A weekend of mammal discovery: my experience at the Mammal Society’s new residential training course

Course attendees learning small mammal survey techniques at the Field Studies Council’s Preston Montford activity centre

In the lead-up to this year’s National Mammal Week (21st-27th April), NHBS was kindly invited by the Mammal Society a preview of their new Mammal Identification and Ecology residential training course.

The Mammal Society is an active charity and learned society dedicated to the study and conservation of all British mammals. Founded in 1954, the organisation plays a crucial role in promoting research, education, and advocacy for mammal conservation. The Mammal Society works closely with scientists, policymakers, and the public to gather data, inform policy, and raise awareness about the importance of preserving Britain’s mammals species. The society’s efforts are vital in addressing the challenges faced by mammals, including habitat loss, climate change, and human activities.


Course attendees surveying habitat at the Field Studies Council’s Preston Montford activity centre

A golden ticket

I was fortunate enough to receive the golden ticket to this enriching experience – a preview of a new immersive, hands-on training course focused on British mammals. Heading to Field Studies Council (FSC) Preston Montford activity centre, I was looking forward to engaging with ecologists, conservationists, and enthusiasts, all united by their passion for conserving UK mammal populations. I was also excited to gain insights into the equipment and methods used for monitoring mammals and to enhance my own identification skills.

The training course aimed to introduce participants to the skills needed for mammal identification and help us familiarise ourselves with various monitoring methods. These skills are crucial for accurately tracking population trends, population movements, and the factors influencing changes in conservation status. With one in four mammal species threatened with extinction in Britain, gathering detailed data is more important than ever.

The FSC’s centre, surrounded by fields, woodland, ponds, and the nearby River Wye, provided an ideal backdrop for a mix of fieldwork and classroom-based learning. With the added presence of an evening bar, this was a most appropriate venue where course participants could exchange their thoughts and evaluations.

Diving into mammal identification

The course kicked off on Friday evening with a hands-on session preparing Longworth Small Mammal Traps. We strategically placed 40 traps in an area of mixed habitat (the more traps you put out the better the chances of success). We added hay to each trap and baited them with seeds and blowfly pupae to attract rodents and shrews. The next morning, our efforts were rewarded with the capture of a Wood Mouse and a Common Shrew. It was fascinating to learn about the shrew’s high metabolic rate and the importance of providing food in the traps.

Longworth Small Mammal Traps ready for deployment (left) and a mix of hay, seeds and blowfly larvae (right).
A Wood Mouse (left) and a Common Shrew (right) from the Longworth traps.

Additional monitoring methods included audio recording equipment, a Mammal Footprint Tunnel, and an improvised close-focus camera trap. The overnight footage from the camera revealed some curious Rabbits, adding to the excitement of our findings.

Footprint tunnel (left) and a trail camera tunnel (right) left out to survey mammals.

Classroom insights and field adventures

Saturday was packed with classroom sessions in a room that had been kitted out with mammal skins, skulls, nests, owl pellets, droppings and publications. The morning session was devoted to gaining a deeper understanding of small mammals and their ecological roles. The afternoon session focused on herbivores, teaching us how to identify the six species of deer in the UK and recognise signs of Wild Boar presence, such as uprooted turf.

A highlight of the day was the field session, where we searched for signs of mammal activity. From tunnels through grass and soil to footprints, droppings and gnawed hazelnuts, the landscape was teeming with evidence of our furry neighbours. The evening session on carnivores was equally engaging, with discussions on the UK’s mustelids, the elusive Wildcat, and the controversies surrounding mammal persecution and reintroduction.

The evening concluded with a session on bats, followed by a thrilling field trip with bat detectors and thermal imaging monoculars.

Dan dissecting owl pellets to assess the contents.

Sunday morning saw us checking the results from our field monitoring equipment. The most challenging part for me was the classroom session on tracks and signs, where I struggled with a footprint quiz. Dissecting owl pellets was a unique experience, revealing the remains a Field Vole and a Common Shrew in the pellet I looked at.

Owl pellets (left) and exposed Field Vole skull, bones and fur (right).

The final session covered sea mammals, such as dolphins, whales and seals after which a weekend of comprehensive learning was rounded off with a course evaluation.

Post-event musings

The Mammal Society’s training course was an invaluable experience, combining hands-on fieldwork with insightful classroom sessions. I returned with a deeper understanding of the diversity and complexity of the UK’s mammals, as well as the importance of ongoing conservation efforts. Equally, I gained a refreshed appreciation for the profound knowledge and dedication of the members of the Mammal Society. I also learned about some handy wildlife recording apps, such as the Mammal Society’s own Mammal Mapper, and iRecord for all biological recording. Whether you’re a seasoned ecologist or a curious enthusiast, you’re sure to return from this training enlightened and motivated.


Mammal Society events

The next Mammal Identification and Ecology weekend is scheduled for September – you can find more information here: Mammal Identification and Ecology – Residential Training Course (2 Nights)

The Mammal Society has numerous other useful events throughout the year – Please check out their handy overview at: Upcoming events

Recommended equipment for mammal identification:

Mammal trapping

Trail cameras

Bat detecting and recording

Thermal imaging

Recommended reading:

Britain’s Mammals: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland

Europe’s Sea Mammals

How to Find and Identify Mammals (Revised Edition)

Live Trapping of Small Mammals: A Practical Guide

Mammal Tracks and Signs

Author interview with Stephanie Kim Miles: QGIS for Ecologists

QGIS for Ecologists book cover.QGIS for Ecologists teaches the fundamental stages of mapping land for ecological projects and reports and is ideal for those working in ecological consultancy and conservation, or for students with little to no training on the use of this software. Guiding the reader through the processes of basic survey mapping, aerial imagery, habitat mapping, designated sites and more, it provides a useful resource for anyone unfamiliar with the most accessible platform used to create maps for reports. 

Steph Miles portrait.

Stephanie Kim Miles works as a GIS Officer for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, having previously worked as an ecological consultant specialising in ornithology. We recently had the opportunity to talk to Stephanie about how they first became interested in QGIS, the challenges they faced while writing a book on such a complex software and more.


Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself and how you first became interested in QGIS? 

I studied Environmental Science at Lancaster University for my undergraduate degree. When I graduated, it seemed to me that all the cool jobs wanted you to know Geographical Information Systems (GIS). At the time, GIS was not being taught as part of degree programmes, so this was not a skill I had. I was lucky enough to find a role with the promise of being taught GIS on the job and I began working for a multinational engineering and environmental consultancy. I learned how to create maps and spatial analyses for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for port expansions and offshore renewables projects, particularly wind farms. Whilst studying for my Masters in Conservation and Biodiversity at the University of Exeter, I tutored fellow students in the use of GIS. When working in an ecological consultancy, I performed field surveys for protected species and used QGIS software for the first time to map the results for reporting. I also became one of the tutors for the course: Beginners QGIS for Ecologists and Conservation Practitioners for the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM). I am currently working for The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) where I use QGIS to map and analyse spatial data. I use QGIS to support the monitoring and evaluation of bumblebee conservation projects and to map bumblebee records for BeeWalk, a citizen science recording scheme. 

Figure 6.4 Protected Species Map from a Water Vole Survey.
Figure 6.4 Protected Species Map.

For those who might not know about this software, could you give us a brief overview of what QGIS is and its applications in relation to conservation? 

QGIS, as with other GIS software, is a computer programme used to visualise, analyse and map any data with coordinates. You do not need to know how to write computer code as the interface uses a mouse to click through menus, like in familiar Microsoft Office applications, for example.  

QGIS is free of charge making it accessible to those working in small consultancies and conservation charities. The software is open-source, meaning that anyone with the ability to code can write scripts called plugins to automate certain tasks. Fortunately, such coders exist within the ecological community! Particularly useful is the TomBio plugin written by Rich Burkmar and other contributors at the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The TomBio plugin enables you to import biological records and easily map them at a suitable scale for the data accuracy as points or grid squares at different scales (as you may have seen on the National Biodiversity Network (NBN)). 

In ecological consultancy, you need to access the impact of works on the habitats and species present and suggest mitigations and improvements. In conservation, you need to be able to access the site condition prior to conservation interventions, during and after habitat improvements and/or species work have taken place. Both ecological consultancy and conservation use similar processes to do this, such as the Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) reporting process. This consists of an initial desk study to find existing ecological data and environmental designations, followed by field surveys, the findings of which are written up in a report. At every stage, GIS can be used to map and analyse the data to provide the information and visualisation required for reporting. 

 

Figure 8.45 Advanced Habitats Map.
Figure 8.45 Advanced Habitats Map.

 

What inspired you to write this book for fellow ecologists? 

While developing the teaching materials for CIEEM courses I found I was essentially creating a textbook. I have continued to teach QGIS to colleagues and trainees while working in conservation, becoming more and more aware that a textbook would be really useful for me and those I was teaching. I felt that publishing a book would enable me to train more people in the use of GIS for ecology and conservation than I could on a one-to-one or class basis. I think it is really important that as many ecologists and conservation practitioners as possible can use GIS, I believe every project can be improved by understanding where everything is in relation to each other and creating beautiful, accurate maps to show it. 

This book starts with the basics of QGIS, working up to the creation of several types of maps. How did you decide on the breadth of this book and which tutorials to include?? 

I chose the tutorials to cover maps I have most frequently needed to produce for ecological reporting: a basic survey map, an aerial imagery survey map, a designated sites map, a desk-study map, a protected species map and a Phase 1 habitat map. As part of this you use UK sites and data, learn how to download free-to-use maps and datasets, georeference images and import GPX files into QGIS. Once you have worked through the tutorials, workflows are provided that you can follow with your own sites and data. I hope that having this refresher to refer to means you can maintain GIS skills in your own workplace, without having to reread the entire book to remember what you need to do.  

Figure 3.5 OSM map with grid.
Figure 3.5 OSM map with grid.

Did you face any challenges in creating an easily digestible guide for such complex software? 

Yes! When I first started training others and began writing down instructions for creating maps, I found that I would often leave out certain steps I was very familiar with. In person, teaching a class or one-to-one, I was there to provide any additional steps I had not written down. I knew that in writing the book I would need to make very sure that I had not missed anything! To do so I have spent a number of years perfecting the tutorials and data used to make it as streamlined and clear as possible. 

Another challenge has been the changing nature of data availability, sources and copyright, as well as software updates that all make the processes work slightly differently. I have worked hard to ensure, as much as possible, that the workflows will remain current even if external data sources change. 

Chapters 5–11 contain exercises for readers to undertake to improve their understanding of the subject and enhance their learning experience. Can you briefly describe how you created these and explain why you feel practical exercises were important to include? 

Part 1 includes Chapters 1–3 and provides a summary of the book, an introduction to myself and to QGIS. The practical Part 2 begins at Chapter 4 with instructions for downloading QGIS and the data needed for your first maps. The exercises for producing maps are in Chapters 5–11. Part 3 contains the answers to the exercises in Chapter 5–11. Part 4 is Chapter 12 with the workflows for each maps produced in Chapter 5–11, so you can easily refer back to how each map was made, without having to reread the exercises again. 

I wanted to include exercises aimed at creating maps that ecologists need to produce for reports. As GIS is a practical skill, it was very important to me that, as soon as possible within the book, you are able to create your first map. I have found that it is important to be able to produce maps while learning the basics of GIS. This helps to build confidence in what you are doing and see the results of your learning quickly. I hope that making several types of map, starting simply and ending up with the most complex, makes it easy to follow and it is clear how you will apply the skills you are learning to your work.  

Will you be working on any more projects like this in the future?  

I hope to write a follow-on book about the use of QGIS and QField for data capture in the field using tablet devices. 

QGIS for Ecologists book cover.

QGIS for Ecologists is available to pre-order from the NHBS bookstore