What a typical week looks like at West Sedgemoor

This blog was written by Lilli - residential volunteer at RSPB West Sedgemoor, Swell Wood and Greylake.

Hi everyone,

We know that for a long time there has been no constant blog posting but we (the three residential volunteers) are going to start writing them regularly now. On a weekly basis we will inform you about what`s happening on the reserves and give you an insight about our daily routines, projects and tasks.

 I am going to start with a short introduction about me since I am a new residential volunteer here at West Sedgemoor. My name is Lilli, I am 19 years old and moved from Stuttgart, Germany to the Somerset Levels in the beginning of December 2022.
After finishing school last summer, I wanted to take a gap year whilst having a lot of practical experiences and learn lots about conservation work and wildlife. Being a residential volunteer with the RSPB and living right on the reserve sounded like the perfect combination and so far, I really do enjoy every single day. There is a big variety in tasks, the team is great, and I learn many new skills while actually trying new things- “learning by doing” which seems to me the best way of learning.

I thought the best way to restart the blog is giving you a quick overview about a typical week to show you what we are doing and its impact for nature and wildlife.

While a week starts on a Monday, I am going to start with the Friday because that’s when we recap the last week, talk about challenges and successes and plan the following week. The three residential volunteers, two Estate Workers, Assistant Warden and Warden meet and match different tasks to people and day.

Showing you what it could look like I am taking our last week as an example:

On Monday there was the big monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) where we count all the birds that are on the reserve. Splitting up in small teams or on our own we spread out over the whole reserve and fill in a map with the name and number of the birds we saw. Afterwards we log the records on the British Trust for Ornithology database, they organise the survey.

The following days we did a lot of small tasks in Swell Wood like coppicing hazels, putting brash on the stools, chain sawing a few bigger trees, path maintenance and building the structure for new screens by placing big posts in the ground. If you are interested in why we are coppicing hazel you should check out this blog post in which the purpose and impact is explained.

On Thursdays we are lucky to have a few day volunteers who help us doing all kinds of different tasks. Currently we are doing a lot of hedge laying which means that we are creating a new, better hedge for birds and insects. Cutting trees in a certain way we are able to lay them on the floor while they are still alive and attached to their roots. In a few years, they will grow back and hopefully form a new thick hedge.

And now its already Friday again where we have our typical Friday jobs like vehicle checks, work planning and other tasks that will come up during the week.
You never know exactly what the next week will bring because there are always small changes or unpredictable weather or other events but that’s what I love about working here. The variety of tasks, being outside all day long, working with a team and having lunch in a forest or on the back of the pickup while watching birds is brilliant!