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Thursday 20 May 2021

Early career ecologists and hamster-powered scootering

My recent post, suggesting ways early career ecologists can take charge of their own skills developments generated a lot of positive feedback (Field skills for early career ecologists). So here are another couple of suggestions for ways to circumvent the shortage of volunteering opportunities, get on that hamster wheel-powered scooter (souped up wheelie-bins are so unfashionable these days) and make the most of this summer (or whatever we have that vaguely resembles a summer).


I suggested that developing your bird ID would be useful, but don't forget bird calls. Now this is something that terrifies all but the most hardened bird-watchers. Like most people, I bought a CD of bird calls years ago and found it difficult to fix the different calls in my addled little mind. The problem is that, whilst birds like Chaffinches have a nice, easy to remember call sequence, many species have more complex characteristics, which are a lot harder to make sense of, especially with no one to guide you through the maze. 

I don't do many bird surveys, but when I'm doing a dawn bat survey, the dawn chorus is a wonderful thing and it really bugs me if I can't sort out who's who in my head, so I've recently returned to trying to expand my repertoire of calls I can ID. I've found two excellent resources, which have helped a lot.

The first is a series of radio programmes, originally broadcast on BBC Radio Four, in which ornithologists Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss, listen to birds, discuss the calls they hear and explain how they identify each call in a chatty and accessible way. You can buy each of the five series (garden, farmland, coastal, mountain and moorland and water birds) as CDs, though I've downloaded them as audiobooks and listen to them in the car. After listening to each one a few times I found the call characteristics finally started to cement themselves into my addled brain.

The second resource is an excellent app, which allows you to easily record bird calls using your mobile. It analyses them for you and suggests what species they are. Like all auto-id software it has to be treated with caution, but at worst it gives you a starting-point as to what the bird could be. In practice, I find it's remarkably good at picking up fainter calls and the accuracy is better than I expected. The app is called Birdnet, produced by Cornell University and is a free download from the app store. I found it astonishingly effective and easy to use.

There's a more advanced version from the same source called Merlin Bird ID. My go-to person for ornithology advice, Scott Bland reckons it's the bee's knees and Scott knows his stuff (that's a polite way of calling him a bird-geek).



When looking at any professional technique it's easy to fall into the mistake of thinking 'I can't do that', but, as my granny used to say, you don't know what you can do until you try. Phase 1 habitat surveys are an excellent tool for broad-brush assessment of habitats on a site, but the technique is actually easier to use than you might think. The new UKhabs habitat classification is starting to edge into the industry, but Phase 1 is so well-embedded in the industry it will be a long time before we see the last of it, so it's worth learning. The good news is that the handbook is freely available and I strongly recommend getting a copy, going out into the field and giving it a go. You can buy a copy, but if pennies are tight you can also download it free of charge from the JNCC website: Phase 1 habitat handbook.

You'll need a base map of the place you're practising (nature reserve, farmland, wherever you like) to write all over and there's no better place to get that for free than the Magic website (magic.defra.gov.uk), from where you can print a large-scale map segment. Need a bigger map than A4? Sellotape is your friend!


There are a couple of things to bear in mind when you do this. The handbook will have you record each patch of habitat onto your map, using a specific brand of coloured pencils. This is very enjoyable, but not really necessary in this day and age, unless you like colouring in (my engineer step-sons seem convinced that's what I do for a living anyway). I scribble notes all over my map and then produce a fair copy later. If you're a whizz with the free GIS package QGIS you could produce a great map using that, but the object of this is to practise the field skills of identifying the many habitat types in the field, using the descriptions in the handbook.

Secondly, nowhere is it explained the scale you should work to, which confuses some people. The answer is quite simple - it depends on the purpose of the map you're creating. I have seen Phase 1 maps of entire counties, which inevitably have a "broad brush" approach. On the other hand, I've seen a supermarket car park beautifully mapped, with the different habitats within the flower beds all identified and marked. What earthly use the latter was, I do not know, but it was really colourful and pretty!

So, give it a go. Stoke up the hamster with some high-energy rodent treats, shove him in his wheel, get on the hamster-powered scooter and get out and about. Spend a few sunny days, pottering about, practising some Phase 1 mapping and identifying bird calls. Whilst you're at it, remember to stuff some field guides in your bag - species identification skills only come with practise - lots of it. Not only is it enjoyable and surprisingly therapeutic, what you learn will help give you a step up the career ladder and set you aside from those uni. class-mates you're now competing with for jobs. 

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