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!



Foxglove growing in a tree at Glenuig, Ardnamurchan

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.




Where Tom celebrated being 30 on his birthday

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.



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!??

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!