It’s really lovely to be on a wetland again. After spending the first six months of my warden internship in a woodland it’s great to hear the ducks, geese and waders again. Of which Fairburn Ings seems to have plenty. Something else it has which I’d never seen before was the gorgeous willow tit which Fairburn is very lucky to have on the feeders. Autumn is taking hold and signs can be seen everywhere but when I first arrived there were still lots of butterflies such as red admirals and large whites in flight and a couple of dragonflies that I spotted on the reserve:
Brown hawker
Migrant hawker
Although I have only been here a couple of months I’ve been very busy doing all sorts of work. This has included strimming grass, cutting back hedges, play trail checks, identifying moths, chainsawing, scrub clearance and probably most exciting of all, going out on a boat! As it’s the end of the growing and breeding season it’s time to cut the vegetation on the islands in preparation for breeding waders next year. This involves going out on the Sea Nymph:
It seemed especially adventurous with all the trailing willow getting in your face:
Once there the vegetation was cut as low to the ground as possible with brushcutters:
Me with brushcutter
Then raked into piles and put out onto the water.
Before and after.
Like most RSPB reserves this work couldn’t get done without the massive army of volunteers and there’s a lot of them at Fairburn. Everyone has been very friendly and welcoming and seem to enjoy a good bit of banter which makes for a fantastic working environment. I’m looking forward to the next 4 months, getting to know the people and reserve more and seeing what surprises it has in store.