The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) has recently published updated guidelines for EcIA, which can be downloaded here:

Having applied the EcIA process to numerous projects (both for EIA and non-EIA projects), I would highly recommend that this document be read by anyone commissioning professional ecologists, those actually required to undertake EcIA (who should be suitably qualified ecologists) and to those reviewing EcIA reports (such as planning officers and consultees).

These guidelines are also essential reading for students or graduates who aspire to be professional ecological consultants.

All in all, I am very impressed and applaud the various authors and contributors, who I know have put a great deal of time and effort into the production of these guidelines.
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The diversity of projects that I have been able to undertake has been a particularly enjoyable aspect of my first few months as an ecological start-up business. In addition, the satisfaction of being able to provide effective and pragmatic solutions to clients new and old has been really rewarding.

​Particular high points have included:

• Appearing as an ecological expert witness at the Torr Works Wind Farm public inquiry in September. This was held in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, and like most planning inquiries, was a really rewarding experience.
• Winning and undertaking my first piece of independent consultancy work - a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal for a Solar Farm in Warwickshire.
• Working with some really good clients in East Anglia to overcome ecological hurdles in their aspiration to achieve planning consent for residential property developments.
• Undertaking Ecological Clerk of Works duties, providing on Site expertise to ensure that vegetation clearance and site enabling works were undertaken without causing harm to protected species, such as reptiles, great crested newts and dormice.
• Working with other ecologists, including former colleagues I have known for years and new contacts. I looking forward to collaborating with you all again and welcome new opportunities to work with other ecologists in the future.

I would like to finish this post by thanking all the clients who have commissioned me to undertake work in my first few months of business, and I hope to work with you again in the near future. I would also like to express my gratitude to the many friends, former colleagues and family who have provided advice and encouragement over the past 6 months or so.

So I would like to wish you all a really Christmas break and a cracking New Year - I look forward to working with you on new opportunities in 2016.

Great story on the BBC this morning that reminds me of the fascinating world of Behavioural & Evolutionary Ecology that underpinned a lot of my academic studies - I believe there is a similar study that has shown a relationship in human males and the size of the car they drive.....I mean that deeper voiced men have lower sperm counts!

On a more serious note, it is important to note that this study has reached conclusions based on actual evidence from detailed scientific investigations - this empirical approach to science is what makes the findings robust!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34607031

After 3 months of operation as a fledgling consultancy, Huckle Ecology is taking flight in more ways than one.

It has been an exciting time, and the first three months of operating seem to have flown by (the flight puns are ending now I promise!). In that time, I have undertaken several projects for clients old and new and there have been a number of highlights which I will save for a future post.

To celebrate that three-month milestone, I am delighted to be able to publish the new logo for Huckle Ecology.

Well..... a couple of hours in the evening anyway!

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of joining a band of hardy souls from the Suffolk Bat Group for an evening survey at Holbrook School, south of Ipswich.  I had not been to this location since an ill-fated trip to play rugby in the region of 30 years ago - we were thrashed if I recall correctly.

This time, the visit was far more rewarding - the school has an enviable position, located adjacent to the Orwell estuary and it looked extremely picturesque as the sunlight faded and the first hints of dusk tempted bats out to forage.

The bat survey involved recording bat activity at a series of locations around the school grounds - I took up a station within a stand of mature broad-leaved woodland next to an open area of canopy that had been selected well - the woodland edge habitat offering a good prospect for bat foraging, with plenty of insects attracting bats close to and among the trees.

We were not disappointed - there was a regular passage of common and soprano pipistrelle bats, two very similar species that were until recently considered a single species - but now distinguishable by the frequency at which they echolocate.  However, the undoubted highlight was a single, but unmistakable call of a Nathusius' pipistrelle.  This species is considered rare in the UK, although may well be under recorded.  It was great to record this species!

Well....after 20 years of being employed as a professional ecologist in some form or other, I have now successfully negotiated my way through two whole weeks as a self employed ecologist.  .....and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  I have set up my own company, built a small but growing website, huckleecology.com, successfully undertaken my first piece of commissioned work as an independent ecological consultant (more about this will follow on a future post!).

One of the key things that I have been reflecting on in the past few weeks is the whole concept of digital marketing and using social media (such as this) to advertise my new start up business.  As part of that process it has occurred to me that it is tempting to focus on making a big deal about the ecological knowledge and experience that I have developed over the years.

The ability to stimulate the mind and acquire new knowledge and skills seems to me to be a key requirement of a fulfilling career - for me ecology provides that spark and will I hope continue to do so for years to come.

If you are still reading this, many thanks for showing good stamina and putting up with some of my musing.  If you would like to find out more about what I do know then please feel free to get in touch via my contact page, or leave a comment below!

This is the first blog and is really designed as a test to see if the whole concept works...

I expect it will be deleted in due course in place of something more worthwhile, but it should do the job while I see how things go.