Lorna Oldershaw - biography

I have been with BTO since the end of January 2014, placed with them through the TCV Natural Communities programme. I am working on the What’s Up?’ project, looking to improve survey coverage of the uplands of Scotland. I spend a lot of my leisure time in the Scotland's hills and have climbed over 200 of Scotland’s highest mountains. I am very much a generalist when it comes to nature, having an interest in all wildlife, but my main passion has to be the upland environment and the specialised species found there.

My survey experience has been gained through a combination of voluntary and work related roles. I have been counting birds on a section of the River Forth as part of the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS), and this year will be my fifth season. This spring I have taken on a Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) square for the first time. The square includes a variety of habitats and looks to be a busy square for birds. In previous job roles I have been lucky enough to spend time in remote upland places surveying for both birds and bats. In addition to WeBS and BBS, I also take part in the Mountain Bird Survey whilst out and about on Scotland’s mountains.

My main focus for this year is to engage with hillwalkers and climbers and encourage them to get involved with the ‘What’s Up?’ project, recording their roving bird sightings and taking part in the Mountain Bird Survey.

You can keep up with the work that I'm doing via the TCV Natural Communities blog - here's a recent blog post of mine.

I really enjoy photographing the wildlife that I see on my travels. You can see a few of my recent shots below.



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