Our blog this week comes from our Financial Accounting Manager; Russell. Read on and discover what he got up to at Forsinard...now updated with some of Russell's Forsinard photographs at the bottom of the blog!!
The RSPB give staff members the opportunity to take a sabbatical every 7 years. I work in the Finance department and after 7 years of helping the RSPB balance its books I thought it would be great to use my sabbatical to get a greater understanding of how front-line conservation really works. The Residential Volunteering programme was the ideal starting point and after much research, I chose the largest and one of the most remote reserves to work on as a volunteer – Forsinard Flows in the far north of Scotland.
So what’s it like? – well firstly it’s proper work! My visions of basically a holiday with the odd bit of bird counting were very quickly dispelled – but don’t worry, that’s what makes it such a rewarding experience – what you do matters. You are immediately made to feel part of the team and your contribution is an important contribution – you can sit on a beach any time but how often do you help in a 20 year project to recreate blanket bog, or help in the monitoring of one of our rarest raptors?
Fine words, but what do they mean for the lowly volunteer on the ground? Well, in Forsinard you do a lot of walking (it is a big reserve) and that means getting your feet wet – no matter how hard you try (or how big your wellies) your feet (and occasionally your knees and thighs) get wet – it is bog after all. Whilst getting your feet wet you could be monitoring water levels – this involves putting a piece of flexible tubing down a pipe (technically known as a dip-well) previously sunk into the ground and blowing bubbles (honest, but if you need more details please volunteer), sinking dip-wells (see below) or monitoring hen harrier or common scoter numbers (I didn’t know what a scoter looked like either before I came here) or a whole range of other activities around the reserve.
Fishnets
I used fishnets because it linked nicely with Finance – what I actually meant was Tesco Value ladies tights (although I don’t think the brand is that important). To monitor water levels we sink metre long dip-wells into the peat. These dip-wells have holes drilled into them to allow the water in. However, to stop anything else going into the dip-well it is covered with one leg of a ladies tight - this allows water in but stops anything else getting in and blocking the tube.
So if you were at Forsinard recently and you saw someone crouching down in the woods wearing a midge net and wellies carefully putting a pair of ladies tights over a metre long piece of plastic tubing that might have been me – but it was all in the name of science – honest.
A dipwell, measuring tube and assorted forms/maps/gps!
What are the rewards for getting your feet wet?
Three things stand out for me. Firstly, the silence – a rare commodity in this crowded country - and, equally rare, a hint of true wilderness. The third, and most important, that feeling of being a part of making something special.
What are you waiting for?!
Volunteers (Left to Right): Will, Russell, Paul & Chris
Enjoying a laugh with the Forsinard Wardens
think thats what they call a learning experience, well done, what a way of getin out of the office! we don't have the wild areas like u do but less than 6ft from a wild boar [not habituated one] that i think is pretty wild, keith