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[Simon Wotton from our Conservation Science Department tells us about the latest surveys to find Gola malimbe…] I have been doing fieldwork for the RSPB since 1992, but the toughest few weeks were when two of us went to the Gola Forest in 2006 to survey white-necked picathartes for our sabbatical...

[Continuing reporting from John and Janet Bowler, intrepid emerald starling surveyors in Sierra Leone.] We are all at sea in bustling Freetown after 15 days up-country, although James is overjoyed to see his mother and sister again – they make us a fantastic welcome home meal. Cat-fish-head...

[Continuing reporting from John and Janet Bowler, intrepid emerald starling surveyors in Sierra Leone.] We fill up the car with fuel at Makeni as petrol up-country is in short supply - the pumps to the north-west are generally empty and instead fuel is often sold by the litre in plastic drink bottles...

[Continuing reporting from John and Janet Bowler, intrepid emerald starling surveyors in Sierra Leone.] Our base for the next 5 days is the town of Kabala. Perched high in the Wara Wara Mountains in the far north of the country, its cool breezes are a welcome relief after the heat and dust of Bumbuna...

[Continuing reporting from John and Janet Bowler, intrepid emerald starling surveyors in Sierra Leone.] Our first study area is around the dusty town of Bumbuna in centre of the north of the country. We arrive at midday after a surprisingly smooth drive from Freetown and search for accommodation....

All this week I will be posting a series of blogs from John Bowler, normally based in Tiree as a Conservation Officer, telling us about his trip to Sierra Leone to learn more about the emerald starling – a critically endangered species that the RSPB has committed to help along the road to recovery...