Hello! I have just started as a volunteer intern warden at Fairburn Ings where I shall be until early September. I am very happy to learn from knowledgeable folks here and to live in a house overlooking the reserve, brilliantly placed to enjoy the great wildlife and the social aspect of working with other nature enthusiasts.
I expect that I shall be writing more over the coming weeks but it is customary on a welcome blog to tell you about my background.
I shall begin with a short extract from a field guide:
Large waterside humans
Name: Andrew Francis, Homo cacophonus
BTO Code: AF, Little Tern.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Height: 178 cm,
Wingspan: 185cm,
Moderately tall and lanky human with an often-bristly face contrasting with a shiny hairless scalp. Eye rings present most of the time. Variable plumage morph but usually in muted colours. Typically solitary and not known to have bred successfully. Frequents bookshops and nature reserves, often carrying a telescope and tripod on its back. Wide variety of vocalisations including rarely heard impersonations of black grouse and various pigeons/doves. On occasion, widdlesome and dissonant rock-guitar player.
Now that you know how to identify me, if you see me about the reserve stop for a chat, this place is my home now and I’m keen to make friends.
I was gifted my first pair of binoculars at the age of 11 and at 18 I moved to Aberdeen, where I have spent most of my adult life, to study Ecology.
In the last 5 or so years since I passed my driving test, I have spent most of the time working for consultancies doing bird survey work for environmental impact assessment, particularly for wind turbines. Highlights include searching for hen harrier and red-throated divers under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage, discovering a singing wood sandpiper in suitable breeding habitat, finding blue and white phase snow geese whilst counting Greenland white-fronted geese and amazing views of golden and white-tailed eagles.
Most of the thousands of hours I have spent surveying have been spent sitting for 2 or 3 hours at a time watching out over empty moorland to map the very occasional flights of protected species. This work tended to be very isolated and, coupled with the frequent scheduling collisions between early morning and late evening work on short summer nights and enormous clouds of biting midges, work could be psychologically and physically challenging.
I am now very happy to be developing new skills in a more sociable role where communication with the public is encouraged and to be working with a clearer conservation agenda. I enjoy chatting with people about wildlife and showing them the wildlife through my scope or from the videos and still I take with my camera or by phone-scoping. I look forward to meeting you.