Lake Vyrnwy

Have you read Derek Niemann's riveting account of how Peter Conder, George Waterston, John Buxton and John Barrett spent their years as PoWs systematically surveying birds from within German prison camps? It's not too much to claim that their work laid much of the foundations of the modern conservation movement. The book is called "Birds in a Cage", published by Short Books in association with the RSPB.

That's one kind of internment. Another is the scheme that the RSPB runs to introduce bright young naturalists to the world of fieldwork and reserve management. Lake Vyrnwy has profited from the talents of several interns over the past couple of years and here is an account written by one of the current batch, James Walker:

My name is James Walker, and I'm one of four intrepid individuals who are taking
part in a year's volunteer internship with the RSPB in Wales this year. As I
write this we are in the middle of our third week, my colleague says there
hasn't been enough to blog about yet, but I disagree! In short the internship
entails working for six months each at two nature reserves, Lake Vyrnwy and
Ynys hir. In return for volunteering for a year, the RSPB provides a training
programme and allows the opportunity to gain skills crucial in employment, such
as managing volunteers. Another plus point is the interview process, which
personally gave me my first proper interview in conservation, an important if
slightly nerve-wracking experience. Two of us, including myself, are starting
at Lake Vyrnwy as you may have guessed. The weeks before the internship were a
mixture of excitement and chaos with the feeling of a new era beginning. It
certainly felt like a big step since graduating from University in June. My
enthusiasm wasn't even slightly dampened when I was informed that for the
initial period we would be living in a static caravan. I could write a whole
blog on this alone, lets just say having ice on the inside of windows and gas
and water freezing at various points was a good toughening up experience!
Thankfully we are now in the excellent volunteer accommodation. The first two
weeks have been a combination of training, ex-situ visits and learning about
and working on the reserve. With the sheer scale of Lake Vyrnwy, there's
certainly plenty to learn! The variety of species is certainly exciting, and I
hope to catch a glimpse of as many as possible during survey season which
begins in April. In terms of work on the reserve, we've mainly been working the
sculpture park area at the bottom of the dam, soon to become the focal point of
education on the reserve, where we have put in gravel and wooden tables. We
have completed two courses so far, first up was one on quad bikes, where we had
great fun flying through a stream and varying terrain, whilst learning the
correct techniques as well as technical elements. Next up was upland skills,
quite hard to get excited about when its -3 °C (plus wind chill) before you set
off to go up a mountain! Thankfully, the instructor was great and managed to
drag us from the depths of the café and
teach us all about navigation, judging distances through pacing and the basic
use of GPS. A canvas shelter was also welcome when battling through the ice,
snow and wind. Later this week, we have a 4 x 4 course which will conclude the
first part of initial training. A day trip to the RSPB's South Stack and Conwy
reserves last week provided some good sightings and a chance to meet and get to
know a few more of Vyrnwy's staff and volunteers. Our target species of Chough
proved elusive at South Stack, with a classic 'you should have been here
yesterday' scenario! Going to the other end of Wales, a visit to Newport
Wetlands and the Cardiff headquarters was provided to give us a different
perspective on the work of RSPB Wales. The Cardiff office itself was a mirror
image of the one in the sitcom 'The Office' , but fortunatley for everyone
present, I resisted the temptation to do any David Brent style dancing! It was
great, and being spoken to about the work of RSPB Wales by several people,
including the director, was truly inspirational and a real incentive to reach
for the stars within the sector. I came away with a feeling that I had eaten
too many of their biscuits and also, much more importantly, that conservation,
whilst being subject to immense challenges, is in great hands! All in all its
been a fantastic start, and hopefully I'll be letting you know how its going in
the not too distant future.

Just back from a most interesting tree walk led by Dave and Gen, our long-term volunteers who are about to return to the totally treeless Skerries for the summer!

You really learn a lot when you go out with someone who knows what they are talking about - it's the best way. At this time of year, before the leaves have come out, you have to use other characteristics to identify the trees - shape or habit, bark, buds, the way the twigs form, colour, even smell! We spent the morning sorting out hazel from rowan from birch from alder, taking in a few deceptive conifers - so much information. By the end, I couldn't identify anything any more! But the main thing, as always, was learning to use the eyes, and getting out of the habit of walking around blindly, as we all do.

Really good stuff - thank you, Dave, thank you, Gen.

Lake Vyrnwy

Lambing time

Internment

Tree walk

Tree walk - Sunday 17th March

Powerless