June was a busy month as well with lots of surveying to do and events to organise. I participated in the RSPB national campaign “Love Nature Week” and attended a collection event in Southend. I worked with the South Essex fund raising gurus Alan Shearman and Graham Mee.
Here I am surveying little terns on the Eastern Quarters Spit, which is one of my favourite spots on the reserve.
You can’t get much better than this.....
It is now mid June and I, along with the other volunteers Ricky, Rob and Sarah were booked in for our PA1 & PA6 pesticides training at Old Hall. The course was run over two days and split into theory and practical elements. Prior to this, I knew virtually nothing about pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, or how to use them and dispose of them correctly. I had no idea about the huge variety of nozzles and sprayers you could use depending on the type of task set.
A great deal of planning and prior investigative work needs to be carried out before spraying can take place. A full Local Environmental Risk Assessment for Pesticides (LERAP) is necessary to minimise any potential harm to human, animal and marine life. Weather conditions, the time of day, the season, plant growth, animals, members of the public, insect activity, water courses, drainage, topography are just some of the things that have to be taken into account before spraying. The area you intend to treat needs to be marked out and then measured. In addition to this, your average walking speed, the flow rate of the nozzle (nozzle output) and width of spray (band width) needs to be calibrated to determine the amount of water and pesticide you require for that particular job.
If, like me, you are slightly challenged mathematically, then this is a tall order. But you can muddle through using a basic formula. Despite my brain feeling like it had been cooked in a microwave and the odd “brain overload” moment, the course was actually very insightful and useful. The assessments for the PA1 and PA6 tests were carried out a few weeks later and I passed!
“What ever you do, don’t cross beams and Ricky, stop cleaning your boots” (please note, only water was used in training so no damage to boots occurred!)