Roy Leigh and Andy Harmer are both ecological consultants in Cheshire and have worked together on various eco-projects in both non-paid and professional capacities.
Roy Leigh is currently the chair of The Cheshire and Wirral Raptor Study Group. His experience on predator-prey relationships, nest monitoring and ringing for over three decades makes him a worthy candidate for this post, and as an ambassador further afield. Roy's efforts, in part, helped launch the international Little Owl Working Group, supplying papers for publication and contributing to the Little Owl monograph produced by Cambridge University Press.
Roy was part of the Cheshire Barn Owl Group established in the late 1980's that formulated the regional groups that had been instrumental in the return of the owl to a population that reflected its past prominence. His interest in owls and other raptors continues to this day, actively working both professionally and outside of work hours with them.
Roy’s interest in mustelids stem from the late 1970’s during which time he studied stoats in Mobberley, and remembers watching otters during a birdwatching trip to Leighton Moss. He has been hooked ever since.
Andy Harmer is the county recorder for both amphibians, and for water beetles. He helped produce ‘The Lichens of Cheshire’ with the authors Jonathan Guest and Brian Fox, and co-authored two county atlases; ‘The Atlas of Amphibians Of Cheshire and Wirral’, and ‘The Water Beetles of Cheshire‘ As well as organising and critiquing Images for ‘The Cheshire Bird Atlas’. He created and helped run the non-profit organisation Cheshire Active Naturalists for five years providing over sixty courses for naturalists and conservationists at a fraction of the cost of other available courses in the region.
Roy and Andy met at the inaugural meeting of the Cheshire Mammal Group in 2001 for what was first advertised as ‘Cheshire Mammal Atlas Project’. The group was formed with the intention of producing a publication that would stimulate systematic recording that would bring together the accumulated knowledge on the status of the county’s mammals. The publication that resulted from this effort - The Mammals of Cheshire - is now a decade old, utilising data a lot older than that. It has to be recognised that there are some mammals that are difficult to monitor, such as the majority of those in the sub family of Mustelidae.