June has been the busiest month of the year to date. Every day I have been somewhere doing something it seems. Reptiles, bats, tree climbing and LOTS of plant ID.
When I wasn’t travelling across the country, I was preparing for the FISC; a challenging plant identification exam that tests your proficiency in identifying plants both in the lab and in the field. The test is split into three parts: Lab test 1, Lab test 2, and a field test. The grades are from 1 to 6, 1 being a beginner and 6 being an expert.
Having only been involved in botany for two years, I am aiming for a level 4, which indicates soil identification skills. However, I would be satisfied with a level 3, as it qualifies me to conduct UKHAB surveys. Lab test 1 went amazing…I got 10/10, a level 5! Lab test 2, however… let’s just call it a humbling experience. I think I will be lucky to come out with a level 2 for that one. When plants are just on a table, and you have never seen anything like them before, where do you even start? We only had one and a half hours to identify 20 specimens, and to key one out takes half an hour, so if you don’t know the plants, the most you’re going to key out is three! It was indeed a tragedy.
On the flip side, the field test was lovely. We ventured to a nice site near Dovedale and spent two hours identifying all the plants we could. I managed to get a species list of 95, which I was quite proud of. The Level 6 recorder, who our species list is compared to, got 120 species so if all goes well, I could get a level 4, but who knows. Now we sit and wait for our results. Fingers crossed!
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