Hannah Sharratt is (or was!) the Inner Forth Reserves Assistant Warden. At the start of July she is heading off to a new job at RSPB Baron's Haugh. In this blog she tells us about some of her favourite bits about working in the Inner Forth.
Hi, I’m Hannah, the Assistant Warden for the Inner Forth, and this is my last day in this role! I started in the Inner Forth at the beginning of December 2016 and I wanted to tell you some of the brilliant things I’ve been part of in this job. I’m not leaving the RSPB- I’m moving to another role in our region: from Monday I will be the new Assistant Warden for Baron’s Haugh and Airds Moss in Strathclyde and Ayrshire.Working in the Inner Forth has been amazingly varied and interesting- you know you’ve got a great job when one day you have got your hand stuck down a puffin burrow and the next you are pond dipping with a whole group of beavers (the children, not the animal)!.
I have loved getting the chance to develop my sea (estuary) legs, managing tree mallow on Fidra,
counting seabirds on Inchmickery
and working on cruises that explore the islands in the Forth.
I even found my name sake in a boat on Loch Lomond!
I am so so proud of the progression that has happened at Black Devon Wetlands whilst I have known it. The viewing screen, boardwalk, benches and pond dipping platform have all been a labour of love and I’m over the moon at how they have turned out and seeing them being used has been such a joy! The development of a volunteer warden group and a wider community that are proud of the site and have helped us look after it has been a real pleasure.
I have also had the chance to work on other reserves in the Forth and Lomond team, just last week I was with some of our volunteers pulling bracken at RSPB Inversnaid. It was a beautiful day and it was a pleasure to sit and eat lunch by the shores of Loch Lomond, even if it was really too hot to work!
Of course it’s not always been fun and games, this was me on our last trip to Inversnaid, trying to avoid the midges!
And sometimes we have been freezing and up to our knees in mud, but these have been some of the most fun days!
Being based at or reserve at Skinflats has been brilliant, I feel privileged to have gotten to know this hidden site. The drive down to the office looks beautiful in all seasons and I even got to spend half an hour watching a pine marten on the roof last October!
This role has been my first as Assistant Warden and it’s been an absolute joy and I’ve learnt an awful lot! I have loved working closely with my RSPB Forth and Lomond colleagues, Inner Forth Landscape Initiative (IFLI) office mates and all of our brilliant volunteers. I’ve made some great friendships and will be watching to see how everything continues to progress.