Naomi Lock - Countryside Management

Total Hours completed to date: 9 hours. This weekend (19th December) I attended a conservation day run by Cumbria Wildlife Trust. This was a work party aimed at providing more suitable habitats for 'Raft Spiders'.  Raft Spiders are large, chunky spiders with chocolate-brown bodies with pale yellow striping each side. They tend to live by water, around the edges of ponds, or on wet boggy land as they use the vibration on the water surface to detect prey with their front legs. They are able to skim along the surface of the water and can even dive underwater when threatened.  Raft Spider -wikipedia.org  Although Raft Spiders are thought to be quite common they are rarely seen and there have not been many surveyed in this area of Cumbria.  We were working on a lowland mire, which had previously had water drainage channels dug to allow grazing. Cumbria Wildlife Trust and the owner are working together building dams to allow water to build up into small ponds to form bette...

 Some volunteer days have restarted and I have managed to get booked onto one being run by Cumbria Wildlife Trust next week. This will be creating habitats for raft spiders as per the information below: Conservation Day at Bishops Allotment near Newby Bridge     1 x Ticket Order total: Free   Saturday, December 19, 2020 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (GMT) Add to  Google   ·   Outlook   ·   iCal   ·   Yahoo   Bishops Allotment Near Newby Bridge Brow Edge Road Backbarrow LA12 8QX United Kingdom (View on map) About this Event This site has several small mires in an area of bracken and woodland and recently several raft spiders have been discovered here. This species is scarce, so we hope to create more habitats for them by creating further pools by blocking drains with wooden dams.  If you would like to help create some wooden dams then please get in touch. T his species is scarce, so we hope to create more habitats for them.

 Due to being in Lockdown no action has been taken for the previous four weeks. I have had no response to my email regarding the tree planting, but I am hoping to have something in place after Christmas through College. 

 I sent another email to the college tutor, as I'd had no response, and he has come up with some suggestions for possible work placement as per the email below...  Email reply: ' My apologies Naomi, i have been meaning to get back to you.  After Christmas, it looks like i will be teaching estate skills to the Level 3 students, probably 3 times per week and you are welcome to join those sessions and i will let you know the days as soon as the timetable for term 2 is sorted. In the meantime, i have just found out that Duncan Slater, who is an arboriculture lecturer is doing tree planting on Fridays with some of our FE students and i think you will be allowed to join his group of students.  His email is dslater@myerscough.ac.uk Once again, i apologise for the slow response. Regards Jeff Simpkin Hopefully these things can get organised and will help towards my hours needed. I have sent a reply as below and will await an answer.  ' Thanks for coming back Jeff, that s...

 The second Covid Lockdown has now started and the Fell Care Day I had managed to book onto on the 5th Nov has been postponed. Back to square one! Copy of the email below:  Hello everyone, Well we got SO close to our Alternative Fell  care Day but having found a way to make it happen we have been scuppered. As you will know, the new, national lockdown is set to come into force on 5 th November with people being asked to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel. We have therefore had to take the very sad decision to follow the advice and POSTPONE our Alternative Fell Care Day this Thurs 5 th November .  Due to unforeseen circumstances, sadly the Dark Skies Zoom talk in the evening will not be able to go ahead either.  Thank you so much for signing up to be part of the day and we are really hopeful that we can make it happen early in 2021. For now, stay safe and well.  With very best wishes  Ruth Kirk Landscape Engagement Officer ...

 As I am not having much luck with any placements due to Covid  and now another Lockdown, I have sent through an email to a tutor at college to see if there is any possibility to complete some work there that will count towards my 60 hours.  Work Placement - Countryside LN  Lock, Naomi (M191182) Mon 02/11/2020 14:18      To:  Simpkin, Jeff Hi, Ash advised me to send you an email re the possibility of doing some work placement / experience with you for my Countryside Management course. Due to Covid, and now another Lockdown, anything I managed to book has now been cancelled or postponed so any help would be much appreciated!  Regards, Naomi Lock

Total hours to date: 3 Hours I have been out for a couple of walks in the last two weeks and took my Mammal Mapper app with me as per my post from 5th October. This was to track signs of wild mammals in the area for a nationwide database, to allow them to see the spread of different mammals through the country.  Unfortunately I didn't see any signs at all! The weather has been very wet and windy, and the river I walk along has been high, so any signs may have been washed away.  However, this evening I did spot a Stoat running along our back fence, unfortunately too fast to get a photograph but registered on the app as a sighting.    The Wildlife Trusts (2020) Stoat. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/stoat   Stoats live in habitats which have sufficient ground cover, as they do not being out in the open, and a good supply of food. They can be spotted in gardens as well as coastal and river areas. As we live backing onto grazing fields ...

 Today I have spoken to my Tutor and she has suggested we try to arrange some work experience either through a former pupil or with another Tutor who may be able to take me out on field surveys in the local area. I will wait to see if this is possible before trying another route.  So far I have a volunteer day with Friends of the Lake District (approx 7 hours) and the Mammal Mapper I can use on walks to survey any Mammal signs.  

Other Options? I have been looking at some other options for work placement / volunteering and looking through this site (https://www.countryside-jobs.com/volunteers/volunteering-organisations/north-west) I have looked at websites and contacted some of the more local ones to see if there are any opportunities available  This includes National Trust, Arnside and Silverdale AONB and Lake District National Park Authority.  Unfortunately so far, none of these groups are taking on volunteers or doing group activities due to Covid restrictions. 

  Work Placement Update I had the responses from some groups as in the previous post, but in the meantime I have been looking for other ways of getting some experience other than in organised groups.  One of the ways was to sign up to an app which is used to survey Mammals around the UK. This is a continuing 'Citizen Survey' being run by The Mammal Society.  Any Mammal sightings or any evidence of Mammal activity can be recorded on the app alongside a map of the area you have been. This can be used whilst out walking or for any one off sightings. On the app you are also able to upload photographs and videos to give the Mammal Society a clear idea of what, where and when Mammal activity is happening around the UK.  I hope to use this whilst out walking during the week.   References The Mammal Society, (2020). Volunteering , www.mammal.org.uk/volunteering/mammal-mapper, viewed 10/05/2020.

  Work Placement Plans Over the last two weeks I have been contacting some of the groups listed on my 'Assessing Work Placement' form but due to Covid-19 and problems with groups of people working together, I am struggling to find many opportunities available at present. Some of the ones contacted are:  Lune Rivers Trust - no response as yet South Cumbria Rivers Trust - no opportunities at present. Rusland Horizons - no opportunities at present but may have some coming up soon. Cumbria Wildlife - opportunities are put up on their website with booking form but all fully booked at present. Friends of Lake District - I have booked onto a 'Fell Care Day' with Friends of the Lake District which will take place in early November, (https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/Event/fell-care-day-2020-the-alternative). This was booked through their website and the following email was received as confirmation:   Hello Naomi Lock , Thank you for your Friends of the Lake ...

As part of my course in Countryside Management I need to undergo 60 hours of Work Placement in a relevant area. This opportunity can be used to increase my skills in certain areas, learn new ones and try different things to see where my interest could take me in future employment. To begin we filled in the following form to think of places that we could ask for a work placement, any skills we already have to offer and ones we want to gain or improved:  Assessing Work Experience Skills      Work placement? Possibilities:  Lune Rivers Trust , Cumbria Rivers Trust, Rusland Horizons, Friends of the Lake District, Cumbria Wildlife, Dynamic Dunes    What previous work skills/experience do you currently have?   Tree Planting Balsam Bashing (invasive species) Algal Bloom surveys (Windermere) Beach / River Cleans River Surveys (Crayfish) Coppicing   What skills/experience wou...