Well, January has gone extremely quickly for a change, perhaps because I have been so busy! It has acted as a reset for me as I think I have now found my motivation again after a lull over the holidays.
January has indeed been a month of Wallabies for me with a visit from BH Wildlife Consultancy. I also held a large team meeting to discuss the survey and poster I had been creating.
Ben and Katie Harrower were hired by MWT to conduct a thermal imaging survey by drone of the Ballaugh Curraghs. They were absolutely fascinating to watch and talk to. I feel lucky that I was able to go out with them for a day, but I wish I was able to spend more time with them. Because of the weather conditions they were only able to survey the Curraghs late at night when I unfortunately had to work! Surveying at night with thermal imaging is also easier as less of the land is heated by the sun making the fauna more distinguishable. More areas were planned to survey such as other areas where wallabies had been sighted and Laxey where there are complaints about the feral goats, but again, due to high winds during the days they were here this was not possible. Hopefully they will be able to return again in the future to find out more as the findings (which will be made available to the public later this year) were very interesting.
As for my survey, after my meeting I now plan to write up a short survey to see what the landowners surrounding and within the Curraghs feel about the wallaby population. They are the people living most closely with them and so their input will go along nicely with the report.
