Trip reports
Blacktoft Sands - Sally Connelly
Friday, 12 December 2008
There is a comprehensive guide to volunteering opportunities for each Reserve on the RSPB Website. Have a look - you might be inspired! Unlike some "Gap Year" volunteering, you don't have to pay much. You get accommodation free and you just have to pay for travel and food.
I originally fancied South Stack in Anglesey until our Group Leader, Chris Ward, put me straight. All the nesting sea birds that I was looking forward to viewing on the cliffs would be far out to sea in February! (Thinks: I obviously need to learn a little more about birds.)
So I applied for Blacktoft Sands, lured by the thought of bearded tits, seven cosy hides and a modern little house to stay in. I was a bit worried by the fact that the house was "remote" and that I'd be living with a stranger (fellow volunteer) or by myself... and that there was an open fire and back boiler. Would I have to light a fire in the morning before I could wash?
Saturday February 2008
After a three hour drive, I arrived at the Reserve. I got the key for the house where I was to stay, and was most relieved to find it was quite modern and clean - though pretty chilly! Although the location had been described as remote, it was in a little village. I discovered I had a house-mate - a long-term volunteer named Ewan, who I had yet to meet.
I had lunch and then went to explore the Reserve. It was very interesting - the hides overlook tidal reedbeds and lagoons. I saw Wigeon, Teal, Little Grebes, Redshank and Greylag Geese.
I was lucky enough to have arrived on a day when there was a guided walk (to see birds of prey) so I joined in with that and got some brilliant views of Marsh Harriers. A Barn Owl flew right past the hide several times and a Kingfisher obligingly sat on a nearby post and bashed a fish against it, (The leader of the walk saw a Short-eared Owl and a Hen Harrier but my binoculars were not up to it.)
When I arrived back at the house, my fellow volunteer had got the fire going and he told me the good news - that the electric shower meant we didn't have to light the fire first thing in the morning. Things were looking up!
He had already been working on the Reserve for a week, so knew what kind of work we would be doing. It sounded quite hard - jobs like moving logs and mending fences. But we had Sunday off and didn't have to work until Monday.
I had brought a meal for two with me (to help make friends with my fellow volunteer) and Ewan kindly sat down with me at the kitchen table to eat it together. But it became obvious that this is not how volunteers operate! They all (quite amicably) buy, prepare and eat their own meals individually and sit eating them huddled round the fire in the sitting room. Occasionally they go together to the pub. Just like how my daughters acted when they were students.
Sunday
I didn't have to work but thought I'd earn some brownie points by offering to help a bit - so got to learn the fun routine of cleaning the loos in sub-zero temperatures!.
Blacktoft Sands has a really good reception hide with a welcoming wood-burning stove and lovely views over a lagoon. I met the day-volunteers who staffed the reception hide every Sunday and for the rest of the day used it as a base to get warm and hear bird stories! I also saw a water vole from that hide.
I then had my "Induction" with the Visitor Officer, who gave me a walk round the Reserve and a really comprehensive guide to working conditions and health and safety considerations. It reminded me what a very professional organisation the RSPB is - I have had many less useful inductions for paid jobs!
Then the rest of the day was mine. I decided to make the most of the Reserve, starting at the bird feeders by the Reception Hide and I saw many Tree Sparrows - and a Water Rail. Unbelievably, it walked right across the open area next to the feeders and I got an amazing view of its long beak and oddly sticking- up tail. I then managed to spend time in most of the hides and saw lots of different ducks and got excellent views of Snipe and the Barn Owl again. Many of the visitors to the hides were very knowledgeable and very happy to give bird-spotting help.
That evening I managed to light the fire - success! I was just a bit worried about the prospect of the five days of "hard labour" ahead.
Monday
It was freezing and foggy and we started off the day as usual with cleaning the loos, litter picking in the car park and replenishing the bird feeders. Then we were sent off to clean and check all the hides - quite good fun really and we would have had a good chance to bird watch if only it hadn't been so foggy. But we had a real treat at one hide - just below the hide we saw some reeds twitching and got a wonderful view of a male bearded tit, all fluffed up against the cold. He stayed in view for several minutes just yards away. Blacktoft Sands is famous for Bearded Tits - it has over 100 pairs - but many visitors don't have the luck to see them.
We then tramped through the reed beds to find the deputy warden, Katy. She was cutting down reeds and our job was to collect and burn them - again really good fun. Luckily the weather had improved and we got some great views of Stone Chats as we paused for our picnic lunch in the reeds. The reed cutting and burning is to create "edges" of reeds and open areas where there are an abundance of insects - all to provide food for different sorts of bird, and to rejuvenate the reed beds.
Our final job for the day was to count in the roosting birds of prey. Luckily Ewan knows his birds - I would have had real problems identifying them by myself. But I had no trouble with the Barn Owl and this time we saw the pair of them. As usual there were great views of Marsh Harriers, with their cream crowns clearly visible in the rays of the sinking sun. I finally got a good view of the Hen Harrier with its distinctive white rump.
Katy was due to leave the Reserve at the end of the week, so we went to the local pub with her that night. Most enjoyable, particularly as the pub had a roaring fire and free sandwiches. And it meant we didn't have to light the fire in the house that night as we went straight there after a dash to the local supermarket to replenish supplies.
Tuesday
Again, it was freezing and foggy, this time with little hope of the sun breaking through, so we had the job of sawing logs. These are needed for the wood-burning stove that heats the Reception Hide. I've never been very good at using a bow saw, but with help and coaching from Katy, I managed to produce a good pile of logs. It made my arm ache but it was most satisfying. And we had the pleasure of a Weasel's company - he was ferreting around on the ditch bank next to us for ages. I learnt that you could tell he was a Weasel and not a Stoat as he didn't have a black tip to his tail. And a Kingfisher flew past!
We couldn't continue with the reed cutting and burning because the reeds were still covered in frost, so we returned to the RSPB Office for our afternoon task - which was to clear out the store house. This meant we could have our lunch in the warm! At the end of the afternoon we had a bonfire in the garden of the office to get rid of all the rubbish we'd found in the store house - again, we really appreciated the warmth.
Luckily it was Ewan's turn to light the fire that evening!
Wednesday
Again, it was freezing and foggy. But the frost wasn't as bad as the day before, so we spent the day reed cutting and burning. Not quite such good fun as on Monday as it was so cold, and we had great difficulty setting fire to the piles of reeds. Also, it was harder work as Katy cut reeds down all along the channel as before, but also cleared three huge squares - lots of reeds to rake into piles and burn. The ground was icy but very boggy - the water sometimes came up over our wellington boots. At least we warmed up during the burning - and we finished early so I had a chance to sit in a hide and watch the Barn Owl.
That evening Ewan and I had an evening in Scunthorpe where we sampled the delights of a Chinese restaurant and a film. It meant we didn't have to light the fire!
Thursday
Thank goodness - it was a bit milder. No frost or fog but the possibility of rain. We had another day reed cutting and burning and an hour at the end of the day tidying up the RSPB workshop. The excitement of the day was water pipits - several flew around as we cut the reeds.
There is something immensely satisfying about clearing a square in the reed beds. When you've finished, there are just lines of ash. You develop an efficient method of raking the cut reeds into rows for burning and when you set fire to one end of the row, you just watch the fire working its way steadily to the end. Like a good day of clearing in the garden only on a bigger scale and working in a team.
That evening we went to the pub again for my last evening. So we didn't have to light the fire again.
Friday
Last day! The routine for Fridays is to work a long morning and then return to the house to clean it and change the beds ready for the next volunteers.
The week before, the volunteers had made twig reefs - which are large bundles of twiggy willow tied together. We took them out into the lagoons to sink them with chunks of breezeblock - they attract fish that in turn provide food for the birds, particularly the bitterns. Sadly I managed to step into a deeper part of the lagoon - up to my thighs - but it was a mild day so once I'd rung out my socks, it was fine! We then spent the rest of the morning producing more reefs, armed with bow saws, secateurs and string. We returned to the house for a late lunch and then gave it a good clean.
After I'd made my fond farewells to Ewan and the Site Manager, I had a final bird-watch before I set off for home. Sadly the Barn Owl stayed hidden, but I had good views of all sorts of ducks and the Marsh Harriers.
Conclusion
Blacktoft Sands is a brilliant place for birds and short-term volunteering is most rewarding. There is no pressure to do anything you're not happy to do and you feel that you're doing something worthwhile. I found it strange to share a house with a stranger, but I soon got used to it and it was all part of a really unique experience.
I plan to do it again. Perhaps you should consider it!