When you love what you do, delivering projects becomes second nature

Paul French

Paul is a very experienced ecological consultant and ornithologist who branched out into freelance consultancy after several years of working for NGO’s in survey and conservation roles. Based in Beverley, East Yorkshire, Paul is the current chairman of the British Birds Rarities Committee and his bird knowledge and identification skills are widely respected throughout Europe.

Paul now undertakes both terrestrial and offshore bird surveys to industry standard (based on NE & SNH methodologies), including vantage point surveys (in upland and lowland farmland, moorland and forestry) breeding bird surveys (BBS), winter walkover and point count surveys (in upland and lowland farmland, moorland and forestry) and species and group specific surveys (including Nightjar surveys on lowland heath and farmland, Schedule 1 raptor surveys in upland Scotland and Brown & Shepherd wader surveys in upland Scotland). Paul does regular offshore surveys for the windfarm industry and JNCC that are completed to European Seabirds At Sea (ESAS) standard and has amassed well over a thousand hours offshore in the North Sea, Irish Sea, North Atlantic and English Channel. Paul has also acted as Party Chief on offshore surveys, having responsibility for mobilization and the accurate collection of survey data. Paul is a trained Marine Mammal Observer (MMO) and trainee PAM operator, and has undertaken marine mammal surveys in the North Sea as part of his bird survey work. Paul also produces reports for JNCC on the ESAS surveys aboard the bi-annual International Benthic Trawl Surveys and is part of the ornithological team at HiDef analysing aerial footage.

Previously, Paul worked in Shetland for the Fair Isle Bird Observatory as well as the RSPB on Fetlar. Then, as survey officer for the Barn Owl Trust, Paul carried out a field and desk based survey of Cornwall’s Barn Owls. From here, Paul became the RSPB warden at Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore and was heavily involved in wetland creation and design, including lowland wet grassland, freshwater scrapes and reedbed and the conversion from arable land to these habitats. Subsequent to this, he worked as restoration advisor on a partnership project between RSPB and Natural England called Nature After Minerals. Here, Paul provided habitat restoration advice to the minerals industry, from large scale ambitious wetland creation projects to small scale habitat tweaks on existing restorations.

Paul French
Paul French
Ecologist