This guest blog comes from the first of our brand new residential volunteers, Gwen. They'll each be blogging regularly during their placement at the Dee this summer.
My name is Gwen and I am in the first set of long-term residential volunteers for the Dee Estuary reserve, based at Burton Mere Wetlands. I have been here for three weeks now and wanted to write a summary of all I have been up to so far! So much experience has already been crammed in to such a short space of time and I still have six months living on this reserve and learning all about what goes on here.
My regular garden visitor (G.Earlam) Over these next six months, my time will be split between the practical management of the reserve and supporting visitor experience activities. The practical side includes everything from replacing fence posts to surveying the many species of birds and wildlife that the Dee Estuary is so important for! Avocets are a very important Schedule 1 species and we are lucky to have a growing population at Burton Mere. I have been doing avocet nests counts alongside the wardens here and today I saw my first lapwing chick too! We have also already had the opportunity to help with nearby projects not directly linked to the reserve. In my first week I got to take part in a black grouse survey at Llandegla Forest which was really exciting (although did involve a 3am start!). We have also been involved in putting up electric fences to protect the important little tern colonies at both our Point of Ayr site and the Denbighshire County Council-managed Gronant beach.
Sunrise at Llandegla forest (G.Earlam)
Erecting electric anti-predator fence at Gronant little tern colony (G.Earlam)
On the visitor experience side of the reserve I have been working a lot in the visitor centre. This has been really fun and I have enjoyed talking to people about all the wildlife they have seen and watch them get excited about the things I am also passionate about. The visitor centre is also a great place to learn as there are many knowledgeable birdwatchers that come through and are always happy to point out their sightings and share their knowledge. Over the summer I will also be going off-site more to attend events where I will be encouraging people to come visit RSPB reserves and telling them about the amazing work we do!
I have always been interested in wildlife and it has been a dream to make a career out of something I love and care about. After doing a degree in environmental science I realised it was important for me to get some experience in the conservation sector so I could go on to hopefully get a job in this area. Last year I completed a similar placement on a National Nature Reserve in Devon. This site was a coastal site with calcareous grassland being the main habitat type so it is exciting for me to come to the Dee and gain experience of working in a completely new habitat with a new set of species.
Little grebe on Reedbed Pool (G.Earlam)
One of the best things about being a residential volunteer is getting to live in the most beautiful places surrounded by nature. I feel very privileged to call Burton Mere by back garden and it is such a good opportunity for us to be able to go out our front door in our spare time and still be learning and expanding our knowledge of wildlife and the species we see.