10 months. How much can you learn within 10 months? It turns out quite a lot. I started this internship with a passion for nature but lacked practical skills and knowledge. My time here at Strathbeg has provided me with skills I never thought I’d learn and given me knowledge I never thought I would possess.
Right off the bat me and the other intern, Freya, were thrown into the deep end, right into the thick of it. Fencing was on the agenda for a good chunk of our first few months here and I LOVED it (beware endless innuendos)! To be able to create something and to watch it progress into a finished state down the line is just amazing, especially as the purpose was to create a new grazing area for the ponies. Alas, we could not fence forever, the ponies needed our help!
A big move was on the horizon. In May, a shake up of the ponies was going to happen, this herd moving there, this individual moving to that herd and two pregnant mares to consider. From October to May there were many days of rounding up the ponies, putting them through this magical contraption called a loading race, which is designed to make loading livestock onto trailers a safer and easier task. The round ups were not just good practice for the ponies to make sure they were used to the race and the presence of the trailer, but more so for us. All this time spent with the ponies meant I had a greater appreciation for them and got to know them as individuals, each with their own whacky personality (42 personalities to be exact). When the big move day came around, it was a great success! Everything went smoother than anyone could have hoped, firm handshakes and monstrous high fives all round. The ponies are the priority at the reserve, they need counting once a day and in-field checks are necessary a couple of times a week. Because the ponies are split up into multiple herds, it means you get to see a large chunk of the reserve every time you go out which never got old!
Within this internship you aren’t just helping here or there, you have responsibilities and are treated as an integral and valuable part of the team. Because of this, we got to do some pretty fun things (to make us more effective at our jobs of course). In November we were sent to glorious Aviemore to do our 4x4 and quadbike training (who entrusted me to spend the day on a quadbike I’ll never know). The two days we spent doing our training were sensational, testing not just ourselves, but the vehicle as well, to get us out of sticky situations. Going on this course proved vital to improving our time here and I never even got put on the stuck truck list, so the training clearly paid off! We also went on a 3-day First Aid course, which was unbelievably informative and could prove crucial if I was ever in a situation where I was the only first aider on the scene. Our next course was a brush cutter/strimmer course all the way up at Forsinard! The journey itself was a lot of fun, but to then spend two days learning how to properly use a brush cutter and strimmer was even better! With each course there was always a travel day either side, which meant time for exploring! I mean, travelling, yes, no off-piste trips whatsoever...
Don’t get me started on the surveys! If you have a desire to take part in wildlife or vegetation surveys then this internship is for you. In the winter we do a goose and WeBS count once a month which involves counting huge flocks of geese which is a challenge but an amazing spectacle at the same time. There are a few species of ducks that reside here over the winter which are involved in the count (they’re not helping you count though) which means you become familiar with numerous species of birds, helping improve not just your survey skills but your species identification skills too. Later in the year we undertake farmland bird and water vole surveys, wader walks, spotted crake surveys and even seabird monitoring! Every year there is a colony count at Fowlsheugh where the interns and the warden, Lorna, count thousands upon thousands of guillemots and razorbills, kittiwakes and even the odd puffin! To be a part of this was a highlight for the internship for me. It was a fresh challenge and it was amazing to be surrounded by cliffs and seabirds for a few weeks.
Fridays are dedicated to Friday jobs, which involves cleaning the visitor centre, vehicle checks and hide checks. It’s always a really nice way to end the week with some nice and easy, relaxing and satisfying tasks! In-between the main tasks and surveys there are other exciting jobs to get on with! Boardwalk building/repair is always on the table, nest box monitoring (which one of the lucky interns will take charge of), mink raft monitoring, vegetation management and of course, plenty of birdwatching! The team here encourage you to take time to relax and enjoy yourself at every given moment, overworking is not allowed!
My time here at the reserve has been an experience I will never forget. I have made friends for life and have enjoyed every moment along the way. I have expanded my skillset further than I ever imagined I would and I hope that after my final year at university, I’ll be that much more employable! If you have ever considered a long-term internship/placement, I cannot recommend this one enough. The team is just amazing with a reserve to match, the work is so rewarding and enjoyable, trust me, you will not regret it! It’s been a blast Strathbeg, over and out.