Great crested newts are widespread across lowland England and occupy a range of habitats, in rural, suburban and urban areas. Although they breed in ponds, they spend much of their life on land. This means that there is potential for great crested newts to be present on many development sites. Therefore it is important that ecologists know how to survey for them and have a good understanding of their ecology.

This course is NOT a way of getting a survey licence signatory but is useful background knowledge and experience. Natural England no longer accepts a certificate from a course or a signature from a course tutor. We are planning to do a Revise and Assess program at some point – please contact us if you would like be on our list for that.

Course content:

This is an introductory level course suitable for those working in consultancy or conservation and maybe working towards their licence. The course will be classroom and field-based and will cover the following topics:

• Ecology and habitat requirements
• Identification
• Survey techniques
• Practical activity- making bottle traps
• Evening and early morning field visits to undertake basic survey techniques

Where:

The course will be held at Carymoor Environmental Centre, Dimmer Lane, Castle Cary, Somerset’ BA7 7NR – Joining Instructions, Directions and nearby Accommodation information can be found and downloaded within your courses once purchased.

Venue directions are provided within your account’s ‘Courses’ tab after booking.

What to bring:

You will need to bring a packed lunch. Further details about appropriate equipment and clothing will be provided in a ‘what to bring’ list when you book.

Timings:

On the first day the course will begin at 5:00pm and finish by around 9.30-10:00pm. There will be a short break for food during the evening and we advise you to bring a packed meal. On the second day we will meet at the car park at 7am to complete the survey work, and this will draw to a close by around 8:30am.