Friday, 20th September: last day of a two-week volunteer placement for me, and wife, Sue.
It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable two weeks. We arrived late on Saturday afternoon, after driving for nearly 400 miles from our home in Hampshire, and were immediately made welcome. We lived in “the roost” which proved to be spacious, clean, tidy and (thanks to Dan and Kirsty) very friendly.
We didn’t have any duties for the first two days. Sunday was our official day off, and Monday was an unofficial day off, because all the staff had been summoned to a management meeting in Glasgow and there was no-one available to show us around. As a result we had plenty of time to settle in, and explore the site and the local countryside.
After that, work began. Our first bird count took us up a steep learning curve (Dan: “Tony, I can see ten teal, five mallards, two wigeon and six shovelers – what can you see?” Tony: “lots of ducks”). However, Dan was very patient, and it wasn’t long before Sue and I were a lot more competent, and confident in our waterfowl-identification skills.
The work was varied. For much of the time we manned the visitor centre, welcoming visitors, serving them hot drinks and answering questions. On some days we helped with estate management, clearing away undergrowth, keeping paths clear etc, and we also helped with the regular bird counts.
Re the weather: we learned why no-one comes to Scotland for the sunshine. We are firm believers that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. However, on some days the only clothing that could be considered appropriate would have been wet-suit, swim fins and snorkel! Needless to say, on those days we found work that could be done indoors. And, to be fair, there were some days when the weather was glorious.
Favourite task? Designing and painting a set of boards containing information about what’s happening to the natural world and what can be done about it. These are to be placed at strategic sites around the estate and will, we hope, raise public awareness of the need to act now.
Best bird sighting? Marsh harrier, floating over the reedbeds, hunting.
Tomorrow, we head off home. Time to start thinking about our next volunteer placement.