Well, I knew it had to happen. As we have relentlessly marched through the months, weeks and days, I’ve arrived at that once distant point on the horizon. Perhaps, given the inevitability of this moment, I should be better prepared to write my final blog as a residential volunteer with the Exe Estuary team, but I’m not. Perhaps it is because it is difficult to write a blog which does justice to the experience without coming across as schmaltzy or twee.
Life as a residential volunteer is an immersive experience. It has been seven months since I started here and I can honestly say that they have been amongst the most rewarding and satisfying of my life.
I have met and worked with fantastic like-minded people since being here, who have been generous in sharing their knowledge, experience and insights and made me feel welcome and a valued member of the team from the very start.
I would particularly like to doff my hat to Tom and Pete. All their advice, support, instruction, encouragement, and patience have meant a lot. Special kudos also goes to my ace housemates, Laura, Jay and Andrew. Moving in with complete strangers is never easy, but it is fair to say that you not only made it so, but it is because we got on so well that this whole experience has been so great. I will miss you all.
As one wise member of the volunteer working party said to me yesterday, ‘We wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun’, and it certainly has been. Being ridiculed for my inability to reverse a trailer around a corner in my early weeks (or now), laughing at an unfortunate volunteer (Laura) who ventured too far into a ditch and ended up stuck in the mud, the excuses that can be created to justify a wonky fence post or crooked rail (all of us), coffee break banter and the naming ceremonies for gates we have constructed or wildlife we have found have all lightened the mood on even the gloomiest of days.
Laura venturing into the lagoonPhoto: Phill Catton
Every day is a school day and I have studied hard! Of course learning isn’t a chore when you love what you are doing, are eager to learn more and when you can take pleasure in sharing newly acquired knowledge with people who are just as interested as you. Whether it has been learning about the reserves, conservation management techniques, regulatory requirements, natural history and ecology or developing practical skills, I have endeavoured to take on as much as is possible, probably at the expense of many earlier memories. Two things are for sure though: firstly, I will never look at nature reserves in the same way again, I now understand far more about the effort and work that goes into creating a ‘natural’ environment for the wildlife we strive to protect; secondly, I now see that there are no boundaries to learning about natural history, our wildlife and countryside, an interest and pursuit to last a lifetime has been incited.
And of course the wildlife has played its part too. The spectacle of a hobby floating across the misty Exminster marshland hunting lethargic dragonflies, a peregrine scattering ducks and waders in confused chaos as it made sustained attacks over Bowling Green, lapwing and oystercatcher mindfully supervising their young on Powderham marshes, the joy of finding a scarce chaser when we were specifically searching for one, the stuttering alien sounds coming through the white noise as I did my first bat walk and the bubbling winter noise of brent geese as graze they on the grassland will all stay with me as privileged insights and experiences.
So, it will be with a heavy heart that I am leaving Devon, the residential volunteer house and my fellow residential volunteers, together representing something that has become home. However, tinged as the day is with an element of sadness, as I now stand at the point that was once the horizon, I look towards a new one and can reflect on how great the journey here was, how much richer my life is for the experiences and friends I have shared them with, and then jauntily take the first step on to the next adventure.
All the best to you all and have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Phill
P.s.
Don’t miss out on all the Festive Fun in Topsham at Darts Farm and Bowling Green Hide on 19th and 20th December. See below for details, you will have no R.E.M sleep in anticipation I am sure:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-410937
It has been great working with you Phil, all the best in your new post. Have a good Christmas. I will be watching the Cornwall blog for your posts.