Here is a blog from David, our new warden intern.
Wow how time has flown, I have now completed my first month at RSPB Fairburn Ings where I am on internship with the warden team. I have settled in quickly with everyone being very friendly and welcoming.
The tasks done here are exciting and varied some of which I have had experience in before but others are completely new to me. Wood working for example is something which I have had limited experience in but my efforts were called upon where a bird table needed repairing.
We are coming up to the time of year where many birds will start to think about nesting. Scrub clearance therefore was an important task to be done on an island spit to reduce the number of perches for predators. Some gaps in the hedge along Newton Lane have started to show but a couple of volunteers and I replaced the gaps with new trees.
A very exciting new feature at Fairburn Ings was installed in the last couple of weeks and this is the tree house. You may have seen the time lapse footage on facebook of the work done to prepare the way for the lorry to deliver the structure and the moments where it was installed. After being installed the work was done to make the area safe which meant taking out those pesky stumps. These in fact were possibly the hardest work of all taking groups of volunteers several days to take out. However once out, the turf was laid and the wooden cladding put up. This was done by groups of volunteers and here see some of them hard at work and the results of that work.
Of course the best thing about working on a nature reserve is the wildlife. Some of the most exciting recent sightings have been bittern in the reedbeds, bearded tits near Pharalope Pool and avocets on Main Bay island. A particular highlight for me was to be taken on one of the ranger guided walks where we saw a tawny owl which has been roosting in a tree along the Riverbank trail.
I am very much enjoying my time here and am looking forward to what the next few months will bring.