In May I travelled up to Norfolk to spend the night at the volunteers house at Strumpshaw Fen to attend a brush cutter training course at the reserve the following day. The course was a full day of learning and practical work. Brush cutting constitutes a significant proportion of the reserve work we carry out in the summer. It is important to know how to operate and service these machines safely. Unfortunately I don’t have any amusing pictures of the interns kitted out in all their finest safety gear.
Ricky and I spent a day going around the reserve at Old Hall with the Warden, Paul Charlton (a.k.a King of the Marsh). The day was spent observing and understanding the wet grassland management practices carried out on the reserve.
May also marked the beginning of the events season, which needed co-ordination of staff, stock and equipment. As events co-ordinator, I was responsible for setting up each event. The RSPB has a stand or Gazebo at a lot of regional and local events to outline the work of the RSPB and to encourage members of the public to become involved in conservation and gain some new RSPB members at the same time. We participated in the Tolleshunt Major Fete, which was unfortunately was wet and very windy. There was some positive news, during the 30 minutes it didn’t rain we recruited two new RSPB members.
I also spent an afternoon learning about membership recruitment with Steve Field the RSPB Membership Development Manager and some of the team at the Wat Tyler Reserve in South Essex. The timing was perfect as I had a number of events coming up so the training was very beneficial. I spent a day at The RSPB new Wildlife Garden at Flatford Mill in Suffolk, shadowing Steve. It was a really interesting and successful day, talking to members of the public about the RSPB, membership and the organisations latest conservation initiatives. We both recruited a number of new RSPB members, which was incredibly rewarding.