September | 2012 | Life since the office

Old news…

So, February ended up being my last month at RSPB Abernethy. I was offered a contract as a surveyor on the Native Woodland Survey of Scotland (NWSS), and I started training on the 28th. I trained for 4 weeks, then had an assessment with the Forestry Commission Scotland during the last week of March. Thankfully, that went well and I then spent 3 months walking some of Scotland’s woods. Quite a nice way to make a living, I thought. However, would you believe it, things then got even better as I was offered the opportunity to survey raptors, divers and waders off the North coast of Scotland. Days spent watching hen harriers, red throated divers, greenshanks, etc – my dream job as a 12 year old, my dream job now…

For my last full weekend at Abernethy I finally got round to walking up Bynack More, and then on to Loch A’an. I’ve already posted pictures of ptarmigan from the day – here’s another shot or two.

Almost at the top of Bynack More, Abernethy forest in the foreground, Moray firth in the background

Loch A’an (Avon)

During my last two weeks at Abernethy, I was lucky enough to be offered a contract measuring the progress of the restructuring work that has taken place in the plantations. This involved me walking through all the plantations on a grid pattern and measuring tree density, height and canopy cover. The data collected from this survey will be used to determine where more light could be let in to promote the ground flora favoured by the Caledonian forest’s species. It was a great opportunity to see some of the parts of the reserve that I might not have otherwise seen during my stay.

Mondhuie woods – plantation turned good

During this time I’ve also been studying (OU degree) and having to improve my id skills. This doesn’t leave much time for blogging. I’ll keep adding entries when I can, but that won’t be often.

A frozen morning near Loch Mallachie

Here are some final shots from my stay at Abernethy – hopefully I’ll get round to posting some pictures from my time surveying at some point.

Ian showing off his legendary argo skills up the ‘hill track’. We had planned to get some burning in, but the bitterly cold wind sent us back down the hill