i really have the best job ever!

[almostnormal]

i was out on a 12ha farm today a first survey, in the sunshine, and i thought i have the best job ever. its sunny, warm, i'm basically colouring in a map. how many people can say that? whilst i was on my klittle farm i saw all the following...and its not even an exciting farm, just three fields a few shepp and beef cows and a dairy herd.

wood pigeon
mistle thrush
kestrel
sparrowhawk
mallard (pair with nesting stuff)
pied wagtail (pair)
wren (with nesting stuuf)
blackbird (with nesting stuff)
blue tits and great tits
Peacock Butterfly
speckled wood
Small Tortoiseshell
red tailed bumblebee
Brown Hare
Rabbits
jersey dairy cows (not wildlife i know, but they are so cute)

to top that all off i paused for a drink in the sunshine on my way back in a layby and a flock of tree sparrows landed in the hedge next to me. got back to the office and there's a greater spotted woodpecker hammering the nuts in the feeder. i don't often get days like this, but when i do, it makes all the paperwork worth it!

does anyone else have this kind of day?

[Boddie]

If you mean does anyone else have the best job ever, then my answer is yes.

But for many different reasons

[almostnormal]

yeah, you know days when you think you really can't call your job a job because its too much fun!

but specifically days when you see all kinds of things that you're not expecting to see!

[Boddie]

Yep, thats every day for me

[almostnormal]

oh, see it only happens some of the time with my job, but its enough to make all the paperwork and red tape worth it!

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by almostnormal

oh, see it only happens some of the time with my job, but its enough to make all the paperwork and red tape worth it!

well I know what you mean! like yesterday sat on a river bank watching for kingfishers. I bumped into a Loddon Lily and the moshcatel neither of which I have met before, walked up a path turned a corner and there were three really big roe buck and my ears tell me there's a chetti's warbler nearby too....
first singing blackcap, garden warbler and willowwarbler yet my brain wills a cuckoo or better yet a turtle dove.... A songthrush on site is adding snatches of nightingale to its song whcih suggests to me nightingale will appear on this site too.

I found an exhausted buff tailed bumble on the path lying on her side one leg twitching... picked her up put her on a dandelion and she started greedily feeding hopefully she'll be strong enough to continue whatever mission she gave up on...

yes wonderful days like that pay for the ones in the office for sure

but then there's the awful but wonderful jobs... for example...

Sat in 40mph winds on the side of an estuary, blowing straight into my face sometimes throwing sleet and rain at me, blowing through every seam in every layer of clothing I've managed to squeeze into, tears are streaming down my face from the wind one eye clamped to the eyepiece of my scope, I'm trying to count waders nearly a kilometer away and then I see a marsh harrier and she puts everything up thousands and thousands of birds wheeling and swirling in front of me calling and calling with the wind tearing the sound away from me and its magic its pure magic, its so cold I can't eat my sandwiches, I can't move my fingers, there's rain dripping off the end of my nose but there's a smile on my face

[almostnormal]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

but then there's the awful but wonderful jobs... for example...

Sat in 40mph winds on the side of an estuary, blowing straight into my face sometimes throwing sleet and rain at me, blowing through every seam in every layer of clothing I've managed to squeeze into, tears are streaming down my face from the wind one eye clamped to the eyepiece of my scope, I'm trying to count waders nearly a kilometer away and then I see a marsh harrier and she puts everything up thousands and thousands of birds wheeling and swirling in front of me calling and calling with the wind tearing the sound away from me and its magic its pure magic, its so cold I can't eat my sandwiches, I can't move my fingers, there's rain dripping off the end of my nose but there's a smile on my face

i know that feeling! best and worst day of my life was counting knot on the beach at heysham...there were loads of them and it was miserable weather..thankfully no peregrines/marsh harriers in my patch, its too close to the helepad

[Kymba]

I will have the best Job ever once my wildlife education centre is actually up and running, doing something I love and am passionate about has got to be the best thing ever.

[almostnormal]

oh yes, it really is. took 5 years of study and 2 years of volunteering (whilst studying) to get me my job, but was so worth the effort.

[blackdown]

You sound so lucky. How did you get this job? Do you need an assistant?

[Kymba]

Originally Posted by blackdown

You sound so lucky. How did you get this job? Do you need an assistant?

Not sure who this was for But incase its for me... Is something I have dreamt of doing for a long time and due to serious illness (and recovery) I decided instead of going back to some boring job I didn't enjoy I would try to make it more then a dream.
As for Staff I will be looking at Volunteers and Work Experience from Local Schools, Colleges, and Uni's, people who are looking to go into or Studying to work in this field and need Hands on Experience. The whole idea is aimed at involving the Local Community.

[almostnormal]

wow, that sounds like an amazing project to be involved in! good luck with it, it sounds like very hard work.