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| Large Yellow Underwing |
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| 2 Small Yellow Underwing |
It didnt dissapoint. Nothing uncommon or amazingly special...
I think I have I'd them correctly but you never can tell especially with the carpets - there are so many of them!
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| Garden Carpet |
Sunday, 9 September 2012
Moth trap antics
Just a very quick blog to update on my moth trappings!
Yesterday was a beautiful day so I thought I would give the moth trap a try in the evening.
It didnt dissapoint. Nothing uncommon or amazingly special...
I think I have I'd them correctly but you never can tell especially with the carpets - there are so many of them!
It didnt dissapoint. Nothing uncommon or amazingly special...
I think I have I'd them correctly but you never can tell especially with the carpets - there are so many of them!
First week at Dunham Massey - laughs and learning
Well this week I have been the new girl on the block or Doug's replacement (the previous trainee ranger who is now assistant head ranger at Lymm!
It was my first week and the sun shone the whole week! How lucky was I!??!!!
My first week was a great, looking forward to the next two and a half years. Oh yes and I have immediately learnt that...
a) I am short! (Reaching some of the tools in the tool shed and also the gear stick on the landy is hard with short legs!)
b) I have no strength in my muscles (yet!) which is extremely frustrating!
c) The 'Dunham Massey 7' the amount of weight (in pounds thankfully, not stone) you apparently put on when working at Dunham!
So yes my first week was great the best bits of the week were (and in no particular order)...
1) Getting a NT uniform - I was so chuffed! Loving the combat style trousers and flattering black polo shirts!
2) Using a petrol strimmer - they are sooooo cool, much better than the piddly battery one Tom and I have at home for the allotment
3) Driving the landrover avec small trailer
4) Meeting all the friendly faces at Dunham, my team are great and the staff in the house are so friendly and welcoming. But beware of the Dunham Massey 7 - refuse all offers of home baked biscuits and cakes which really are on offer ever day at the house!
5) Realising how good Dunham is for getting experience in the 'bigger jobs' of the ranger team. Driving the tractor is a daily task here at dunham and big tree jobs are often done by the team (2 of the team are trained climbers so can fell some of the big trees themselves). There's also a lot of strimming, pruning etc to be done with it being quite a manicured park.
I wont go into the ins and outs of each day but needless to say it does seem like every day brings with it a new task or different thing to do. Friday is clock winding day of the clock in the clock tower and I think that alone will build up my muscles, the weights need winding back up each Friday and they are literally huge pieces of stone. I could just about turn one of the handles but no chance with the other. Then one of the other rangers took over and made it look like he was just mixing a cake - I have a long way to go and think I need to be winding that clock up each week!!!
I have spent I think 6 years volunteering for the NTS and have realised this week how lucky I am to be able to visit so many properties and learn so much but what I have learnt seems to be so small compared to what I need to learn going forward. The work at Dunham seems very different to what I am used to but I think its essentially bigger jobs and less nature conservation. Their main focus / priority seems to be on health and safety in terms of the veteran trees and making sure they are safe. The nature conservation side of things happens on the way! Its so interesting though to see the work of a ranger from Dunham's angle and I am certainly going to learn lots!
One amazing piece of kit which I wish NTS have for their thistle camps are 'silkies' small hand held pruning saws which cut through so much with much less effort than bow saws and so much quicker and so much more ability to manoeuvre the blade than a bow saw. One to tell Jon next time I see him!
Tasks this week have included the necessary induction, pruning back tress overhanging fences by the tennis courts, increasing the height of the drainage access points and back filling the spaces around them with topsoil, strimming ride / field margins, walking the park for any snags or any questions I had (a very nice way to end a week with a walk around the park!). I have also been to meetings where I have met volunteer park rangers (85 in total I think, though I only met a few!) at their leaders meeting, meeting the head of departments at their meeting and the NW Director John Darlington!
What will next week have in store?
It was my first week and the sun shone the whole week! How lucky was I!??!!!
My first week was a great, looking forward to the next two and a half years. Oh yes and I have immediately learnt that...
a) I am short! (Reaching some of the tools in the tool shed and also the gear stick on the landy is hard with short legs!)b) I have no strength in my muscles (yet!) which is extremely frustrating!
c) The 'Dunham Massey 7' the amount of weight (in pounds thankfully, not stone) you apparently put on when working at Dunham!
So yes my first week was great the best bits of the week were (and in no particular order)...
1) Getting a NT uniform - I was so chuffed! Loving the combat style trousers and flattering black polo shirts!
2) Using a petrol strimmer - they are sooooo cool, much better than the piddly battery one Tom and I have at home for the allotment
3) Driving the landrover avec small trailer
4) Meeting all the friendly faces at Dunham, my team are great and the staff in the house are so friendly and welcoming. But beware of the Dunham Massey 7 - refuse all offers of home baked biscuits and cakes which really are on offer ever day at the house!
5) Realising how good Dunham is for getting experience in the 'bigger jobs' of the ranger team. Driving the tractor is a daily task here at dunham and big tree jobs are often done by the team (2 of the team are trained climbers so can fell some of the big trees themselves). There's also a lot of strimming, pruning etc to be done with it being quite a manicured park.
I wont go into the ins and outs of each day but needless to say it does seem like every day brings with it a new task or different thing to do. Friday is clock winding day of the clock in the clock tower and I think that alone will build up my muscles, the weights need winding back up each Friday and they are literally huge pieces of stone. I could just about turn one of the handles but no chance with the other. Then one of the other rangers took over and made it look like he was just mixing a cake - I have a long way to go and think I need to be winding that clock up each week!!!
I have spent I think 6 years volunteering for the NTS and have realised this week how lucky I am to be able to visit so many properties and learn so much but what I have learnt seems to be so small compared to what I need to learn going forward. The work at Dunham seems very different to what I am used to but I think its essentially bigger jobs and less nature conservation. Their main focus / priority seems to be on health and safety in terms of the veteran trees and making sure they are safe. The nature conservation side of things happens on the way! Its so interesting though to see the work of a ranger from Dunham's angle and I am certainly going to learn lots!
One amazing piece of kit which I wish NTS have for their thistle camps are 'silkies' small hand held pruning saws which cut through so much with much less effort than bow saws and so much quicker and so much more ability to manoeuvre the blade than a bow saw. One to tell Jon next time I see him!
Tasks this week have included the necessary induction, pruning back tress overhanging fences by the tennis courts, increasing the height of the drainage access points and back filling the spaces around them with topsoil, strimming ride / field margins, walking the park for any snags or any questions I had (a very nice way to end a week with a walk around the park!). I have also been to meetings where I have met volunteer park rangers (85 in total I think, though I only met a few!) at their leaders meeting, meeting the head of departments at their meeting and the NW Director John Darlington!
What will next week have in store?
Sunday, 2 September 2012
News News News!
Wow what a fantastic couple of months its been! I actually drafted this post I think at the beginning of July and its now the beginning of September but I thought I would complete it and post as its all going to get even busier in terms of my love of nature in the future. But anyway more about that later!
I have been having two types of guilt over the past couple of months. They have been niggling at me for a while and I need to tackle both of them! They are:
a)Bloggers guilt - the guilt of not 'getting round' to updating my blog - I started off so well!
b) Allotment guilt - a slightly worse condition than bloggers guilt brought on by non attendance at the allotment for some time as a result of completely munched potato plants and rotten spuds.
Both are now being remedied slowly!
Well I have to say its been a cracking couple of months. As you may have guessed this statement doesn't relate to the weather but does relate to life in general!
The lack of sunshine generally and time at weekends has meant that there has not been much opportunity to get the moth trap out but we have been out and a bout a fair bit and have had some very good news! The news will come in a bit.
Well June was full of fun and frolics. It was Tom's 30th birthday with celebrations including meals out, generally lots of food, a good hike up Snowdon and a sea kayaking trip up to Glenuig and rounds about. A pretty outdoor packed couple of weeks.
The sea kayaking was fantastic and we highly recommend Rockhopper Sea Kayaking http://www.rockhopperscotland.co.uk/. Ben was a fantastic guide allowed us to explore the sea lochs for starfish, otters and seals and did all the cooking and general hosting. We kayaked the North and South channels of Loch Moidart and wild camped on a white sand beach just north of Eilean Shona it was a great couple of days and extremely relaxing.
Then it was back to work for a short week before heading off to a friends wedding down in Suffolk. A great weekend.
July bought with it a sea change in my career path too and one that I am sooooooo excited about. I somehow managed to convince the team at Dunham Massey, National Trust house, gardens and park to give me their 2 and a half year training academy post as a trainee ranger!!!!
I couldn't quite believe it, cried for about 2 hours after the head ranger telling me the good news and I still am in shock about it!! Here are some pics of Dunham above and below. It will be such a fantastic experience, once in a lifetime opportunity and one I will throw myself completely into. Here is the link to more information on the National Trust's website about Dunham: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunhammassey/
In addition to working with a ranger team and learning the ropes literally from the bottom up I also get training and certification in using chainsaws, tractors, pesticide use and brush cutting along with anything else the head ranger deems necessary.
Whats even more exciting is the park is home to a large herd of fallow deer so I will be involved in the yearly cull as well as experiencing the rut and all that goes on in the yearly cycle of the deer. Its a fantastic park with about 300 acres, planted about 300 years and more ago and is a SSSI for deadwood ecology because of the amount of veteran trees and their dead counterparts. Its got I think 4 lakes too so great for a huge range of invertebrates which in tern means its also probably great for bats and birds and the likes.
I start as a trainee ranger on the 3rd September (tomorrow!!) and I cannot wait!
I have been having two types of guilt over the past couple of months. They have been niggling at me for a while and I need to tackle both of them! They are:
a)Bloggers guilt - the guilt of not 'getting round' to updating my blog - I started off so well!
b) Allotment guilt - a slightly worse condition than bloggers guilt brought on by non attendance at the allotment for some time as a result of completely munched potato plants and rotten spuds.
Both are now being remedied slowly!
 |
| Foxglove growing in a tree at Glenuig, Ardnamurchan |
The lack of sunshine generally and time at weekends has meant that there has not been much opportunity to get the moth trap out but we have been out and a bout a fair bit and have had some very good news! The news will come in a bit.
 |
| Where Tom celebrated being 30 on his birthday |
 |
| Butterwort in flower on the path up to snowdon |
The sea kayaking was fantastic and we highly recommend Rockhopper Sea Kayaking http://www.rockhopperscotland.co.uk/. Ben was a fantastic guide allowed us to explore the sea lochs for starfish, otters and seals and did all the cooking and general hosting. We kayaked the North and South channels of Loch Moidart and wild camped on a white sand beach just north of Eilean Shona it was a great couple of days and extremely relaxing.
Then it was back to work for a short week before heading off to a friends wedding down in Suffolk. A great weekend.
 |
| Dunham has the 4 different colour of Fallow deer three shown here! |
 |
| One of the lakes at Dunham, my future office! |
July bought with it a sea change in my career path too and one that I am sooooooo excited about. I somehow managed to convince the team at Dunham Massey, National Trust house, gardens and park to give me their 2 and a half year training academy post as a trainee ranger!!!!
I couldn't quite believe it, cried for about 2 hours after the head ranger telling me the good news and I still am in shock about it!! Here are some pics of Dunham above and below. It will be such a fantastic experience, once in a lifetime opportunity and one I will throw myself completely into. Here is the link to more information on the National Trust's website about Dunham: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunhammassey/
In addition to working with a ranger team and learning the ropes literally from the bottom up I also get training and certification in using chainsaws, tractors, pesticide use and brush cutting along with anything else the head ranger deems necessary.
 |
| Dunham is a SSSI for deadwood ecology how cool is that!?? |
I start as a trainee ranger on the 3rd September (tomorrow!!) and I cannot wait!
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