Hi, my name is Andrew and I am a part time volunteer at the Exe Estuary Reserve. Having spent 6 months with the National Trust I’ve built up a good background in the practical side of woodland conservation and estate maintenance. Moving to the RSPB has been an exciting change for me, as I was hoping to work more closely with nature, while gaining experience of surveying and managing a different kind of habitat.
I’m into my third week now and really enjoying the tasks we carry out each day. I think I’ve joined the RSPB at just the right time as I’ve been on quite a few lapwing, butterfly and dragonfly surveys since arriving. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the amount I’ve managed to spot even if I’m not always quite sure of the species!
Yesterday’s survey was particularly enjoyable. I joined Tom and the residential volunteers to spend the afternoon scouring ditches for as many different species of dragonfly as we could see, with the hope of seeing some rarer ones. I found identifying damselflies and dragonflies incredibly difficult, especially as they often refused to settle. However, when they did land it certainly seemed worth the wait as they are stunning creatures. My personal highlight was spotting my first female broad bodied chaser.
Broad bodied chaser 1
So far I’ve worked at the Exminster, Powderham and Labrador Bay sites. I like the variations in work at each site and it’s been good to put my practical skills to use. On my first day at Exminster we set up a cattle fence around a wetland scrape. At first I thought I was doing a simple fencing job. Then it was explained to me that protecting this area from cattle would allow emergent flowering plants to grow, which would create more habitat and food sources for insects and invertebrates, which in turn would hopefully encourage more birds to feed in this area. Last week I helped to check water levels, where I learned about how levels can be affected and controlled across the marsh using sluices and pumps. It’s great to learn about how the tasks we carry out directly benefit species visiting and inhabiting the site.
Powderham Marsh has been a definite highlight for me and it’s a site I would recommend visiting. It’s of course important for lapwings and I’ve been on a couple of surveys with residential volunteers Hannah and Nick. I really appreciate that we are entrusted with telescopes for this task as it allows an amazing close up view of the lapwings. The path we walk to get there is short but full of things to see. Last time I saw a black and yellow spotted longhorn beetle on a hogweed flower. It’s apparently a common longhorn but this was a first sighting for me. I’m looking forward to spotting a Cirl bunting here too. I had no idea they were so rare and feel fortunate to be involved in the work at Labrador Bay where we have been trying to improve the habitat for them.
Working alongside Tom and volunteers like Steve and Steve (that’s resident Steve and Thursday Steve) is invaluable experience as they are keen to share their knowledge of species and habitat. It’s inspired me to keep a daily log of what species I see as I’m keen to improve my ID skills. After just a few weeks I’ve been given the opportunity to try a range of new tasks and I’m looking forward to our quad bike training tomorrow.
Andrew Clanfield