andrew
As someone who works in ecology and conservation, I have had my fair share of abuse and ignorant comments, both during my day-to-day work and online. I can never quite understand why people get so angry at people who want to protect their environment and keep our planet a nice place to live, but...
andrew
Working from the home office has it’s advantages but people often report that it can take great self-discipline to avoid the distractions. Usually those distractions come in the form of social media, day time TV (who hasn’t sneaked a peak at Bargain Hunt every now and then?) or all too frequent...
andrew
What is LinkedIn? ﾿ LinkedIn isn’t just for tech geeks, marketers and wannabe entrepreneurs. These days, almost all professionals have a LinkedIn page and so do the majority of companies and businesses. LinkedIn is the world’s...
andrew
I am often asked how do you get started in ecology and how do I stand out from the crowd. I have worked in ecological consultancy and in academia so I have seen the graduate ecology market from both sides. Hopefully, you will find a few of my tips and suggestions helpful and it will help you land...
andrew
One of the best bits of my job is looking for and monitoring nests. The site I am on currently has lots of waders along the edges of the work area so I have spent the last few weeks observing the adult birds and locating wader nests. I even got the chance to move an oystercatcher chick out of...
andrew
There are some days when work is a little more exciting than others. Today was a perfect example of that. I was out doing my usual daily ecology and environmental checks around site when I noticed several waders going crazy and alarm calling. Alarm calling waders isn’t untypical, especially when...
andrew
To you or me this might look like the vent pipe on an excavator. To a cavity-nesting bird like a starling, it looks like a perfect nesting spot. Finding a starling nest in machinery isn’t uncommon on construction sites. Fortunately, this was spotted before any nesting activity progressed too far,...
andrew
Yesterday I was out near Glen Coe carrying out my last wintering bird survey of the year. There weren’t too many birds around but the views were fantastic. A great way to work off some of the Christmas excess and end the year on a high....
andrew
Today started off as a normal day at work. Off up to a wind farm site near Inverness to carry out water quality monitoring and general ECoW stuff. Things got a lot more exciting on the journey back down the access track though when I came across a white-tailed eagle just sitting on the side of the...
andrew
Carrying out a wader and raptor survey on a wind farm site today and it’s been hot. Got some really good views of mountain hare, including this one that was very much a case of watching the watcher! You can tell how hot it was from the heat haze on the photo, not something I am used to living up...
andrew
If someone said they were spending a “day at the office”, it would probably conjure up thoughts of desks, open plan seating and water cooler chat. Although working as an ecologist does mean a fair amount of desk-based work, more typically in the summer, the work is outside. However, for me, I like...
andrew
I was out undertaking a site walkover survey today in the Scottish Highlands not far from Carrbridge. The weather is OK but far from warm and there are still large patches of snow in sheltered areas that don’t feel the direct heat of the sun. Which is why I was surprised to first hear, and then...
andrew
An early start to carry out a black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) lek survey today. These guys just make me laugh, when its the breeding season they only have one thing on their minds and will spend all day fighting over who is the dominate male by having a grouse-style dance-off....
andrew
Normally construction sites carry on working throughout most weather. Today was an exception though as we got a fair dump of snow on the mountain and had to go home early. ﾿ The post Snow Stop – Highlands appeared first on Andrew Whitelee.
andrew
I’m off to Mull to carry out a walkover survey later this week so we’ve had an afternoon and evening to spend in Oban. I really like Oban, the coming and going of the ferries and other boats, the hustle and bustle and of course the fish and chips. While we were waiting to board the ferry we were...
andrew
I’m currently spending a few days down in Argyll carrying out bird surveys. Rather than stay in one of the local hotels or B&Bs I decided to bring the tent and camp instead. After getting some advice from a friend who lives locally, I found a great spot by the coast over-looking Jura. What a...
andrew
Out on The Wash floodbanks yesterday carrying out an ecological watching brief in my role as ECoW for an unexploded ordnance survey being carried out. While I was watching I noticed I was being watched by this weasel. I watched it running around and disappearing somewhere and eventually found the...