This time next week I shall be in York for the RSPB Members Weekend.  To give you an idea of what's in store, I thought I'd ask one of the contributors next week, Julian Hughes, to give an overview of the story he will be sharing.  In my early days at the RSPB, I worked very closely with Julian while he was in charge of our species policy work.  Yet, seven years ago he migrated home to North Wales where he became manager at our Conwy nature reserve which celebrates its 20th birthday this year. It's a fantastic site and, secretly, I am slightly jealous of his job.  Here, Julian offers his perspective about what to expect from Members' Weekend.

------------------------------------------

Volunteering or working on a nature reserve is very special. You spend time in a superb place, surrounded by wildlife and meeting lots of people who share your passion for nature.

Conwy. Image by Brian Van Rhin.

It also makes me more finely attuned to the turning of the seasons than ever I could working in an office. Each day, the tiny changes are evident as Winter turns to Spring: the return of lesser black-backed gulls to the estuary, the first cowslips in flower, the joyous notes of the song thrushes.

But before Spring really gets into gear, there is the Members’ Weekend. I think I went to 16 in a row, though I’ve missed the last couple and so am looking forward to a weekend in York with so many people who care passionately about nature.

The weekend is, obviously, designed around RSPB members, but believe me, staff get a huge buzz from it too. It restores my faith that there are so many people who care about nature, who support what we do, and together I know we can achieve pretty much anything.

The Weekend is an opportunity to hear about the amazing things that are happening around the UK, and beyond. I’m looking forward, for example, to hearing about progress with the massively ambitious Wallasea Island habitat creation, and to learning more about our plans to help Curlews, a wader for which Britain is internationally-important.

The evening talks are extra special, and I’m sure there will be stunning images from European Wildlife Photographer of the Year Neil Aldridge. A good picture beats a thousand words – as everyone knows who saw #weaselpecker go viral recently.

But it’s the bits in between that I really enjoy, catching up with members I haven’t seen for years, browsing the trade stands over coffee (where I try, and usually fail, to resist buying another piece of wildlife art); chatting to new supporters over dinner, in the bar, or on a coach on the Saturday excursion. RSPB people – the leaders in quality conversation.

Boy with snail. Image by Carolyn Merrett (www.rspb-images.com)

For me, I will really start to enjoy it once my own talk is done. I can’t help but get a bit nervous, even though the RSPB Members’ Weekend is the warmest audience that I will ever speak to.

I’m talking about some work we’ve been doing at RSPB Conwy to make the nature reserve more family-friendly. If you’ve been here in the last couple of years, you’ll know we’ve made some changes, so what have we been doing and what difference has it made? Well, you’ll have to turn up to find out - Friday afternoon, 4pm.

You can get a flavour in this short video, but suffice to say my talk involves three million tonnes of mud, 27,000 teeth and a monster.

It takes quite a lot to drag me away from Conwy in the springtime, but for the Members Weekend I don’t have to think twice. And when I’m back in North Wales on Monday, the world will have tilted a little further and perhaps the first swallows will have arrived.

If you have already booked, I look forward to meeting you – do come and say hello. And if you haven’t, check out the programme and join us for a special weekend.

Members' Weekend takes place on 27-29 March 2015 at the University of York. You can come for all, or part of the weekend.