Ecological Surveys and Services

Ecology Surveys

Target specific species or tasks to fulfil project requirements. Let us know what you need, or ask us to advise if you're not sure.

Bird Surveys (including nesting birds)

Bat Surveys

Bat surveys can be conducted in several ways to locate, quantify or identify presence and habitat suitability, depending on project requirements - they can roost in buildings and trees, and forage across many environments. All bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and the Conservation of Species and Habitat Regulations 2017, and where a development will affect them a license is required.

While Speedwell Ecology LTD does not hold bat licenses, we can conduct the bat risk assessments and activity surveys that comprise everything most projects require. Where licenses are required, we have a network of contacts that can help ensure the job gets done.

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Badger Surveys

Great Crested Newt (GCN) Surveys

Red Squirrel Surveys

Reptile Surveys

General Ecology Surveys

Otter and Water Vole Surveys

Invertebrate Surveys

Botanical, Habitat and Invasive Species Surveys

Badger surveys aim to identify the use of an area by individuals, the location of the setts in which they live and the status of those setts. It isn't always easy to find setts or know if they are active, and for any licensable work (such as closing setts) an ecologist's input is essential.

Badgers are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (as amended). This means it is illegal to deliberately or recklessly harm, injure, take or otherwise disturb badgers and their setts

Members of Speedwell Ecology LTD have been authorized to close badger setts numerous times in the past on some of the UK's largest infrastructure projects, and have 5+ years of experience in tracking badgers and locating their setts.

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There are several types of survey for great crested newts, to fulfil different needs. Habitat Suitability Indexes (HSIs) assess the likelihood of newts being present in an waterbody, eDNA testing uses water samples to identify trace GCN DNA and confirm newt presence, and traditional 'presence/absence' surveys use more manual methods to discover presence and population size more accurately.

GCN are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and Conservation of Species and Habitat Regulations 2017, and a license is needed to perform any of the above surveys and use their results in planning applications. Though not GCN license holders ourselves, members of Speedwell Ecology LTD have hundreds of hours of GCN surveys on record on behalf of ecologists who are, and through our contacts we can make surveys work for you - think we can help? Please

In otter and water vole surveys watercourses and the surrounding land are checked for presence and evidence of the creatures, and the location of any holts, burrows or resting areas that may be used by local populations. As methodologies are largely similar, all of our otter surveys will identify water vole presence and vice-versa.

Otters and water vole are both protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), and otters also by the Conservation of Species and Habitat Regulations 2017. This makes it an offence to capture, kill or disturb either species, or destroy the holts and burrows in which they live without licensing and mitigation.

Speedwell Ecology LTD has over 5 years experience in otter and water vole surveys and all training necessary to quickly and confidently identify where otters or water vole are present.

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Red squirrel surveys can be conducted under several methodologies, but all aim to identify the suitability of habitat and presence of individuals or dreys (nests), primarily in and around woodland. Red squirrel populations have declined substantially since the introduction of the grey squirrel from North America, and it is important to conserve this species where the few pockets of them remain in Scotland and Northern England.

Red squirrels are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), making it illegal to capture, sell, harm, kill or otherwise disturb individuals and their dreys.

At Speedwell Ecology LTD we have conducted numerous red squirrel surveys in the past and have a track record of locating them to provide pragmatic solutions in the forestry industry.

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Reptiles surveys usually aim to quantify and locate populations through the deployment and checking of reptile mats, and assessment of the habitat within a site.

All wild reptile species in the UK are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), with smooth snake and sand lizard additionally being under the Conservation of Species and Habitat Regulations 2017 (as amended). It is an offence to kill or injure any of these species, and to disturb or harm eggs, breeding and resting places, and individuals of smooth snake and sand lizard.

At Speedwell Ecology LTD we have conducted many reptile surveys across a range of habitats in the north of England and are experienced in the methods to survey here.

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Invertebrate surveys are about bees, butterflies, moths and other insects, and the habitats in which they live. Within the ecology industry, they are considered to be very specialist and experts may only focus on one type of invertebrate such as spiders. While members of Speedwell Ecology LTD have advised on habitat requirements and creation for Biodiversity Framework Priority Species such as dingy skipper butterflies, we do not have a specialist focus on any one invertebrate field in particular.

Many species of invertebrate are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), as well as local and national Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs).

If you require invertebrate expertise for your project, we may be able to help or put you in contact with someone who can.

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Some projects require botanical surveys for specific protected species groups such as orchids, or habitat mapping to a particular specification such as UKHab for use in Biodiversity Net Gain calculations and to inform where habitats should be conserved or created to most effect.

Many projects also need to know if or where Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) Schedule 9 invasive species (usually cotoneaster, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and giant hogweed) are located on a site in order to conform to safe and responsible working practices, as spreading these species can have serious legal implications.

At Speedwell Ecology LTD we have 5+ years experience of habitat surveys and Schedule 9 Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS), and have worked with UKHab and BNG since it became mandatory in 2024.

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Not sure what kind of survey you need, or think you might need more than one type? We can conduct a general ecology survey to check and recommend what else might be needed, if anything, and highlight any immediate risks that require immediate action (such as the presence of invasive species).

A general ecology survey will give you the information to ensure that your project is legally complaint and ecologically sound, and when undertaken in the early stages of works can aid in planning logistics to ensure things keep running smoothly.

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YEAR ROUND

APRIL - SEPTEMBER

APRIL - SEPTEMBER

YEAR ROUND

MARCH - NOVEMBER

timing SURVEY DEPENDENT

SEPTEMBER - MAY

timing SURVEY DEPENDENT

timing survey dependent

Bird surveys cover any building, tree, hedgerow or other structure that birds may perch, roost or nest on. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) all wild birds, their nests and eggs are protected by law, and some Schedule 1 species such as barn owl and ground nesters have additional associated regulations.

The bird surveys we most commonly conduct are nesting bird checks during March-August inclusive, but breeding bird surveys, wintering bird surveys, vantage point, wetland and species-specific surveys are also undertaken.

At Speedwell Ecology LTD we have a combined 10 years experience of handling and surveying birds, and maintain regular contact with several local experts.

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timing SURVEY DEPENDENT

Specialist Ecological Services

Target specific species or tasks to fulfil project requirements. Let us know what you need, or ask us to advise if you're not sure.

Air, Water and Soil Sampling

Some projects require air, water or soil sampling in order to inform planning, assess viability of habitat creation, or just to monitor and ensure that emissions remain within acceptable levels. Please get in touch today to discuss your requirements.

The team at Speedwell Ecology LTD has experience of conducting air sampling for large clients such as airports for 5+ years, water sampling for eDNA and general outfall testing for 3+ years, and soil sampling for 2+ years including peat sampling in very remote conditions for a large national project effort.

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Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue

Both members of Speedwell Ecology LTD have training in Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue (formerly called CS38) and are qualified by City & Guilds. Between us, we can use this skill to quickly and safely get a definite answer to know if bat surveys are required or nests are active. Tree climbing is also a great way to install bat and bird boxes without need for a MEWP or use of ladders.

In collaboration with our license holder colleagues, we can also endoscope for bats and have done so for hundreds of trees in the past - between this, training and installation works, we have spent a lot of time in the trees.

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Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW)

GIS Mapping and Analysis

Waterborne Surveys

Vegetation Management

Training

Waders aren't enough for some surveys. Speedwell Ecology LTD has team members with water safety training, so we can use kayaks to navigate watercourses or waterbodies and cover more ground. Where more ground is covered, more data can be gathered, and results for your project can be more robust and reliable.

Members of Speedwell Ecology LTD have 5+ years experience of conducting surveys from the water, with particular focus on otter and water vole - from experience, we can tell you that wildlife likes best to access the areas we usually can't!

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During construction phase or site clearances it is often required to appoint an Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW) to supervise works in sensitive areas, advise on regulations and help to find pragmatic solutions to problems that ensure works can continue on time and on budget. Site inductions, toolbox talks, method statement compliance, ecology searches, monitoring and same-day reporting are some of the ECoW services we provide.

ECoW is a specialty for Speedwell Ecology LTD, with in-house black hats (SSSTS) who have provided hundreds of hours of guidance and help on some of Scotland and England's largest infrastructure projects (and many smaller, too), ensuring that ecologists are a help rather than just a hinderance with a clipboard.

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Speedwell Ecology LTD provides a vegetation management and devegetation service to help you streamline and progress works at the time they matter most - in one visit, we can complete nest checks and devegetate (where no active nests are present) an area so that ecological risk, financial cost and unnecessary delays are kept to a minimum.

We have ecologists trained and certified by City & Guilds in CS38 Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue, Brushcutter and Trimmer, Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cut, and Chainsaw felling of trees <380mm.

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The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to professionally map and analyze data from ecological surveys is extremely useful for conveying information clearly, identifying features of importance and including in reports - for all works we do, we can produce maps or other GIS outputs to aid you.

Within the team, Speedwell Ecology LTD has hundreds of hours of mapping spanning hundreds of maps in a variety of projects, and two GIS-based university dissertations. We use industry-leading technology that is compatible with most common software, and can produce outputs as datasets, shapefiles or high quality visual maps.

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Would you like to bring new staff up to speed, improve your general knowledge, get a taste for what being an ecologist is like, or significantly boost your CV? Speedwell Ecology LTD might be able to help.

All of our training is tailored to you so we can work to your requirements, or if you're not sure where to start we can help to make some suggestions.

Please get in touch from the Contact page and we will be happy to assist you.