This two-day Great Crested Newt – Working Towards a Licence course is for those interested in gaining a Great Crested Newt survey or research level 1 Licence.
The course is designed for individuals with experience of working with Great Crested Newts and will consist of a theory session followed by an assessed practical session at a local nature reserve.
The course will cover great crested newt identification and ecology, survey techniques, the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) and will include opportunities to demonstrate refuge searching, netting, bottle trapping, torch and egg searching.
The timings for the course are as follows and will vary slightly depending on sunset timings:
• Day one online theory session will start at 0930hrs and finish at 1330hrs this will be held on Microsoft Teams.
The fieldwork session will take place at FSC Epping Forest, High Beach, Loughton, IG10 4AF
• Day one fieldwork session will start approximately at 1930hrs and finish at 2130hrs. (Time dependent on sunset)
• Day two fieldwork session will start at approximately 0800hrs and finish at 1100hrs. This session will also involve an identification test and HSI assessment.
You will be assessed during the course and upon successful completion of the identification test a certificate will be given to support an application to Natural England for a Great Crested Newt licence.
For the fieldwork sessions you will need to bring: suitable outdoor clothing for fieldwork; Wellington boots, or other suitable outdoor footwear. Warm and waterproof clothing with a change of spare clothing advised. A powerful torch (>1 million candlepower) for surveying and a headtorch or smaller torch for moving between ponds is advisable.
Froglife will provide bottle traps and accompanying equipment. If weather conditions dictate that bottle traps can’t be left out overnight, then the candidate will still be assessed on bottle trap placement in the pond.
There will be further information including teams invite will be sent through two weeks prior to your course.