On my own, a Rolling Stone & I'm in the Zone - Part 2

Uni Catchup

Well the last month has been interesting to say the least. I've been badger surveying (check out a previous post for all that info) and I have been storming through my dissertation. In the weeks I set myself it appears as if my goal had been successful, as far as I am aware I am now caught up and about where I should be. My methods are all written up, my introduction draft is done, bar from one paragraph which I hope to get done in the next few days, and my results are all ready to go. It took so much time but all 108 hours of footage I had collected has been watched, re-watched, analysed and ready for statistical tests to be performed on them. I have also made headway on which statistical tests I should be carrying out, I'm looking at a two-way ANOVA for my main sets of data and a Cluster Analysis for the features of each enclosure. I won't lie, this is the part of the process I am not looking forward to, maths & stats has always been one of my arch nemesis' but I shall battle on with the entourage I have at my side.

When it came to looking at my raw data, I thought it'd take hours to sift through but my brother was an absolute genius! Using his vastly superior (frankly Ultron like technological knowledge) he found formulas which I could use that got the job done in minutes. That's pretty much a one way ticket into the acknowledgments of the project. The actual introduction wasn't too bad to get done although it has involved broadening some of my research considering very little research has been done on birds of prey, even less on caracara & only scraps actually relating to the striated caracara... Yay! None the less its done and I think its sounds pretty good.

The next interesting turn of events has been through our lab practical assignment I noted in part 1. Where to start with this one, a seemingly simple & easy few practicals has turned into a living nightmare. It's nothing to do with how the assignment is lay out or what we have to do for it, the trouble is stemming from an infallible run of bad luck... It's been unmitigated chaos from week 1 & has seemingly been getting worse week to week. First of all we have been battered by the relentless weather, been let down by the digital equipment & had to put up with unruly goats. It seemed to capitalize on that this week. We were just about to start collecting data when disaster struck, a member of our group collapsed and fainted, quite seriously, leading us to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Thankfully we got an update later in the day and she is fine. However, whilst the ambulance was still there the second tragedy struck, whilst feeding the goats, one reared up and kicked another member of the group in the face, luckily not breaking anything but bad enough that the lecturer and us, unanimously decided to call it day before someone got impaled by a tree or eaten by a llama. So we now have been given 2 extensions for this assignment, I dread to think what will happen next week but I hope so badly that we actually get some data!

Start as you mean to go on

It has not all been dissertation & cursed luck fortunately, something happened this week which so far, has made my year. The one and only Chris Packham at an evening event at a local theatre. When I heard about it, I decided right there that I was getting tickets, no force on earth would stop me from attending. Chris Packham is one of my greatest inspirations when it comes to wildlife and conservation. I would go as far to say that he is one of my idols alongside Attenborough & Irwin. He has also inspired me through his stunning photography, he is seriously one of the best wildlife photographers I know. 

A group of us got tickets and went & it was a very worthwhile trip. The evening was really informative, witty and funny, he spent the night talking about our relationships with a multitude of carnivores, mammals and birds, in the UK and abroad, ranging from the Wolf & Lynx to the Goshawk and Barn Owl. He then went on to talk about one of the conservation projects he is a part of, a large scale reforestation project in the Amazon, great stuff & all accompanied by his sterling photographs. The best part of the evening though was been able to meet him, briefly. Unfortunately there wasn't an opportunity to properly have a talk to him due to the volume of people there, which was a massive shame, but I did manage to get a picture with him, which was awesome. A very good start to the year.

Me & Chris Packham

Its all part of the plan

So, I have a bit of a plan for the spring and summer. I have found somewhere where i can get my hands on a nest box with a camera inside. I was thinking of buying on and putting it up, ready for the breeding season. Hopefully if I get a bird nesting in there I can get the film and upload it as my own Springwatch sort of diary! I think it'd be good, I often feel like our British birds are very much underrated and forgotten and showing them nesting and rearing chicks can be an amazing story to watch unfold, you often gain a greater appreciation for them afterwards, but of course this is all down to chance, I won't be able to force a bird to nest!

Male blackbird in my garden

Blue tit in my garden