The Backstory

Chanonry Point, Moray Firth - Waiting for Dolphins

I thought I'd backtrack a little bit this month, by explaining a bit more about why I came to have this page. Believe it or not I originally bought the domain name [www.theurbanecologist.co.uk] way back in 2014. At the time I was working/studying as an Ecologist Trainee with the Scottish Wildlife Trust [SWT] along with 9 others on a pretty cool programme called 'Developing Ecological Surveying Skills/ Experts for Nature'. The programme ran for 18-months [from March 2013 to September 2014] and gave us a full skill set for working in the ecology sector. Over the course of the year and a half we traversed Scotland surveying all manner of flora and fauna across numerous SWT nature reserves.

[Loch Morlich, Cairngorms; Inshriach Forest, Cairngorms; Goatfell, Arran; Bluebells at Culzean, Ayrshire; Machrie Moor, Arran; Sea cliffs on Handa; Bass Rock from Tyninghame; Mull, near Eas For waterfall]

Memorable moments include:

Beaver tracking in Knapdale, Argyll

Spending a week tracking beavers in Argyll during which we trapped a beaver for radio tracking [and got to touch its tail in the process!] and saw shooting stars whilst carrying out evening survey work...

'Betty' the Bonxie [Great Skua Stercorarius skua] on Handa

spending a rather tedious 10 days camping on Handa Island counting sea birds and monitoring shrew populations in near persistent rain [whilst the rest of the country basked in a heatwave]...

Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)

watching minke whales and white-tailed eagles in Mull...

Where Golden Eagles [and Arran Whitebeam] dare..

trekking through Arran glens in search of the endemic [and sadly, rare] Arran whitebeams...

and spending two glorious springs at Culzean Castle bottle-trapping great crested newts [and eating copious amounts of chocolate Easter eggs that the National Trust for Scotland staff couldn't sell].

It was great stuff, although I did come away with a deep dislike of bats - mostly due to the unsocial hours in which we had to survey them [9pm - 5am], and that one time that I spent have the evening carefully monitoring the signal of a particular individual who, rather surprisingly had not come out of the roost to hunt...it turned out the radio tag had fallen off and I'd been guarding a completely empty tree...

Brown Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus) - if I had to pick a favourite bat, it would be these guys

Anyway, one aspect of the course was to create a mock self-employed business model - just in case we fancied going freelance anytime soon. I figured that as much as I enjoy ecology, I'm not a massive fan of the irregular hours, travelling and, frankly, the faff of being a full-blown ecologist [this was further cemented 4 years later when working as a seasonal ecologist for an engineering consultancy]. But I'd always enjoyed a sort of teaching/adult education element - and I used to run guided nature walks for various environmental and conservation charity groups. So, I devised a business plan for an ecological/environmental adult education company, which would focus on all manner of nature found in urban areas. And if, you're going to have a website to advertise and educate, then you need a sensible address....

So, yes I bought the domain name and have religiously been paying for it every year henceforth. I didn't really expect for it to turn into a full-blown resource right away - I figured I probably needed some more 'life experience' before doing anything, so I've just been sitting on it all this time.

When we moved house in 2020 [not a great time to move house btw] and we realised how much wildlife there was in the garden, I thought I'd bring out the domain name and start a bit of a blog; as much to document the hi-jinks as to educate others. Going forwards, I'd I'm planning to include a bit more than just the garden wildlife; so, I'll be attempting to cover some other environmental, conservational and general 'urban ecology' topics - please let me know your thoughts on areas covered!

I'm also dabbling a little with sketches, watercolours and graphics; so maybe one day I'll be able to have a few printable resources - who knows!!!

[And yes, I have shamelessly used this blog post to share some of my favourite photos from this particular life chapter - I would highly encourage you to visit any of the places mentioned :) ]

Author with a Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus)