Happy retirement Mel

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the retirement of Minsmere's longest serving staff member, Mel Kemp.

Mel's conservation career began at Weeting Heath, a Norfolk Wildlife Trust nature reserve in the Brecks that is famous for breeding Stone-curlews, in 1982, though he had already volunteered at Strumpshaw Fen RSPB reserve, near Norwich, a couple of years earlier.

After completing his contract at Weeting, Mel joined the RSPB staff at Strumpshaw on a short-term contract. More short-term contracts followed, and saw Mel moving around the country. His work took him north, east, south and west, with contracts in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In just six years the list of RSPB reserves where he worked is impressive, including: Vane Farm (now Loch Leven), Loch of Kinnordy, Fowlsheugh, Loch of Strathbeg, Loch Garten/Abernethy Forest, Hoy and Mainland Orkney in Scotland, Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland, Aylesbeare Common and Exminster Marshes in Devon, Northwood Hill in Kent, Old Hall Marshes in Essex and Dinas in Wales.

In his early years at Minsmere, Mel's role was extremely varied, as he was responsible for managing our Field Teaching team, organising the events programme, promoting the reserve and applying for grants, as well as managing the reserve's drier habitats. Over time, as the Minsmere team grew, others took on some of these tasks (including me taking the lead on events and promotion from 2003), leaving Mel to concentrate on habitat and species protection.

A key part of Mel's habitat work involved reverting about 150 ha (375 acres) of former arable land back to dry Sandlings heath - a mix of heather heathland, acid grassland and bare ground. This was followed by a partnership with Forestry England and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust to revert clear-fell forestry areas in Dunwich Forest back to heathland, followed by another project to clear self-seeded birch and pine from heathland at Minsmere, and control invasive bracken.

One of the targets of this work was to encourage Stone-curlews to nest at Minsmere for the first time since the 1960s. Despite scepticism from the RSPB's Ecologist, Mel's work saw the first pair of Stone-curlews return in 2003, with successful breeding the following year. These shy waders have subsequently thrived at Minsmere, peaking at an impressive 15 pairs. Thanks to Mel's hard work, Minsmere also has healthy populations of other heathland wildlife, such as Nightjar, Woodlark, Dartford Warbler, Nightingale, Adder, Antlion and Silver-studded Blue butterflies.

In Mel's own words: "None of this would have been possible without the help of past wardening staff and volunteers, colleagues from Reserves Ecology, Regional grant & fundraising staff, Contractors & Graziers, as well as help from other organisations (Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Forestry England, National Trust and the Suffolk and Essex Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (now National Landscape)) and our funders.  Although I’ve worked for the RSPB for nearly 42 years, the work that I’m most proud of has been that undertaken at Minsmere over the last 28 years.  It’s therefore quite fitting that I began my paid employment in nature conservation working with Stone-curlews at Weeting Heath and have completed it at Minsmere where we are now responsible for around 3% of the UK Stone-curlew population.

"I’d like to thank everyone that sent me so many kind messages and contributed to my retirement gifts.  With my RSPB retirement money I asked my former colleague Paul Green to create a couple of wire sculptures: a Woodlark (my favourite songbird) and a Stone-curlew, which has featured in so much of my 43-year career in nature conservation."  

We'd all like to wish Mel all the best in his retirement. He's not going far, though, as he has promised to return as a volunteer to help us monitor our breeding heathland and woodland wildlife.