Hello! I'm Cara and I am thrilled to be working as the temporary Assistant Warden at Campfield Marsh over the summer. I am thrilled because this is my first paid post after volunteering for 20 months at four different reserves, but also because this is such a fantastic place to be. To begin with there’s the gorgeous Solway Firth I cycle past each day on my way to and from work, which would be hard to tire of with its ever changing colours and moods:
I have also been enjoying getting stuck into the surveying. My first main task when starting was conducting the Breeding Bird Surveys and I was delighted to see and hear my first ever grasshopper and garden warblers on the reserve. During the survey I almost walked into this army of caterpillars which I’ve been advised by the knowledgeable volunteers probably belong to the peacock butterfly:
Speaking of which I have also been conducting some butterfly transects where I saw this small tortoiseshell and red admiral:
One of the things I love about Campfield is the range of different habitats from saltmarsh, arable, wet grassland, woodland and bog. The latter has been a superb place to see reptiles and I’ve had my first and regular sightings of female adders and loads of common lizards:
I have also been enjoying meeting and working with a new bunch of volunteers who are, as they always seem to be throughout the RSPB, very friendly, hard working and appreciative of my baking :D. I am looking forward to continuing to work with them over the next month or so and hopefully seeing lots more fantastic wildlife.