Guest blog by Anelia Petrova - Conservation Intern at Minsmere
Hello everyone, I’m Anelia and I’m a Conservation Intern. The first leg of my internship was at Frampton Marshes, where I worked for six months, and now I’m settled at Minsmere for another six months. I’m enjoying working here, being surrounded by amazing nature and fantastic staff.
I’ve been here for a month now and I’ve done jobs like electric fencing, pony checks, brushcutting, reed burning and path repairing.
I’ve discovered that working outdoors has many benefits, the most enjoyable one is having the opportunity to see wildlife around you - seeing lots of ducks and waders at the scrape, otters and bitterns at Island Mere, deer running through the heathlands and the forests. Moreover, if you go for a walk around the reserve during the evenings I guarantee that you will see at least one badger, quite often around the visitor centre.
As you could imagine working and living at Minsmere is an unbelievable experience. Before I started the internship, I was a BSc Ecology student at the University of East Anglia, Norwich where I became interested in habitat management.
One of my goals is to become Assistant Warden or Ranger and I believe that this internship is definitely bringing me closer into achieving that goal. I have learned a lot at Frampton, and I am eager to learn more and develop further my skills here at Minsmere.
I hope I will see you around!