Spring is most certainly upon us, judging at least by the number of squashed amphibians on the local roads, and also by the sudden influx of things to do and the exflux of time to do them in. I'm starting to get to grips with the 'Planning and Desiging Large Scale Surveys' course that I'm writing for the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) in collaboration with David Shepherd of Baker, Shepherd and Gillespie in Oxford. While most of the surveys methods are very familair to me, the planning process for these large projects will be an interesting thing to learn about.