Volunteers are vitally important in supporting the work of the RSPB. Here at Titchwell we offer long term and short term residential volunteering opportunities where you become part of the reserve team. Over the coming weeks  you'll hear from our residential volunteers about what they get up to on the reserve.

Hi everyone,

My name is Ben and I’m the new residential volunteer here at Titchwell Marsh. I will be volunteering here for four months over the summer working as part of the practical conservation team.

I’m from Boston, Lincolnshire and have been volunteering with the RSPB, at Frampton Marsh, for five years. I am looking forward to joining the Titchwell team, meeting new people, working on new habitats and birding around the north Norfolk coast over the summer.

I will be writing this weekly blog to let you know what I have been up to during the week and will include some of my sightings and recent highlights on the reserve.

This week I have been working with Ray in the wildlife garden creating a new path through the garden. We have now finished the path and it is now open to the public.

I have also been using the brush cutter to clear overhanging vegetation along the paths to the hides. I have also cleared a patch of nettles in front of the feeding station to improve views.

We carried out a survey on the beach. Looking for Ringed Plover nests. We found one nest as well as several birds acting rather suspiciously and defensively around areas of the beach making us think that they probably also have a nest nearby. We were also lucky enough to see a pair of Ringed Plover with, at least, two chicks running along the beach.

And to finish the week off we went out and gave the hides their weekly clean.

I’ve really enjoyed my first week volunteering at Titchwell and I am looking forward to another fun week next week. If you see us working around the site please come and say hello.