Confessions of an RSPB Volunteer - by Simon Evans

Well, another week's just whizzed by and it's time for my latest instalment of 'Confessions of an RSPB Volunteer'!

During my second day helping out at RSPB Frampton Marsh I was again blessed with beautiful sunshine - I'm pretty sure it won't be like this every week though!

As my first task of the day, I joined the very friendly Graham (Frampton's full-time warden) on an adventure possibly more befitting the late John Wayne.

A splinter group of local cos had penetrated the electric fence surrounding our small reservoir and were happily munching away at the weeds on the water's edge. Our job was to round them up and get them back on the right side of the law! I must confess to being somewhat trepidatious at entering a field full of cows, calves and a bull for the first time, but they soon got the message and didn't give Sheriff Graham & Deputy Si any trouble at all!

Next we were off to Frampton's Visitor Centre to carry out a small maintenance job. The electricity in our 'VC' is provided by batteries which require periodical replenishment courtesy of a small diesel generator. Due to it's exposure to the elements, the rubber seal around the sound-insulating housing had worn and needed replacing.

As a reward for my stalwart efforts, Graham equiped me with a cup of tea in the VC, where I also had the chance to do a wee spot of birding. On the daily sightings board was a Black-Necked Grebe, a bird that I'd never seen before. Unfortunately, after a determined period of scanning the huge freshwater lagoons with the VC's excellent telescopes, I 'dipped out'. Still, the day was yet young…

Black-necked grebe by Edwin Kats (rspb-images.com)

Our main job of the day was to carry out repairs to some of Frampton's 3km of wheelchair-accessible footpaths.  With a lot of hard work (and about two dozen wheel barrow-loads!) Graham and I replenished the granite topping on the paths, making them smooth and safe for all of our visitors.

At the end of my day's work I spent a rewarding hour on the reserve with a lovely chap called Trevor (one of Frampton's longest serving volunteers), who helped me with a bit of wader identification, gave me advice on optics and best of all: found the elusive Black-Necked Grebe!

In the last couple of weeks I've been overwhelmed with how friendly and helpful the staff and other volunteers have been at Frampton, everyone has made me feel really welcome.

I can't wait for next week!