As a 30th birthday present to myself I decided to pursue a career in something I was passionate about which has taken me out of my job at a bank, into university and to a greater variety of interesting and inspiring places, groups, courses and encounters than I could have imagined.
If you’re an Ecologist, a wildlife enthusiast or are simply interested in the great green outdoors I’d love to hear from you.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog, any hints, tips or advice would be appreciated or just a welcoming word or two.
Tim.
from here to ecology 
Many thanks for following my blog and liking my posts.
Your story is so inspiring!
I’ve personally always been interested in nature (as far as I can remember), and decided to pursue my dream by studying botany. I won’t say it was easy, because our money-centered society tends to make us feel useless (and it’s worse in France/Belgium – we don’t even have a word for “ecologist”, “un écologiste” being a green politician!).
Although I’ve only been in the UK for a year, I can say I’ve met quite a few people like you, ex-bankers, ex-lawyers, ex-office workers just looking for a more “real” life, so please be assured that you are doing the right thing!
All the best 🙂
Sophie
Thank you for following my blog. You have an exciting journey ahead of you! Ecology is great, and it’s not always what you know, it’s more WHO you know 🙂
It is exciting isn’t it? I have to remind myself to enjoy the journey sometimes, it’s easy to miss things when you’re focused on a goal
Tim, I have been reading your blog today. I know we’re related* so I might be accused of bias but I’d say the blog is a thing of Great Pleasure. Really good writing, lovely photos and full of insight and enthusiasm.
I definitely know the names of 50 plants; whether I could match them correctly with the plants themselves is another matter.
On the other hand I think you should know that while on holiday in France I rescued a hedgehog from drowning in a swimming pool. Washing-up bowl; just the job.
Keep up the great writing.
Richard
* Obviously I know we’re related.
Thanks Richard. For the compliment and on behalf of the hedgehog community 🙂
Loved your article on bats. I was recently reading a magazine that had a knitting pattern to create your own roosting bats. They we so cute. It made me think of you (because they were bats…not because they were cute…although…). Anyway, I thought it was an unusal and positive way to promote bats.
Tim, I retweeted your bat hibernacula survey blog post recently. I thought I would have a look at the rest of your blog and it looks really interesting. I am also a mature student studying a BSc in Animal Behaviour & Wildlife Conservation and will be 31 when I graduate. I’m in my final year and have some ecological bat survey experience (I’m a member of my local groups and fascinated by bats). It sounds like your getting some great experiences, you seem passionate about what your doing, so I have no doubt you will do well! Keep it up 🙂
Thanks Rachel. I’ll be your BSc is dead interesting. I think there’s a lot to be said for education in your 30s. While a lot of people are used to their careers, we get the buzz of a challenge. Life’s a journey and all that 🙂
So pleased to discover your blog – fascinating! Well done for being bold and pursuing something you’re passionate about!
Thanks 🙂 I’ve rally been enjoying yours too. Looking forward to more fascinating wildlife facts!
Think your white flower on Flickr might be white campion.
Hiya. Yeah I agree. I got thrown by how flat the corolla was but the more I look at it, it’s blatantly white campion!
Hi Tim,
I loved reading your blog, I have studied environmental science BSc and have a keen interest in ecology and wildlife. I have strayed last year and got sucked up in a finance job with a bank (for the money of course!) but have just signed up to CAN and want to get back into voluntary work to gain experience. I love the outdoors and want to get a job I’m passionate about. Working for a bank made me realise that all over again! You have had so many great experiences and I would love to be able to experience the same. Hope to see you at CAN events 🙂
All the best,
Keely
Hi Keely. Thanks I’m glad you like the blog. I need to write more for it now I think of it.
Nothing like a bank to remind you how much you like being outdoors is there?
See you at a CAN event 🙂
Hi Tim,
I just read your entry about Richard Burton with great interest as it was me that wrote the wikipedia article about him. I live in Prestwich and first heard about him when I was doing some research for articles about local history on the internet. I was struck by his achievements and was determined he shouldn’t be forgotten, so wrote the article. A wikipedia friend of mine who lives in Whitefield then wrote an article about the artisan Botanist from there, John Horsefield. Since then they, and the other artisan naturalists, have become quite well known around the Prestwich area – how much of that was down to our articles I don’t know, but there certainly are bits I recognise in most of the accounts. Did you know that John Horsefield and the two James Percivals are both buried close to Buxton’s grave? see: http://prestwich.org.uk/history/people/naturalists.html You probably passed Horsefield’s rather magnificent grave on the way to see Buxton’s.
Funnily enough when I started work as a Junior Technician in the Zoology Dept. at Manchester in 1967 I worked in the Beyer Building just downstairs from the Herbarium and made the occasional visit there to pick something up or deliver something to the lady who worked there. I don’t remember ever seeing what they had in all those cases though. I see the herbarium have put an image online of a painting of a botanist that they think may be Richard Buxton see: https://herbologymanchester.wordpress.com/tag/richard-buxton/ I’m no botanist myself but I’m interested in all natural history and regularly post photos on local facebook groups of local flora and fauna as well as posts on local history including people like Buxton and Horsefield. I’m determined they won’t be forgotten.