One of the best things about living in Shetland is the sheer volume of amazing scenery and wildlife on my doorstep. I really enjoying getting out and exploring new parts of the islands when I am not at work. As an ecologist by trade, its hard to not spend my days off doing the same thing (surely a sign that I am in the right job) so when the opportunity to carry out some Upland Rover surveys for the BTO came up, I was happy to get involved.
The Upland Rover scheme is a way of getting valuable bird data in some of the more remote parts of the country. Ideally, the surveys need two visits, one in late April/early May and one a month later although the BTO is realistic in that it understands this might not always be possible. I had two squares last year and did two surveys of each. I wasn’t sure where my work commitments would lead me this year but once I was sure I was going to be in Shetland a while longer I asked for the same squares again.
The Upland Rover project is a great way to see the more remote parts of the UK whilst adding valuable bird population data to the overall dataset.

