A long goodbye

This is a difficult post to write but a couple of weeks ago I handed my notice in at Sussex Wildlife Trust. Being an awkward git who never does anything conventionally though, I plan to work a ten month’s period of notice (nearly nine now). I am going to work up until the 31^st March 2019 at which point I will work solely as a self-employed ecologist and entomologist. This feels like the right time in my life to do this, so I’m going to go for it.

 

The last ten years have been an incredible time for me. I have given over a quarter of my life to the role and the 32 reserves and all the thousands of species that live there. It has been the best job a naturalist could ever hope for, given the freedom to write a monitoring strategy for such fantastic reserves from scratch and then implement it has been a dream come true. Yet nothing lasts forever and I feel a new challenge calling me.

 

With such a complex job, I couldn’t leave mid field season, then all that work takes time to write up so even six month’s was looking like a short period of time to give. So in order to do it justice, I needed the longest run up possible to leave the work I’ve done on the monitoring strategy over the last ten years (well 11 by the time I’ve finished) in the best state possible.

  

When I do finally leave, I will be strongly linked to the Trust still, remaining in my role of VRM for Ditchling Beacon on the last Sunday of every month and working closely with the SxBRC as county recorder for bugs & spiders and submitting thousands of records every year etc etc.

So as of the 1st April 2019 I will be a naturalist for hire based out of Brighton but I'll be posting more about that in the future.

I'll keep the blog going throughout though and in the future when I can too. Saying goodbye to those reserves is going to be tough, as hard as saying goodbye to my colleagues even. Today was incredible with a singing Nightjar in broad day light, a Purple Emperor landing in the gazebo and clouds of Silver-studded Blues. Iping is a real gem of a site.

So I reckon I have about #300dayswild left as I plan my exit or 'Grexit'.

And here is that Purple Emperor,  a fitting way to end such a post!