Hi, my name is Megan and I am currently completing my placement with Ecology by Design as part of my MSc in Species Identification and Survey Skills at Reading University. During this time, I hope to record my experiences by posting a blog once a month.

July has seen the conclusion to the badger project I have been working on which has enabled me to write my first badger report. This was very interesting and has given me a better insight in to the legislation surrounding badgers and how mitigation work can enable a project to be completed without disturbing badgers onsite. I was also able to learn about the Wild Mammal’s Act as the project could have impacted several fox and rabbit holes.

I have also been able to conclude the reptile project I have been working on and have since collected in the reptile mats and written the report for the project. It has been really great to see a project through from the initial surveys to the end report being issued.

One new survey that I have been able to complete this month is a dormouse survey. Here I was able to learn about the correct procedure for opening dormice boxes and dormouse tubes. Throughout the site I was able to practise opening both boxes and tubes so that I was confident identifying if a box was being used or not. Although no dormice were present, the practical skills I have gained from the site visit will be really useful in the future. I am going back to this site in August and hope to see my first dormouse then.

Another interesting part to this survey was observing rare reptiles alongside the dormouse survey. The site was located in the south of the UK where rare reptiles are often found. I was lucky enough to be accompanied by a surveyor with a rare reptile licence so I was able to aid in checking several of the reptile mats that were spread across the site. As well as slow worms and grass snakes we were able to find three adult smooth snakes which can only be found in the heathlands of Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and west Sussex and I was even able to handle one. In a very strange scenario, we found a smooth snake huddled up with a grass snake under one of the mats. Although it was a very long day I thoroughly enjoyed it and have gained a lot of new practical survey skills.

Throughout July I have continued to complete bat surveys. As hotels begin to open back up I have been traveling further afield for surveys. I have even been completing several bat surveys in Hastings.

Next month I am looking forward to completing another dormouse survey and continuing with bat and reptile surveys. I am also looking forward to completing some inhouse training on how to use GIS to complete background data searches. I am hoping to continue with writing more complex reports and improving my ability to analyse survey data.