I often ask our long-term residential volunteers to write blog entries, but here are some boggy points of view from a couple of our short-term volunteers; Kirsty Egan and Dan Mason.
“My Boggy Experience" – Kirsty Egan
When I was at Forsinard I learnt a lot of interesting, new and exciting skills and tasks. On the reserve, I took part in two very exciting projects: forest to bog restoration and pile dam plotting.
The work was very physical e.g. walking across a huge peat bog in very exposed conditions; I thought the work was very interesting and fun! I helped measure plots on a series of drains where the dams are going to be placed, which help to increase the water level on the bog.
Helping plot dams to block forestry drains at Forsinard
As well as plotting dams I also helped setup dipwells to measure water levels. Working with dipwells was very intricate work; having a lot of things to carry to different areas and there was a lot of recording and cutting to do e.g. clearing branches in the forestry furrows to help us get to the dipwells safely.
Setting up dipwells
I worked with a lot of different people like other volunteers on the reserve, and the crowd at Forsinard are very friendly, exciting, kind and cool. I felt there was no pressure; I could ask any questions it was just great.The main people I was working with: Claire Foot, Paul Turner and Trevor Smith, were just great! There was a wide range of wildlife on the bog over the summer, but because the colder winter has kicked in to place, it has been very lively with migrating birds like snow buntings. There were also a few meadow pipits, which are mainly summer birds in the upland, but some still inhabit in the uplands in the autumn, and then migrate to the lowlands. There were a lot of buzzards flying around the bog as well; I also spotted a dead dragonfly! Maybe the dragonfly died on these cold nights.
The reserve is in a lovely spot and has a lot of potential, again all the people are so nice and will always be there to help. My HNC in countryside management is very much related to the work that I undertook on the reserve. As a result of all this I think if I keep on volunteering as I am doing, I will maybe get work in conservation or some sort of long term placement maybe for 6 months with the RSPB or at another organisation such as the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT).
“Getting away from it all...” - Dan Mason
Having completed my degree in environmental science two years ago and ending up managing a busy pub since then, I wanted to swap the relentless working hours and late nights for something outdoors, get away from the city for a while and hopefully learn new skills that will help me in my future career.
It is difficult to get much further away from a city than here in Forsinard, a reserve that attracted me due to its remote location and its unique peat bog landscape that is currently the focus of a lot of hard work. The landscape has remained treeless for thousands of years up until the 1980s when commercial conifer plantations were planted and began to destroy the natural peat deposits. Through monitoring the hydrology, felling the trees and damming the drains that the forestry created, we are trying to find the most efficient way to restore this ancient landscape back to its natural state.
Dan and Isolde with Bird Box kits; ready for the wildNorth Festival
During the four weeks I have been here, it would be hard not to learn a lot. Being around the enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff and volunteers, I have developed my identification skills from being quite the self-confessed birding beginner, to showing the new volunteers the local bird species and pick out their calls. The cottage is also in a beautiful setting and perfect for getting up early and watching the wild red deer out on the bog or flocks of crossbill overhead. At one point, I was even heard describing the accommodation as luxury!
Along with working in this unique landscape and really feeling part of the team, another highlight was seeing the aurora borealis one night after driving up North to the coast. Just as we had given up hope and were walking back, we were treated to a display of blue and red pastel coloured streaks of light across the sky. If you have some free time to volunteer and live here for a short time, or a weekend spare to come and visit this remote and unique landscape, I would really recommend travelling north and enjoying this undiscovered land.