May update from our Lederman Trainees

admin
, 07 June 2022
May update from our Lederman Trainees
Mark at ESOL Forest School

By Mark Newton and Rosie Hutchings

Lederman Trainees

Mark

This month I started my first Forest School sessions in earnest, leading a group of 16-21 year olds at Tilgate Park with the wonderful assistance of Gatwick Greenspace Partnership Officer Tamara Jewell. The participants are English Language (ESOL) students at Crawley College, who hail from Afghanistan, Iraq, Senegal, Romania and Pakistan. Because my group have had mental health challenges and trauma in their lives, it’s been a tremendously therapeutic experience for them. The Forest School sessions integrate language learning with practical activities in a woodland setting, and it’s been such a joy witnessing my group develop not just their hand-skills but also their confidence and self-esteem over the last few weeks.

Rosie

This month I started assisting with my first Forest School sessions. I was working alongside Forest School Leader Renzo Spano to deliver exciting, wild days for a class of reception students in Brighton. I have participated in three sessions so far. It’s been really nice to see the difference it’s making to the children involved and I’m made aware of just how important it is for them to spend time outside, particularly at this stage of their development.

Earlier on in May I joined bird specialist Mike Russell on a birdsong course at Friston Forest. It was a lovely day of wandering through the woods and learning how to identify a huge range of birds by their song. I haven’t got them all down but I’m starting to be able to decipher a few calls when I’m out and about.

Trail camera set-up

Mark

The month of May has been very ornithologically-oriented for me too. As I mentioned in April’s blog, I’ve found my calling in the area of bird conservation, so I’ve been helping Mike Russell and Head of Community Action for Wildlife, Michael Blencowe on their guided birdwatching walks. We’ve been up before sunrise to hear the dawn chorus, sought out elusive warbler species to identify them by song, and stayed up late to listen to Nightingale serenades. Another particularly exciting experience for me has been learning how to ring birds with Rye Harbour Reserves Manager David King. The process takes years to master and will require many more years of training even after I complete my Lederman Traineeship, but by making a start with a licensed bird-ringer I’m getting a good grounding in what could be a lifelong career.

Rosie

Mark and I recently took a trip with Reserves Manager Steve Webster to some of the westernmost reserves. It was great to explore new habitats and it made me realise just how much diversity our county has. As part of this trip we took a visit to West Dean Woods, an active hazel coppicing site. I really loved this place and hope to re-visit to do some work here in the coming months. I can’t wait to return to each of these sites and explore further. It’s really nice to work on a variety of reserves as they each have very different management strategies, depending on their habitat, size and conservation aim.

Mark

At Leysdown Cottage, Rosie and I have been continuing to improve the infrastructure with another gate-hanging session, this time with the start of a kissing-gate structure. It’s been really satisfying seeing the land of the estate improve with these new features, and there’ll be more to report on as we continue the work.

In our last blog we mentioned monitoring the bat species with a sound recording device on the site. The results are in, and we’re excited to announce that we recorded Common and Soprano Pipistrelle species, as well as the possibility of Whiskered and Brandt’s bats flitting around the house.

Rosie

We’ve also started putting out a trail camera in the woodland here at Leysdown. It’s been so exciting to see the wildlife at night. So far we have had deer, rabbits, and most excitingly of all, two Badgers! We’re very happy with the results and will continue to monitor this area and others around the estate.

At the end of this month, we had a day at Leythorne Meadow near Chichester with Reserves Manager Mark Monk-Terry and his group of regular volunteers. We helped clear some areas of bramble and thistle to expand the grassland meadow and encourage species diversity by removing some of the competition. This gave us the opportunity to put our brush cutter training into practice!

Mark

Most recently, we’ve been on a butterfly ID and transect methodology course with Butterfly Conservation Transect coordinator Bill Downey and ecologist Rachel Bicker. With our newly acquired skills in identifying and recording butterflies, we should be able to set up some transects at the Leysdown Estate. More to come of our ecological surveys as the wheel of the year turns…

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782997353.76270 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782997353.79210.0294Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782997353.79230.0002Server address: 216.73.217.103
1782997353.79230Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782997353.79230Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/may-update-from-our-lederman-trainees
    [s] => may-update-from-our-lederman-trainees
    [1] => may-update-from-our-lederman-trainees
)
1782997353.79260.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782997353.79350.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782997353.79590.0024 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782997353.79640.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782997353.79820.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22520978
1782997353.79880.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22520978
1782997353.79970.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-02 13:02:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-02 13:02:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782997353.80110.0014 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='may-update-from-our-lederman-trainees')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 13:02:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782997353.80430.0032 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782997353.8050.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2795 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 13:02:00'
1782997353.80630.0013 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782997353.80710.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782997353.80780.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=235 LIMIT 1
1782997353.80860.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782997353.80880.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782997353.80980.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 13:02:00' AND postSlug='may-update-from-our-lederman-trainees'
1782997353.83180.022Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782997353.83230.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782997353.8340.0017Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782997353.83430.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782997353.83510.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782997353.83680.0017 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782997353.84010.0033 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782997353.84060.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782997353.84270.002Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782997353.84270 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782997353.84360.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782997353.8440.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782997353.84650.0025 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782997353.84740.0009 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782997353.84820.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782997353.85270.0045 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782997353.85370.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782997353.8560.0023 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782997353.85680.0008Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782997353.85710.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782997353.85790.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782997353.85830.0005 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='may-update-from-our-lederman-trainees')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-02 13:02:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782997353.86090.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782997353.86140.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782997353.86520.0038Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782997353.86630.0011 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2795 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782997353.91590.0496 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782997353.91620.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782997353.91640.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1782997353.91730.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782997353.91820.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782997353.91880.0007 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782997353.92110.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782997353.92170.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782997353.92390.0022 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782997353.92520.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782997353.92590.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782997353.92720.0013 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782997353.92960.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782997353.93010.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782997353.9320.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782997353.9360.004 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782997353.93670.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782997353.93730.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782997353.94110.0039 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782997353.9420.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782997353.9450.003 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782997353.94830.0034 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782997353.950.0017 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782997353.95060.0006 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782997353.9530.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782997353.95360.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782997353.95570.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782997353.95720.0015Request time: 0.196
1782997353.95720Process time: 0.1958
1782997353.95720Memory: 1.6499