Arb and bats course, Somerset

[evergreen]

Hi Guys

 

BCT and AA have a Arb and Bats course running at FSC Nettlecombe, Somerset on 20th June 2011. I tried to go last year but the day was cancelled due to a lack of people.

 

I asked Dave Sutton what the cut off was on the course and he said 10 people, so far they have 4.

 

If any one is interested heres the link to the course details

 

Arboriculture and Bats - Bat Conservation Trust

 

Hope to see you there.

 

Cheers Nick

[Parker]

I'm tempted to attend but not sure whether its worth the £160.

 

Has any one on here attended / found it useful?

[Tom2020]

They where having one local to me a few months ago and also got called off It was mainly down to the price what put me off Im starting to save up for the next one near to me if it ever comes along again.As i like bats and it something i think i would enjoy

[High Scale]

£160! I would love them to justify that cost, £1600 for ten people!!

[Johny Walker]

do you get a qual in bats so you can charge for bat survays ,or is it just for bat spotting ???

[High Scale]

It's just an awareness course as far as I can see, I have been on one which I enjoyed but there is no way on earth that it's worth £160.

[evergreen]

It's just an awareness course as far as I can see, I have been on one which I enjoyed but there is no way on earth that it's worth £160.

 

So High Scale, forgetting the cost, did you learn anything worthwhile or did you think it was a waste of time?

Cheers

Nick

[High Scale]

It's always worth learning about the creatures that can live in trees.

[evergreen]

It's always worth learning about the creatures that can live in trees.

 

I totally agree

[bats-n-trees]

I totally agree

Any course that leads to a greater awareness of the world we work in is worthwhile.But in reality you will not be an expert on the subject of bats in trees in a day.Just think. Are you safe to swing a chainsaw after a day ? One day will give you a level of awareness that you did not have before, and anybody that hands over their own money to go on a course is obviously interested in the subject matter and will usually readily absorb information.

 

Sadly any certificate of attendance on a day bat course will not cut too much mustard with Natural England. I reckon to date it has cost me the best part of £7,000 to get my Natural England and CCW (Wales ) scientific bat licences. Plus the many hours of voluntary bat work.and so on.

 

Having attended a good many courses over a wide variety of subjects ,whilst most have brought heightened awareness of the subject matter ,very few have enabled me to bring in extra work and a led directly to increased earnings.

 

Being cynical the usual 10-15 attendees paying £120 each looks quite a good earner to me. Maybe I should think about running bat awareness courses myself. Thinks ! 20 really interested guys @ £90 each-not a bad days work -and fun !!. and I could find really good sites around the country with actual roosts etc. I could go on. Anyone interested ?