Species Profile: Badgers
A guest blog by Nicole Baxter (EP Ecology Assistant Ecologist) European badgers (Meles meles) are mammals belonging to the family Mustelidae (which also includes otters, pine martens and weasels). Found across the UK and Europe, they are recognisable by their characteristic black and white faces. They are the UK’s biggest terrestrial predator, known to eat hedgehogs and […]
Art in Nature
Nothing clears away the cobwebs of the festive period like a walk in the woods. It was on a particularly wet and drizzly walk at Muiravonside Country Park that I stumbled upon a real treat, which made me stop and think about art and nature. Tramping the muddy path (with dog in tow) from the […]
Dùthchas: appreciating nature (the ancient way)
I recently returned from a weekend away with friends up north, in the glorious highlands – the Cairngorms. It was exciting, as I had not escaped the congested central belt for some time. Being mid-November, I did think the trip might be cold and miserable, as I am a wuss when it comes to the […]
Scotland 2045 – Fourth National Planning Policy Framework “Nature Crisis”: What does it mean for ecologists and developers?
From incorporating biodiversity enhancement to strengthening Nature Networks, the new national planning policy might change how we look at biodiversity in development entirely. On this page:What does the policy say?What does this mean for developers?What does this mean for ecologists? The Scottish Government has recently published their Draft Fourth National Planning Policy Framework. In this, there […]
Ecology Report for Planning Authorities: A Guide
“I have been asked by the local planning authority to provide an ecology survey report, what is that?” Sound familiar? A lot of people who submit planning applications will be met with a request for an “ecology survey report” but this term is often not really explained. Hopefully this blog will help. What is an […]
Froggy Friday
Next week, I’ll be talking about a project I’ve worked on for a decade now at the ARG-UK 2021 AGM. Obviously I won’t give too much away in this blog because spoilers are bad. However, I thought I’d talk a bit about the humble common frog, and summarise some of the work I’ve done on this […]
Ecology Surveys of the Month: February
Continuing from last month’s post, here’s a few of the surveys we can do in February. Another quieter month for ecology surveyors, but that doesn’t mean we’re sitting inside hibernating (even if we may wish we were!) Badger Survey February sees the start of the badger survey season as they start to become more active following the January […]
Great Crested Newt: Friend or Foe?
Update 26th Jan. 2021: This blog post is specifically about great crested newt surveys in Scotland, it does not apply in England where there are several systems in place to bypass the need to undertake GCN surveys for projects. The least common species of newt in Great Britain, great crested newts (GCN; Triturus cristatus) are often […]
Ecology Surveys of the Month: January
It’s well known that ecology is quite seasonally constrained. Certain species are active at times of the year where others are not. What this means is that as ecologists we need to time our surveys as best we can to collect suitable data. Surveying at the wrong time collects poor data and this can cause […]
Coronavirus: Level 4 Restrictions Update
With the news breaking yesterday that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has taken the decision to place eleven counties in Scotland under Level 4 Coronavirus restrictions including South Lanarkshire, where EP Ecology is based, I thought perhaps a little update on how we are working. So, level 4 restrictions do facilitate continued construction and outdoor working, which includes […]
