I am an RSPB member and visited Saltholme today. Had my membership card ready for some RSPB staff to come up and check,but no one in sight. I walked into the reception area,where I could quite easily of walked straight past the reception desk,without showing my card or paying the parking fee. I did show my card to one of the staff there and he said ok and I moved on without writing my number plate down or anything. Do the RSPB rely on people's honesty at their reserves?
I've noticed that at RSPB reserves before. They seem very slacks in checking to see if someone is a member. They don't seem to check RSPB members cards very frequently, or if at all. The National Trust are very strict and also the Wildfowl Trust scan every Members card if they visit a Wildfowl Trust reserve. I've just visited RSPB reserve Lochwinnoch up in Scotland with my RSPB Group yesterday, before we arrived today on the Isle of Arran and not all the people on the coach where RSPB members and the RSPB staff and volunteers never checked anyone's membership cards. It's just a good job that the non members where honest enough to pay the admission charges. I don't know why the RSPB staff don't check to see who's a member.
Regards,
Ian.
It probably would have been better putting this thread in the Saltholme section of places to visit, as Staff and Volunteers regularly read and reply to posts in that section. In this section of the RSPB Comunity Forums they might actually sadly miss and not read this thread.
Maybe the staff think,rightly so,that most people are honest. Over the years I have noticed this and now I think about it it is so much more welcoming. Myself I often make for a member of staff not so much to show my card but to ask that age old birders question "anything much about ?"
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can