Due to my interest in all things conservation, last summer upon catching wind of the potential for a week's(!!) volunteering at an RSPB reserve I was naturally excited and intrigued - this seemed like a great opportunity to see what working with wildlife's really like. So, as soon as the opportunity to volunteer for a week at one of Britain’s top nature reserves became available, my name was down. I short-listed the reserves I most liked the look of, though to be honest I would have jumped at the chance to go to any of them.
On day one at RSPB Fairburn Ings, nestled next to the town of Castleford and within sight of ugly power stations, it only took a single walk from our snug accommodation to the visitor centre for Ben (also a Phoenix Forum member) and me to decide we’d chosen the right place. Every habitat we came across was packed with healthy, happy wildlife and both the staff and the huge volunteer team were incredibly friendly and welcoming.
Every morning John, our bearded, enthusiastic supervisor and the assistant warden of the reserve would greet us armed with plentiful dry humour and a health and safety checklist of biblical proportions. We learnt of our tasks almost as we went along: ragwort and balsam pulling, path repair, marsh draining (to increase the suitability of the wetlands to waders) and reed planting. Although all were labour intensive, they were also very enjoyable, with the highlight definitely being donning waders and driving in ‘Landy’ to one of the large water bodies, battered old dingy in tow. We rowed out from ‘Charlie’s Hide’ to embed young Reed Plants in the thick, black mud and surrounded them with cages to prevent the birds eating their own future habitat! Other peaks included the identification of hundreds of moths caught in a trap overnight (with the most interesting withheld for the children’s ‘Meet the Moths sessions’) and also a bat detecting and recording session late one evening.
Each day began with a quick walk along the road from the cosy cottage we were sharing with the volunteer interns Heather and Ryan, who were both studying for degrees and aspiring one day to warden a reserve of their own. Each day ended with a measured stroll back through the reserve, stopping at every hide and look out post to admire the rewards of our, and all the other volunteers over the years, hard work.
It was undoubtedly one of the best weeks of my life and I would strongly recommend getting in early this summer to try and grab a place on a residential week: several varying reserves offer the opportunity to stay for a week or even two and your experience - from the company to the 'work' will be thoroughly enjoyable, while the knowledge you gain will be vital to determining how you want to spend your life!
By Oscar