Last weekend we ran the very first Uist Bioblitz event. John suggested it, I spread the word around and it snowballed. With a list of people to talk to, a rough idea of what to do and a few leads to follow up we began the organising.
As the event drew closer I realised quite how stressful organising major events can be. I’m not kidding when I say that this is possibly the first time for 20 years that this many people descended upon Balranald for a Bioblitz event. Well that’s not strictly true, I was part of the BSBI group that looked at purely plants on the reserve but probably the only group to look at and record everything at once in the last 20 years or so.
The first hiccup occurred when I realised that through a mix up, we had no camp site for the final couple of days. I organised it and sat back waiting for the team to arrive… to arrive…. to arrive? A major incident delayed the team by a few hours so we all had to kip on the reserve cottage floor rather than attempt to fire the tents up. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. At least no one came in during the night.
The dream team were soon in form and gathering intel for us, the results of which I will post as it arrives here. A full day of looking around and we were doing pretty well and then on the Friday the SNH team came along to help out. We got stuck in again and were looking good for the Saturday which was billed as the public event.
I woke up pretty early and got my stuff set up and soon enough just as we start setting up the rest of the gear I had my first punters. So I ran a reserve walk then another and another and another. I was hoarse. I had imagined these as 20 minute tasters but most of them ran for an hour with nothing in between. I enjoy that though. If you get stuck in and do your think then the day flies by.
A big thank you to Alasdair Allan, our local MSP for coming along and supporting the event and also to Suzie Macaulay for coming to report the event.
After the event itself we took everything to bits and had a few drinks. Oh I have to mention the ipod fiasco. If anyone has played Cranium then you’ll know the plasticine game where you are given an incredibly silly item to make a model of in around a minute. An ipod is hard to do! I am pretty rubbish at that game. I should have taken a photo of that mess.
To sum up the event in a short blog is near impossible. I had an absolute hoot, teaching, showing off, relaxing with my peers. Over the last 12 months I have really missed having people around who are in a similar position to me. Arguably the hardest part has been the solitude. To have that level of support from BTCV (and Buglife) has really hit home how important the Natural Talent scheme is.
We’re not aiming to be some fad that in a year or two will die out and never be heard from again, we’re here to make a difference throughout our entire working career. For those thinking of applying in years to come and that stumble across the blog, go for it. Really. I know exactly where I would be if I hadn’t taken this chance (or had the chance taken on me). I would be sitting right now in a classroom on my years placement. I’d be a damn good teacher, the best even but that little bit at the back of my mind would always wonder what I could have achieved with an apprenticeship.
With this weekend under my belt I finally feel like I have made this job my own, which is why it’s disappointing that in 2 and a half months I might be on my way back to Larbert to start more job hunting. I’ll keep you posted, there’s still a chance that the RSPB will offer me a post out here and there’s plenty more to learn out here. I’d really love to live a full season with me finally up to speed.
Thank you to Craig, Louis and Amy for giving up their time to come along and join in with the Bioblitz and of course thank you to John, Lesley, Meryl, Gwen, Suzie and Ali for coming to my backyard and getting stuck in. Without you guys it’d still be a pipe dream, hope you can make it next year.