2023 WORKPLACE WILDLIFE CHALLENGE
As 2022 comes to an end, thoughts turn to the New Year and the exciting little challenge I've set myself. As I've mentioned previously in earlier blogposts my role with the Trust changed this year, in particular the area I covered. Having been mainly based at Souter Lighthouse in the past I now found myself working the whole of our Portfolio (region), from South Tyneside to Durham and all the way to North Yorkshire. It was something I thoroughly loved, mainly because of the diversity it brought. One day I could be working on the coast, the next day I'd be in the moors. We had woodlands, farmlands and wildflower meadows. All kinds of different environments, and of course, different wildlife! It was a nature lovers dream. And it was this diversity that led me to think about the challenge that I've set myself for next year. Because of all the different sites I was covering I started to wonder how many different types of wildlife I could see in a year. I bet it would easily be in the hundreds. I mean, an expert would probably get into the thousands, but an enthusiastic amateur like myself would have to set the bar a little lower. So that's what my challenge is going to be next year, to see exactly how many different types of wildlife I can find in our region. And by wildlife, I mean animal, which is pretty much anything that moves, whether its mammals, birds, insects, reptiles etc etc, as long as its in the animal kingdom I'm recording it. I'm mainly doing that because I'm absolutely rubbish at plants! So, animals it is. BUT, even though the challenge hasn't even started yet there has already been a change to the plan, and its quite a considerable change! In the last couple of months the Trust has been going through another of its post-Covid reshuffles. (this is one of the main reasons I've been so quiet on the blog). The latest reshuffle see's a change of properties geographically, and honestly, it makes absolute sense in every way. Without going into minute details, in a nutshell my region has lost sites and gained sites. The sites lost are all of the sites in Yorkshire. They have all gone to other regions in Yorkshire. Obviously on a personal level this is hugely disappointing, as I absolutely loved going to those sites. But I definitely think it makes sense and is the right thing to do. On the flipside we have gained a couple of new sites, including Gibside and Penshaw Monument. So its not all bad. But obviously it means I've had to tweak the plans, only slightly mind, but enough to make a difference to the species I might see. But it is what it is. So, the properties I now cover are as follows;
Souter Lighthouse and the Leas
Whitelea Farm and the Durham Coast
Moorhouse and Mallygill Wood
Crook Hall and Gardens
Penshaw Monument
Washington Old Hall
Gibside
There's still enough diversity there to give me hope of a respectable total. On that, I'm not setting myself a particular target, after all its just a bit of fun, but I must admit I'd be disappointed if I didn't get to at least 500. So maybe I am setting a target!!! If anyone is interested in following along with how I'm doing I'll be putting everything down in the blog with a running total. Also, if anyone is wondering if there are any rules, then there are. If anyone is familiar with the birding patch challenge, its pretty much the same as that. I can count anything that is seen (or heard) in or from our properties. So that includes anything flying overhead, or maybe swimming past our land. Basically as long as it happens while I am on property I am recording it. So that's it, that's my little challenge for 2023. I genuinely can't wait to get started, and I'm absolutely fascinated to see what we have in our combined sites. You never know, I might find something we never knew we had!
