Year 2 So Far

Hello all. I haven't posted in a while as I've been busy working away at year 2 coursework. Units I'm currently taking are the management of fresh water, coastal and farm habitats. Also doing units on deer management, livestock, chainsaw (CS30) and greenwood crafts. After Christmas I believe we'll be starting the ecological applications unit I'm looking forward to, as well as environmental interpretation and urban habitat ecology. 

Some highlights: haven't done much practical work but we have spent a lot more time outdoors already for the various units, such as undertaking a River Habitat Survey at Stockbridge Marsh. Went to a talk as part of the course from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust on their Waders for Real project. The chainsaw unit is going pretty good and I've surprised myself if I'm being honest, since I never thought I could wield one without chopping off an extremity. Got to wrestle some Wiltshire horn recently as part of the livestock unit. Also slowly getting back into woodcraft since it's part of the course, which is good as I pretty much put that on halt. So far the year has gone alright and grades are consistent with last year. Hoping to aim for  D* at the end of everything. 

At the start of January I'll be doing my second work placement, this time a bit closer to home at Avon Heath Country Park. 

I've applied for ecology at Bournemouth uni, but the likelihood is I'll be doing the degree at Sparsholt which is fine by me. There's just a lot of pros and cons to weigh up. 

Cheers.

Taylor. 

Year 2

Hello, all.

I've been busy as I'm on year 2 of my conservation diploma. I believe it's week 4 so far. Already completed 2 large survey report assignments, one on coastal habitat characteristics (shingle and saltmarsh), and the other a detailed look at the college's lake (lentic ecology, habitat characteristics, chemical composition, and so forth). Currently working on a report on changes to the agricultural landscape, discussing policies and impacts.

Been out to Studland twice now, looking at a range of coastal habitats and doing some walk-up and NVC surveys. Also went to Hayling Island for the coastal unit.

Going well so far, I think. Got my second work placement already sorted out for January, ahead on assignments and also written my personal statement for degree ahead of schedule and almost finished application.

Quick Update for August

Plant Ecology book arrived recently. It's pretty colossal and has plant ecology covered. 540 pages of in-depth plant ecology, covering individual physiological stresses to community distribution, to global ecological patterns, paleoecology, climate change and so forth. Will take some time to read, but looks very in-depth. Quite a lot of the subjects I already understand, but this goes into degree level detail, which is good, especially with statistical analysis and formulae. I'm sure I'll struggle with the formulas as I find basic math difficult and most likely has dycalculia, but I'll slowly get my head around it I hope. 

I've also become increasingly interested in the age of enlightenment and voyages of scientific discovery as I'm just fascinated and inspired by the very idea of discovering new land and with it new fauna and flora especially. Become very interested in the Scottish botanist Robert Brown, spending a good while reading about his life and work and some of his early papers,

Another thing I've been doing. So regrettably I never took biology or chemistry or any other science at school for that matter, instead spending my time on useless computer skills... However, I've just acquired a very entry level microscope and I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing the structures about which I've been reading up close and personal. Even though it's a very weak digital microscope and more akin to just a macro zoom on a camera, I'm just fascinated by it. Geranium robertianum here showing stigma and stamen.

I'm also continuing with drawing and will post here soon.

Cheers

TH.

Botany Studies

Hi, all.

Following my decision to focus on botanical illustration, I decided to relearn some of what I knew about plant structures and also learn a lot more about their inner workings. As I actually would like to train to become a plant ecologist/botanist it's not really enough to just what I see: I actually want to know how they work. It's quite a great pairing this, the fusion of botanical/ecological study with art practice. Of course, I'm not really going to be drawing or painting the internal structures of plants to the degree that I've featured here, but from a scientific point of view it's much needed knowledge. I find drawing things and turning them into diagrams really helps in remembering how things work. You can see I attempted to shade the flower on top left, but I decided to just jot things down thereafter. The goal of this first page was just to familiarise myself with basic/intermediary botany instead of showing any real artistic skill.

So now that I've drawn some plant parts (mostly reproductive - I've missed out bark characteristics, leaf shapes, and fruit types here - there's so much to cover) I'll think I'll go ahead and start on a few case studies and actually get to drawing and colouring some plants as accurately as possible.

Thanks.

Botanical Drawing

I have tried plenty of hobbies over the years, but I find that only one or two really stick. I've always drawn and there are times I become focused on drawing, but mostly I just draw when I feel like it. Nowadays I draw mostly landscapes and work on cartography. I've always liked the idea of botanical drawing and have tried to come up with my own fantastatical creations. After some thinking, I've decided to refocus on drawing, specifically of the botanical variety. It goes hand in hand with my ecological studies as well as just being good practice.

My goal is to have a good catalogue of drawings of many of Britain's plant species, but also world wide too. I might try my hand at water colour in the near future, which is something I've never really attempted, but I know it's the preferred medium. In fact the last time I used paint was in school, 6 years and a half years ago. So yes, I'm definitely interested in using traditional methods.

Will probably update this blog with a new drawing at least once every few days, seeing as right now I have a lot of free time.

Edit: I'm also editing and rearranging my Youtube channel as I will be uploading a vlog on my progress in botanical/landscape art, as well as continuing with cartography.

Creag Meagaidh NNR

Hello all. I've been on work placement for 3 weeks in Scotland at Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve. Instead of uploading every single photo again for my blog, I thought I should just link to my thread on BCUK which covers everything already.

At the Summit of Creag Meagaidh 

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=132557

Thanks for looking.

Taylor.

Sarithus' Cartography

Seeing as this is a blog about all things nature or landscape related, I thought I'd give a shout-out to my brother's excellently produced fantasy maps at Sarithus Maps: Artistic Cartography (www.sarithus.com). Not that he needs the attention from this tiny blog; he's practically famous for his 'Clichea' map.

He also does inexpensive commissions.

Cheers.

Plants and Their History

Old photo of a majestic Oak in Stansted Forest, Hampshire

Hello, all.

Decided a few days ago that I want to focus on botany as my main interest. Woodland ecology has always been my favourite area of study and indeed whenever I go to a natural history museum I seem to just be drawn to exhibits on the Carboniferous and so forth! I want to try and focus more on tree and wild flower ecology/biology and learn as much as I can on the subject. I'm not so interested in artificial horticultural varieties, more so the ecology and history of vascular plants. At the high end of spectrum I'd say I'm most interested in dabbling in either palaeobotany or archaeobotany. There's also ethnobotany though this has less of a historic spin. I'm undecided which one I'm most intrigued by as they are all interesting but very different in that one focuses on very early climatic climax vegetation and the other two deal in plagioclimax vegetation and its utilitarian use in different timescales. I just know I want to study and focus on plants and their history in some way, but I'm only at the superficial entry level at the moment.

So yes, I've been focusing on plants a lot more (and am currently reading the in-depth Trees: their natural history by Peter Thomas.). I've been toying with the idea of making a separate blog and documenting trees or flowers of some historic, ecological or purely aesthetic significance. In other words, I quite like the idea of going round taking photos of plants. We'll see where it goes. 

Cheers. 

Ecology and Conservation Vlog 2

Hello, all. Back at college after 3 weeks away, enjoying the sunshine. In this short video I discuss woodland plant I.D and upcoming assignments this spring. Hope you enjoy.

Langley Wood NNR

Hello all. Had a great couple of hours out in the New Forest. Chose Langley Wood NNR in the north and it was a great choice. Large semi-natural ancient woodland, littered with AWIs of course, and all round beautiful prime Oak woodland. You don't get much better than that. Very interesting few hours... Maybe fifteen minutes in I saw what I'd never seen before, a whole stampede of what looked like Fallow deer. I'm not exaggerating when I say there were at least 30-40 of them on the move through the woods at once. Sadly I never got a photo. Great moment though. There was a hide in an open area of the wood where we found a dead fox. Not entirely sure why it was placed there. The woodland itself was just spectacular, rivaling many of the woods I've seen before. Bluebells, Primrose, Dog's Mercury, Ground Ivy, Wood Sorrel, Common Dog Violet (may have been Early Dog Violet, though I'm not sure), Wood Spurge, Wood Anemone and much more were out. Went to Fritham and had a quick drink at the Royal Oak before going home.

Here are a few of the best photos.

The Wonderful Jurassic Coast

Hello, people! Just been away for about 8 hours to the Jurassic Coast. I hadn't really got a chance to explore Dorset, having only been to two local heathland sites in weeks, but that doesn't matter because I just spent hours gawking at the beautiful Jurassic Coast. Truthfully, I wasn't that impressed with what I'd seen of England so far, having not been to the really well known locations such as the Peak/Lake districts, but this has proved me wrong. The Dorset Coast is otherworldly stunning. We only saw three or four landmarks, but as we had the whole day we done a couple of walks. We only really covered a small part of it, mostly in the east, seeing Old Harry Rocks, walking around and up to a part of Lulworth Cove (sadly the flags were flying so couldn't see the Fossil Forest), and walked the long way to the awesome Durdle Door. And I have to say the heritage centre near Lulworth Cove was brilliant. That's how you do a visitor centre.

This day has left an impression on me of Southern England. It's silly to say, but I didn't really know all that was there just an hour away. Living in Scotland sort of desensitizes you to certain sights I think, at least in the UK. That's not to say that Scotland has all the best and most impressive sights, of course not, it's just that I love my country and its wildness. But boy have I been proved wrong about England. This was a different type of beauty. It helped that the weather was perfect. Every landmark was heaving  with people, but the atmosphere was great. It's just a shame that my photos don't convey the scale of the structures.

Here are some of the better photos (shrunk them down to fit on the board)

Old Harry Rocks and surrounding area

Lulworth Cove

On the way to the Door

Man of War Cove

Durdle Door from above

 Door from the beach

Will definitely be going back to explore some of the west and the Triassic rocks.

New Vlog Series: Ecology and Conservation (1)

March 26th 2015

After a long break from making videos, I've decided to try to document my progress on my ecology and conservation course, as well as other things relating to nature. I haven't posted a video in a long time and a lot has happened since, so I thought I might at least make a few short videos.

Investigative Project, Oxford NH Museum & Creag Meagaidh

Starting this diploma really has halted essentially all of my hobbies, but I'm learning a lot. It's surprisingly intensive. Here's my Investigative Project done for the course. This project is the pivotal assignment upon which everything else depends. I would've spent more time on it, but I think it's pretty good considering how many other assignments I've had to tackle as well.

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Went to Oxford's Natural History Museum with the college. Great atmosphere, and plenty of exhibits, of course. I actually enjoyed this museum more than London's because it's easier to navigate and is also far less busy, allowing people to explore at their leisure. Particularly liked the chronological display they had on the evolution of life. I focused mainly on reading up on the evolution of plants. A good number of fossils to be seen. The Pitt Rivers Museum was like stepping into another world. It's famous for its world culture or anthropological exhibits. Exotic textiles, musical instruments, crafts and other such traditions.

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And it looks like I'll be going back to Scotland, this time for 3 whole weeks to volunteer with Scottish Natural Heritage at Creag Meagaidh in the summer. I was originally going to volunteer in Dorset at Moors Valley Countrypark, but can you blame me for choosing this position? It means I'll be able to go home and volunteer in a spectacular area. 

2015

I haven't written a post in a while, nor for the new year, but that's mainly due to college work keeping me busy.

Today I went to an interview for a three week work placement at Moors Valley Country Park as part of my course. Things have slowed down a bit since starting college, and as much as I'd like to write about what I've been doing there - and that's quite a lot since September, with assignments and I.D Tests and so forth - again I just don't have the time. I can say I'm enjoying working on an investigative project, which forms the basis of the course and without which I can't pass. It's a student lead project, and I've decided to do an ethno/archaeobotany themed report/poster project. I'll probably post it when it's finished.

Aside from this, not much has happened in the way of traditional skills or anything of that sort. Mostly practical work has taken a back-seat to academic work. I am however doing conservation practicals every week.

Last year was such a busy year, but I don't expect I'll have much time to post here in 2015. I may do a monthly report.

Thanks.