hesitates Rodney, he who hesitates.....'

Ben Griam, Forsinard Flows, Sutherland I arrived after a marathon drive, nearly 7 hours. Eventually, after a 60 minute dash along a tricky wee single-track road I found myself in Narnia!! Seriously, i was expecting mister Tumnus to wander up and say Hi, but he didnae. It was deathly quiet, other than the cockerel in the distance, oh and the dogs. But other than that, nothing! Not a peep from anything. After a wee blether with Simon McLaughlin of RSPB, i dumped my bags and headed off for a walk in the darkness, snow shoes assiting me in my quest to go boldly where no man had gone before, at least not since the last snowfall.

The snow was deep and crisp and uneven. And if it hadn't been for the snow-shoes I'd have been up to my pits in the stuff. I had an almost out of body experience, it was that inspring. I imagined what Ranulph Fiennes must have thought when he first walked into a Lidl superstore. What is this place? A giant freezer full of mystery,intrigue and odd looking creatures!

The next day it was absolutely baltic. See below! Got up at the crack of dawn and took another wee donner up the path and saw last nights nocturnal activities. Deer tracks everywhere, rabbits, hare, and large strange looking footprints, slightly egg-shaped with a latticed pattern. Oh yes, forgot about the snow-shoes. Forsinard rocks!! And for one Lucky apprentice, it'll be home for the next 15 months. Jammy sod!!

Baffling Bryophytes

It's a whole New World!!

I entered a new world yesterday! A deep and mysterious world full of baffling words and morphological characteristics that I hadn't experienced since Brian Coppins taught me the rudimentaries of Lichenologising a few months ago. That world is the world of Bryophytes!

(See Below, it's a Bryophyte by the way!!)

And if you wanted to know the difference between a Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus and a

Thuidium tamariscinum, then you'd usually approach the gentleman with the long beard, usually on his hands and knees or half way up a mountainous scree slope, peering at substrate with a hand lense permanantly attached to his eyeball! That was until now my friends.

Oliver Moore, our new Natural Talent Bryologist, has no beard, although he may grow one in future years. However, he can certainly tell you a few things about Bryophytes. And under the guidance of the gang at the Botanics, David Long, Liz Kungu ad David Chamberlain (pictured above with Oliver) , the future of Bryologising looks healthy, and less prone to facial hair. Although there is nothing wrong with facial hair per say. Just look at Kenny Rodgers, or Bjorn Borg? Quality face furniture. So welcome Oliver. Our latest recruit to the Natural Talent family. BTCV are really looking foward to welcoming you into the 'family' and we hope you enjoy your apprenticeship and your time here in Scotland.

Another Bryophyte, Sphagnum capillifoluim ssp rubellum i think?

New Year, new ponds

There is a rare quietness in the FWAG office this morning so I thought I would take the opportunity to update the blog (before my first Natural Talent press interview later this morning, eek!). Things have been hectic here at Forth Area Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group. As some of you may have read in the papers, FWAG is having a few financial difficulties so the last few weeks have been a bit uncertain, but for the time being it seems we are to carry on as normal. We have been frantically filling in many applications for the Scottish Rural Development Programme (the Scottish Government's current agri-environment scheme), which for me has meant a lot of data entering and map drawing. It's a good way to get to know exactly what environmental measures are on each of our client's farms, but because we are so busy with these applications it means I don't get much of a chance to see the things I am trying to conserve! The next round of applications closes in February, so we are hoping we will have a quieter spell in which we can carry out some farm visits.

In addition to the SRDP applications I have been been working on the Lothians Pond Project or LOPO as we call it! The project has been running for several years and aims to create a network of suitable habitat for Great Crested Newt. I have been given the responsibility of carrying out the project on my own which was a bit scary at first and I felt like I wasn't really getting anywhere with it, but things are starting to happen now. The project is being funded by SNH and West Lothian Council and is using the time of FWAG (i.e. me!) and volunteers from Lothians Amphibian and Reptile Group (LARG).

An area of wetland at Seafield LNR which I have my eye on! it will soon be transformed into a series of ponds.

Last week I met up with a group of farmers in Midlothain who are allowing us to dig ponds on boggy, unproductive areas of their farm. The farmers have found that the ponds often help with overall field drainage, so are generally happy to let us put ponds in wherever we like! We are hoping to create 10-15 ponds over several days (depending on weather conditions and how fast the digger driver can go!). I am busy coordinating the contractors and farmers and hopefully we will be digging by the end of next week.

Meanwhile, in West Lothian I have been arranging with West Lothian council to carry out some pond project work on Easter Inch Moss Local Nature Reserve. I met up with a volunteer from LARG who has taught me a lot about Great Crested Newts habitat and has helped me to choose suitable areas to put the ponds. We also met up with the digger driver who will be starting work within the next few weeks and is very keen to help with the project. West Lothian council have arranged to drain one of the current known Great Crested Newt ponds on the site and work was beginning yesterday. The pond is being drained to remove the fish which have appeared in it (fear not fish fans, they will be pumped into a ditch network where they will be able to swim off happily into other areas!) and which are preying on the young newts. Adult newts develop a level of toxicity which protects them from predation, but young newts are apparently quite tasty! LARG have arranged for a bunch of unsuspecting college students to come and clear some of the trees and weeds around the pond, and the cut wood will be used to create hibernating areas for adult newts. So it's all going swimmingly at the moment and hopefully by the time I write my next blog I will be able to add some newly created pond photos!

A current Great Crested Newt pond at Seafield LNR (Easter Inch Moss). Volunteers will be clearing some of the pond weed to create a pond with approximately 50% cover and 50% open water a.k.a GCN heaven!

A word from the wise, read on.

I'm going to tell you a story about a mature student at Napier University who graduated with a 2:1 degree in Ecotourism. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box but he was very handsome, had drive, enthusiasm and passion that many of his younger student colleagues were envious of. He took time out of his week to volunteer with BTCV and kept this up throughout his time at Uni. He developed an interest in the ecological aspect of his degree and spent much of his volunteering days picking the brains of his Project Officer, adding to his skills and becoming a key member, and very handsome member of the BTCV team. Once this person had achieved his degree, an achievement that he was immensely proud of, he started trawling the internet for jobs in the conservation sector to suppliment his modelling at Elite models in London. Then his Eureka moment. A job, with BTCV, looking at wildlife and how to identify and record it. The perfect job! He was in the same position that many of you are in now!! So he spent the next month investigating every aspect of Biological Recording, reading the UKBAP website, looking at LRC's and other recording websites. In particular, he read the Job Specification for the post very carefully. Just in case you missed that last sentence I'll say it again. He read the Job Specification for the post very carefully. He looked at every one of the essential and desirable criteria and constructed his personal statement to reflect how he filled these criteria. And if he couldn't fill them, then he suggested ways in which he could fill them, such as additional training or volunteering. He was selected for interview and blew the other candidates clean out the water. A total no-brainer for the selection panel. And before he had driven home and changed into his Armani suit for his next modelling job, his new employers had already contacted his referees. So whats the moral of this story? You only get one chance to sell yourself, to really make us want to employ you. Don't p+ss us off before we've even met you by not reading the small print, it's part of the recruitment process. After all, if you don't know the difference between a 1 page and 2 page CV then you ain't gonna cut the mustard as a Natural Talent Apprentice. These guys are right at the top of their game, an asset to the conservation sector, and if they are to be the ones protecting our Natural Heritage, then we'll be ok. This should inspire you to do all the things that are required to get you to be where you want to be. Sitting in front of me and my colleagues selling yourself as the future of conservation in Scotland. Please don't be angry or upset, there are some excellent applications with us at the moment. But for every 1 good application, there are three that are not so good. Take this advice, do your homework, and give us a CV that will knock our socks off. Tell us about your passion, your drive, your commitment to carrying out this apprenticeship with all your heart. It's not necessarily about qualifications, it's about you, the person. Oh and the story? It's my story...................with a few embelishments, like handsome!!

Life as an apprentice...

John joined Cathy-our apprentice Hymenopterist- on Islay last summer for some fieldwork and chat about what life is like as an apprentice...

Natural Talent sets the Heather on fire, again!!

Hi All, NTAP09 is now live and boy oh boy are things hotting up. Tricia, who will be sorting out the initial applications, has blown up her computer ( not literally you'll appreciate) due to the amount of interest in NTAP09. You only have 4 weeks to apply, so get yer skates on. We have a saying in Scotland, ' If yer no fast, yer last!' Good Luck to you all. And remember, read all the relevant info carefully then blow us away with your passion, dedication, commitment and enthusiasm, it's all we look for. And the Moth? Of course it's an Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)

2009 Natural talent Apprenticeships

Hi Folks, If you are looking at these BLOGS then no doubt you'll be interested in Natural Talent. You may also be interested in the next round of recruitment which will begin in earnest in January. We will have 5 new apprenticeships to offer, they are; Lepidoptera ( Micro and Macro Moths) based at the National Museum Scotland (Keith Bland) and RSPB Insh Marshes Riverflies ( Mayfly, Caddis and Stonefly) based at the Clyde River Foundation, SEPA and Buglife Machair habitats, based with RSPB on the Uists and other RSPB reserves Wetland Reserve management based with SNH in Stirling and in Wetland reserves throughout Scotland Peatland Reserve management based at RSPB Forsinard in Sutherland We have continued to develop and strengthen the excellent partnerships that we have had in previous years and in 2009 our apprenticeships will be based in some of the finest reserves and educational institutes Europe has to offer. We are very fortunate to have the support of many leading experts and organisations who contribute to making Natural Talent an excellent experience for a few individuals. Can you fill these boots? If you think you can then keep an eye on the website, and get your application forms in to me. Best of luck and a very Merry Christmas from all at BTCV including the Natural Talent apprentices! john

Cutting Edge Hoverfly Conservation

The chainsaw revved and roared, shattering the peace of a Caledonian forest, as it laboriously sheared its way into the top of a felled Scot’s Pine stump spewing out a flurry of sawdust. Suddenly, a pyramidal wedge of timber pops up revealing a deep cleft as the saw splutters to a stop. After wiping the sweat from his brow, the tree surgeon fills the hole with a pinewood chip and sawdust mixture then replaces the wedge as a cover, before departing for a well-earned lunch.

Stump boring

During winter, the holes progressively fill with rainwater which dilutes the pine resin into an oily soup with sinuous tendrils of sticky goo clinging to floating pine chips. This is the favoured conditions of Blera fallax larvae whom filter feed on bacteria within the pine broth and, come spring, emerges from the rot and decay as a stout fly resplendent with yellow face and black body with a fiery red tipped abdomen.

Fresh from the decay - Blera fallax (E. Rotheray)

This humble fly was probably one of the cold adapted insect pioneers that colonised Britain after the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age following the north-westerly march of the Scot’s Pine from their cold climate refugia. It now retains a tenuous foothold in two localities within fragments of pine forest in the central Scottish Highlands where other cold condition loving species still persist. There has been a documented decline in numbers and distribution since the early 20th century and such was the consternation of conservationists that the species is now a UKBAP Priority Species and is included on the Scottish Biodiversity List. It is also considered to be declining and under threat in Europe.

Callicera rufa (left) & Blera fallax (right). The short breathing tube of Callicera means it has to keep coming to the surface of the water to breathe unlike Blera & Myathropa which use their long breathing tubes, like a snorkel, to breathe whilst remaining at the bottom of the hole

In the past such drastic intervention on the part of Blera was needless since they naturally occurred in the stumps of large pines which, weakened by fungus attack, snap off during storms. However, with the scarcity of extensive areas of large old pines in Scotland, where this process could take place naturally, the fly relies entirely upon stumps felled during forestry operations that attain the correct degree of decay. A lack of continuity of suitable larval habitat due to inappropriate timing of forestry operations, clear felling, damage to existing stumps and chemical treatment of stumps have further compounded the problems facing Blera fallax. This prompted the creation of artificial breeding sites to mimic natural situations as described earlier.

A cut hole for Blera

As part of my apprenticeship, I have two main learning experiences during the first six months; firstly, identification and curation of hoverflies at the National Museums Scotland; secondly, working under the direction of the Project Manager for the SNH Species Action Framework programme on Blera fallax. This provides an excellent insight into the current conservation management of fragile and endangered insect populations. By virtue of a chainsaw ticket gained during my college years I was put to work, with local RSPB warden Pete Moore, creating artificial breeding sites for this rare insect by cutting into stumps felled during previous forestry operations (see photos). These modified tree stumps have become an important tool in maintaining a viable population until their habitat is naturally restored.

As with other conservation management actions, monitoring the effects of such initiatives is important in determining whether or not it is achieving the desired results e.g. increased numbers of Blera! During October I assisted my mentor and the Pine Hoverfly Project Manager in surveying all of the cut stumps and sifting through the decaying pine chips for hoverfly larvae. This called for rapidly learning how to identify Blera larvae from the other hoverfly species that make use of this resource; Callicera rufa, Sphegina clunipes and the ubiquitous wood decay loving Myathropa florea.

Two Blera on the left & a cluster of Myathropa on the right. (E. Rotheray)

Callicera was straight forward as it lacked the long breathing tube, which appears as a tail on the other three species, and much resembles a sausage (I had missed lunch that day). Sphegina tended to be very small, appearing (to my eyes at least) to be shaped like a cartoon speech bubble with its short, tapering ‘tail’ protruding from an elongate, flattened balloon body. The difficulty came in separating Myathropa and Blera as both were of a similar size with very long breathing tubes. The difference is in the coverage of black spots on the larvae’s face (best viewed through a hand lens). With Myathropa, the spots were uniformly spread across the face whereas with Blera the spots were confined to a thin moustache above the mouth.

Blera fallax - if you zoom in you can see the thin black moustache

By the end we had amassed around fifty Blera larvae with the identification characteristics firmly embedded into my memory. This year there was an increase in the number of stumps occupied indicating that the management may be working in improving the fortunes of Blera and thus further modified stumps will be required – I best get sharpening my saw!

Fungi hits the news!

Fungi hit the news last week as a report on Radio 4 confirmed mycologists are becoming a rarity in the UK. It is fantastic in Scotland that BTCV and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh have already responded to this challenge with 2 apprentice mycologists, myself and Nev Kilkenny. Scotland is an exciting place to work as a mycologist as we are finding rare and new fungi species all the time, which tell us about the health and ecology of woodlands and grasslands and what effect climate change may be having. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7751000/7751915.stm).

I attended the British Mycology Society autumn meeting at Kew Gardens last weekend and learnt about what is happening in mycology around Europe and also about the rare toothed fungi we have in the UK that have a group species action plan. It was clear that there was so much we could work on but there was a serious issue of the lack of UK mycologists and funding. I think the UK could become a mycology world leader with this investment from our governments. In particular I hope that the Scottish government will support me and Nev after our mycology apprenticeships by making funding available for work in fungi conservation, education and research.

Mushrooms are harder to find now with the colder weather but wood rotting fungi is abundant and I'll be doing field trips throughout the winter with the local Fungi Group of South East Scotland. The last few months we have been to Colstoun Wood in East Lothian and Mortonhall in Edinburgh, and this week we are going to Penicuik Woods - some photos of what we've been seeing are in this blog.....must get on and try and identify them now!

Happy Advent! Sam

Farmland Conservation Apprenticeship

Hi everyone. I thought it was about time I posted a blog to let you know what my apprenticeship involves. I am the new farmland conservation apprentice working with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) based at Vogrie Country Park near Edinburgh. I have been working in the office with Tony Seymour and Rory Sandison (previous apprentice), who have been passing on all their invaluable farmland conservation experience. I have been working for FWAG for 2 months now and it has absolutely flown by! The first part of my apprenticeship is focussed towards learning about the new government legislation which allows farmers to recieve funding for the conservation work that they do on their farms, making it a viable business option. The new Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) is incredibly complex so I won't bore you with the details! I have learned how to use a mapping programme to map the farms which we are submitting grant applications for, and have created many a wonderful map, which Tony described as "things of great beauty", praise indeed! I have also been learning about the different options available to farmers: they can recieve funding for all kinds of things, from planting hedgerows, trees, creating buffer strips along water courses, restoring buildings, and even for new tractors. Through working on the applications I have had the chance to meet many of our clients, and have mastered the art of dealing with farmers' dogs, I seem to be a collie dog magnet - I have permanent paw marks on my clothes from where I am jumped on as soon as I get out the car! It's been great to go out to the farms and see where the funding is going, looking at areas where we intend to plant hedges and whole fields which will be turned into seed eating bird heaven. I have also been working on a pond project which aims to create a network on Great Crested Newt ponds across the Lothians. One site which we are working on in West Lothian already has GCN in some ponds which were created last year, and I hope that the new ponds that I am creating will soon be home to many happy newts. Anyhoo, I will blog again soon, hopefully I will get some pictures up to show what I have been doing! over and out.

BTCV Natural Talent Hoverfly Apprenticeship

Hoverflies are an attractive group of day-flying insects famed for their colourful forms and precision at hovering, which gives them their name. The Americans call them flower flies, referring to their habit of visiting flowers and are thus familiar to many gardeners. They appear in a bewildering diversity of shapes and sizes ranging from small non-descript black flies to the remarkable wasp and bee mimics.

Volucella inais - a large wasp mimic

Whilst hoverflies contain some of the most easily recognisable species of flies, for instance the Vollucella, they also contain some of the most difficult to identify, for instance the Cheilosa. Positive identification often requires a specialist’s eye and with such folk being scarce, or rather the demographics weighed more toward the older end of the spectrum, the BTCV forged a hoverfly apprenticeship to help alleviate potential skills shortages in the future.

Cheilosa

I am very happy they did! My interest began with birds as a small child and during my teens I branched out into other winged creatures: Lepidoptera, dragonflies, bumblebees and hoverflies. The apprenticeship provides a perfect opportunity to get to grips with hoverflies and in particular the more difficult groups. The first six months of my apprenticeship will be mainly based at National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh under the patient tutelage of Dr Graham Rotheray whose expertise lies within hoverflies and particularly the larval stages. My first month has involved looking at the evolutionary origins and anatomy of hoverflies and the features that separate them from other Diptera (two-winged flies). I am also learning the ‘art’ of curation and preservation of specimens. This has included ‘relaxing’ a number of rigour mortised hoverflies with an overnight spell in a jar with bleach moistened paper whose vapours soften the fly enough for its tangled legs and bent wings to be gently teased into positions free from obstructed view enabling identification features to be seen (I received a somewhat quizzical look from my girlfriend when I attempted to seal myself in the bathroom with a bottle of bleach one morning).

A pinned Cheilosa

At present I am working through several boxes of unidentified specimens from Norfolk, captured during the 1980s (many of which are older than me!), to practice using the identification keys in Falk & Stubbs Guide to British Hoverflies. It is a process that requires vast amounts of patience, but is greatly assisted with a massive museum collection of preserved specimens to hand with which to compare your specimen with. It is very satisfying when a specimen is keyed out successfully, but occasional mistakes happen, for instance, the key leads you to a species that is only recorded from a few localities in the extreme south of England!

Say Hi to our new apprentices!!

The new Natural Talent apprentices got a taste of real work when they ventured out with Charlie and the boys who were building a path in Alloa. From left Mary-jane Fleming ( Farmland Conservation), Geoff Wilkinson (watching Sam do all the work ;-)( Hoverflies), Viv Lisewski ( Lichens) and Sam Ranscombe in the background ( Fungi) Lots of blood, sweat and gnashing of teeth were quickly forgotten with the promise of a yummy lunch. Welcome aboard folks, we look forward to your blogtastic updates, keeping us mere mortals informed of what your up too on your travels. Watch this space........................

More Fungi photos from Friday

Charlie can't hide his excitement as a Massey Ferguson GTX 9900 fieldmaster drives through the car-park............... one day chic, one day.......

And the winner of the silliest hat at an outdoor event is...... answers on a postcard to me please!! Arise Sir Nev and Lady Samantha, Lord and Lady of the Shire, Stirlingshire!! Actually it's Plean. Nev shows off his latest find, a mushroom cleverly disguised as a box of eggs, free-range no less!!

My summer field project

Hi everyone. I'm doing the Hymenoptera apprenticeship (bees, wasps, ants, sawflies, parasitic wasps).

I thought I'd tell you all a bit about my summer field project over on Islay. I was researching into the ecology of the rare northern mining bee, Colletes floralis, finding out where they like to nest, what pollen they collect and learning a bit more about sand dune Hymenoptera in general.

My project involved lots of cycling in the rain to get to my study sites and hiking around in the sand dunes looking for bees!

I stayed for 5 weeks and managed to get a lot of data, which I'm working on now. It was such a fantastic experience, and I learnt a lot from it.

I was working on an RSPB reserve, and was kindly allowed to stay in their accommodation. I'll be sending my finished report to them, which will have my recommendations for habitat management which I hope can be encorporated into their current strategies.

I'm at the Huntarian Museum in Glasgow now until the end of my apprenticeship, learning more about Hymenoptera and the management of museum collections.

More than mushrooms!

Hi, I'm Sam, the new mycology apprentice based at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. I'm only in week 3 of my apprenticeship but already I'm learning there is much more to mycology than just mushrooms! I'll be spending the next few months learning how to identify macro and micro features of fungi in the field and in the lab, how to use keys (fungi ones are hard!) and how to do fungi surveying and recording. The first few weeks have been a dramatic change to my life, as before this I was working in an admin job mon-fri 9-5 and only dreaming of working in conservation ecology! It’s early days but I’m enjoying all the new experiences so far and hope to blog some of these over the next few months.

Invasive species fun all over the place!

Hi guys, long time no blog! Summer has been a really busy time for me all the invasive species work has been keeping me very busy. I’ve also been zooming all over the place picking up as many new skills as I can. So here’s a low down of what I’ve been doing………………… Fun with fungi September saw me travelling to Edinburgh to spend a few days with our fungi apprentice Nev and his mentor Roy learning all I could about invasive fungi and also basic fungi i.d. It was a great few days. The first was spent at Dawyk Botanical gardens with Roy, Nev and John hunting for fungi and carrying out some survey work on their site. We managed to look at some non-native fungi on some of the gardens rhododendron species – they were very unexciting white blobs but at least I know what to look out for now! It was a great day with lots of fungi spotted and even a few for the dinner plate!

Yummy!!! We spent the following day on a private site just down from Dawyk with some of the mycological society members scoping out a site for an up and coming foray that Nev was running. We saw loads of fungi at this site including a massive Porcini mushroom which unfortunately was past it’s best otherwise wit would have ended up as dinner for Jo and myself! Dinner anyone? We also had an insight into the magical world of faecal fungi courtesy of Mike Richardson who specialises in the subject. The mechanisms by which this group of fungi use to get to their chosen medium were pretty cool! An Ink cap growing out of some sheep poo!

We finished off with day 3 being spent in the lab with Nev teaching me about microscopic i.d. of fungi. It was great to try to i.d my specimins although we had a few interesting outcomes........if in doubt its an enteloma!

Prage Neobiota Conference September 2008

The end of september saw me jetting off to Prage for the Neobiota European Invasive Species Conference. It was held at the university and was spread over 4 days. It was a great opportunity to network with other invasive species biologists as well as learning about new species and also what research and work was being carried out across the globe.

See I was really there!

I had a poster presentation up in the hall telling delegates all about my role as a NT apprentice; what I'd been doing and what I've learnt so far. It was great to plug the NT scheme and also get my face known amongst my peers.

From going to the conference I was invited to spend a few days at various labs across England to view invasive species research and herbariums to learn some more i.d. techneques. I've planned my trips for November and am looking forward to the experience.

Other training

As well as the 2 main training events above I have also attended a Project Leadership course at the CVNI offices here in Northern Ireland and attended a great little workshop on invasive species in the Mournes in Co.Down.

What about my day job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well you are probably wondering when I've had time to work what with all this galavanting! Well just to show you how hard I'm beavering away over here so here is a picture of me out spraying Japanese knotweed a few weeks ago...................

The things you get up to in a Forest with a bunch of entomologists!!

Rowardennan was the site for one of the most unusual experiences in my career so far!! I'd heard about rot-holes from various experts and to be fare they never really painted a rosey picture. In fact they were portrayed as a seething mass of putrification, swimming with maggots, some cannibalistic and most not the best looking organisms with a face only a mother could love. Not a nice place to be, unless you are a Hoverfly larvae. So it was with great trepidation that I forced my arm ( all the way up too my shoulder almost!!) into a rotting tree stump. It was actually quite a pleasant experience, far better than I had anticipated and less odorous. Geoff Wilkinson, our new Hoverfly Apprentice, will be sticking his arm in various rot-holes in locations throughout Scotland as part of his 18 month apprentice. Best of luck Geoff!! Here he is looking at Graham Rotheray, his mentor, with his arm in another rot-hole. Geoff is the one without the beard and the long blonde hair.

did I mention Islay?

Yeah, it's a tough life looking after the natural talent Apprentices. I spent a few days on Islay with Cathy Fiedler, our Apprentice Hymenopterist who was working at RSPB Loch Gruinart, looking for a little mining bee called the Northern Mining bee. Or Colletes floralis as if you didn't already know. It was really good fun and the weather wasn't too shabby either. In fact it's all the sun I saw this year!! If you look really closely you can see the plaster on her left thumb that prevented the little bleeder stinging Cathy! No animals were hurt in the making of the picture!!

Fungi with a Fungi!! Brilliant!

Hello all you mycologists out there who are looking for some Fungi after our superb Fungi workshop with Nev Kilkenny. If you missed it, then fear not, for BTCV hope to repeat the workshop again. It looks as if Nev really has rekindled peoples passion for fungi as well as setting the heather alight with a few others on the course who are now smitten about fungi. There will be more Natural Talent workshops throughout 2009, with more Fungi Fun in the pipeline. Be patient!! john

That's all folks!!

Well that's it for the 2008 apprenticeships; the closing date for all applications has passed and we now have 4 shiny new apprentices with one more still to come. Keep an eye on the blog to find out more about their adventures as well as updates on apprentices past and present, plus we have another 6 apprenticeships to offer in early 2009 and details will appear here as soon as we can confirm them! Thanks again to all who applied, we had a very difficult job selecting the right candidates and we only wish we had apprenticeships for everyone.

cheerio from our 2006 NTAP's who have now left the fold!

Closing date

Hi all A reminder that the closing dates for the mycology, lichen, diptera and farmland conservation apprenticeships have now passed. There is still time to apply for the bryology apprenticeship- get your skates on!! The quality of the applications has been outstanding and we had a hard job selecting who to interview! I'm afraid that if you don't hear from us within two weeks of the closing date then you've been unsuccessful on this occasion, however fear not as we're already developing more apprenticeships for 2009 so you'll soon have more to choose from. Thanks to all who applied, it's great to know that all you budding conservationists are out there! Jo

Natural Talent Open Day 2008

Hi folks Well our open day was a storming success- thanks to all who attended plus the kind folks at the RBGE who hosted the day magnificently. It was really inspirational meeting our potential apprentices and we are very excited about what the future holds! For those of you who didn't attend, here's a wee overview of what happened. BTCV Scotland's Environment Development Officer John McFarlane kick started proceedings with a presentation about what we look for in our apprentices and what's involved in the programme. Check out this video on YouTube which not only introduces you to team BTCV but also to a couple of our current apprentices. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcog4L85TF8&feature=email

John = Bonkers!!

We then had some fabulous talks from apprenticeship mentors who introduced us to the weird and wonderful world of fungi, bryophytes, lichen and farmland habitat conservation then one of our current apprentices, Lyn Byrne, told us about life as a wetland invasive species apprentice- warts and all!

Lyn's got Natural Talent!

After the talks- to the workshops! We had workshops on Lichen, Mycology, Diptera, Bryophytes and farmland habitat conservation which gave a little bit of an idea of what the apprenticeships would involve and allowed candidates to ask the mentors any pressing questions!

Maren, our first bryology apprentice, assists 2008 Bryophyte mentor David Long

Farmlands in the botanics?

Hoverflies

Bryophyte identification- can you tell what it is yet??

Magic mushrooms!

Alison really does love lichen!

A closer look...

Our graduating apprentices wrapped up the day with a q&a of how the last 18 months had affected them- professionally and personally. They left us in no doubt of all the challenges an apprenticeship holds, after all devoting 18 months of your life to study, research and hard work is not to be taken lightly. However, the apprentices also showed us how great the rewards can be, not only for an apprentice to finally gain employment in the field that they love, but also for the environmental heritage sector in the UK gaining one more ambassador for biodiversity.

It was a day to remember!

Natural Talent Open Day 2008

Click here to find out more about our Open Day 2008 If you’re interested in applying for one of the Natural Talent apprenticeships and want to know more about what’s involved, we’re having an open day at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh on July 26th 2008. All potential candidates for Natural Talent are welcome to attend!

Vote for Natural Talent!

BTCV's Natural Talent natural history apprenticeship scheme has been nominated for an award! The scheme has reached The National Lottery Awards semi-final stage and the three projects with the most votes in the Best Environmental Project category will progress to the final round. Vote for Natural Talent now. Voting closes at midday on 4 July. Thank you for your support!

Invasive Species Manager

Hello All you prospective NTAP's I'm Lyn Byrne and I am the newest NTAP currently 'on the books'. I am doing the apprenticeship in Invasive Species Management and having a really great time. I work on the Lough Neagh wetlands over in sunny Northern Ireland helping in the fight against invasive species as well as learning all about the little critters out there. In a Natural Talent Apprenticeship there is no such thing as a 'typical' working day! Things are always evolving and plans changing. I'm currently doing a few projects that are helping me learn lots and lots of different skills to help me morph into an invasive species manager. As well as the projects I have my mentors who are fantastic and teach me everything I need to know as well as offering advice and guidance. I also spend time attending workshops and training days which are brilliant and really great value as you are generally able to use the training as soon as your back to work. As a NTAP you are an ambassador for BTCV Scotland, the Natural Talent scheme, your chosen field and YOURSELF! Everyone I've met thinks the apprenticeship scheme is a brilliant idea and I often get offers of one-off mentoring opportunities from experts who are really happy to have someone to share there info with but don't have the time to commit to being an official mentor. If your thinking of applying to the Apprenticeship scheme then here are a few words of advice; 1) If you've read the job spec and instantly thought 'this job was written for me' then it probably was so go for it and make sure that you keep that in mind as it helps your confidence at the interview stage. 2) Don't expect the apprenticeship to be easy - you really have to put the time and effort in if you want to get the most out of it. It's not a 'short-course' it's a once in a lifetime chance to immerse yourself totally in your chosen subject and learn all you can. You only get out what you put in - so no slackers, lol! 3) Research the post as much as possible - speak to the Natural Talent Coordinators, they are great people and will be happy to give you information about the post that they couldn't squeeze onto the job spec. This may help you to grasp the general layout of the apprenticeship and also give you the opportunity to think of your key targets for what you'd like to get out of the apprenticeship and how these targets could benefit your host organisation(s). Also feel free to blog the current NTAP's - we are happy to offer advice and have been exactly where you are and are able to offer advice and answer questions about the apprenticeships that the coordinators may be unable to. 4) Be confident, there is nothing scary about the interviews. It's not like a normal job so you can be sure that it's not a normal interview. You don't have to have qualifications and experience coming out of your ears you just have to show that you are passionate about your subject and that you hope to continue working within that field for the foreseeable. Being driven and passionate are far more important in a NTA than anything else. 5) Make sure your comfotable with being the envy of everyone you met!!!!!!!!! It rocks, lol! Finally the last bit of info for you - This if one of the best jobs and experiences anyone could ask for, ask any one of us and we'd say the same. Good luck Lyn

Have you got Natural Talent? Do you have the Eye of the Tiger?

What is Natural Talent?

What does it take to become a BTCV Natural Talent Apprentice?

Why would I want to do it?

For all you Rocky fans out there, you need 'The Eye of the Tiger!!'

If you aren't a Rocky fan, why not?

The BTCV Natural Talent Apprenticeship Scheme (NTAP) aims to develop the Naturalists of the future in particular specialisms identified by many of the leading experts in the conservation sector. Over the past 18 months we have targetted the following;

Coleoptera, Lichens, Hymenoptera, Bryophytes, Grassland Conservation Management, Freshwater Conservation Management, Mycology and Invasive species.

Our Apprentices are taught by the best! Leaders in their field. The facilities that are provided by the placements are outstanding, as is the one-to one tuition that the apprentices recieve.

As a Natural Talent Apprentice (NTAP), you be asked to totally immerse yourself in a chosen specialism for perhaps 18 months!! Not the fluffy stuff you see on TV but the challenging, mysterious but equally outstandingly beautiful worlds of invertebrates and lower plants. There is also a focus on habitats too. Or what about Invasive species that are so destructive to our wonderful Natural Heritage? Our future is in your hands, quite literally!! We expect you to be a go-getter, a self-starter, a Johnny Smith type of character ( no nonsense)! and above all passionate, commited to your calling and totally focussed on the job in hand.

You will be an ambassador for your chosen specialism as well as BTCV Scotland and become a vital cog in the machine that is fighting to save our outstanding Natural Heritage.

The next round of Apprenticeships will be as diverse and equally challenging as the first 9,

but the success of the scheme has filled us with confidence that we can deliver great thing over the next few years!

Have you got 'The Eye of the Tiger?'

cue Rocky theme tune.......