An end of exams update

Time has really flown since I was last able to post on here! Second year has been incredibly busy, and I've had a fantastic time. Best of all was a field trip to Tanzania over Easter, which was one of the most incredible things I've had the opportunity to do. I'll be writing more about that soon!

Over the past month or so I've been busy with exams, and the campus seems to have sprung to life. The earliest greylag goslings are reaching the awkward, adolescent stage where they look like slightly ungainly dinosaurs. There are ducklings and juvenile coot and moorhen everywhere. I saw young great crested grebe, nesting snow geese, multiple ducklings and a family of coot with 5 babies in the space of under 10 minutes early last week.

It always amazes me just how habituated the wildlife on campus is to people  (geese with goslings being the obvious exception to this). You can get far closer, especially to the waterfowl, than I'd ever dream of at home. For most of the birds, all it seems to take is moving slowly and quietly, and backing off if they begin paying too much attention. Some of the coot will actually walk up to you if you stay still near them for long enough. This happened when I was in campus a few days ago, and I was able to get some photos I was really happy with just using the camera on my phone!

It's almost June, which means 30 Days Wild is coming up soon. I'll be taking part again this year, trying to do something wild every day for the whole month. It's a fantastic thing to get involved in, especially if, like me, you want to make more time to enjoy wildlife and nature. There's still time to sign up, and if you are taking part, I'd love to hear what you've got planned! Let me know in the comments, or get in touch on twitter.