As a degree student of Animal Science, I decided it would be both interesting and beneficial for me to do some voluntary work in a field related to my course. I looked long and hard for places to go and things to do, until I happened upon a reference to residential volunteering with the RSPB. One of my areas of study is Wildlife and Habitat Management, and I am very interested in conservation work, so this seemed to be the perfect thing. It would get me experience in conservation, provide me with something to fill my time off from university, and best of all, would allow me to visit a place far from home, that I had not visited before. I had a lot of difficulty finding somewhere I was happy with, but eventually settled on Mersehead, on the Solway coast of Scotland. It took me many hours by public transport, about nine hours all told, to reach it, but, for such a beautiful area of the UK, it was certainly worth it.
I arrived in the evening on a Saturday, too tired from my journey to want to do anything. On my second day, I awoke to see a lot of geese outside my window. Having not researched the reserve before-hand, I did not know what these geese were. I was later to find out they were Svalbard Barnacle Geese, which winter here. Even better than that, this area is the only place in the UK that they stay. After Breakfast, I wandered around the reserve, to get a feel for the area. I walked along the coastal route, amazed at all the shells. I passed the turn off back to reserve, in the hope of seeing something further up. I was rewarded by spotting several hundred Oystercatchers, all sat at the edge of the salt marsh, waiting for dinner to appear with the incoming tide.
Over the next two weeks, I did a variety of things. Some of my time was spent in the visitors centre, sharing some of my new-found knowledge with visitors to the site. Other tasks were aimed at preparing the site for the year ahead, painting, repairing signs, putting up new signs to mark out the walking routes, etc. While this wasn't so much to do with conservation, it is an important part of the reserve. Keeping it nice for visitors keeps donations, and since the RSPB relies so heavily on donations to keep operating, it is a necessity. One of the more exciting tasks performed was preparing new ponds for the Natterjack Toads. Doing work to encourage these threatened species was rewarding (All under close supervision of a licensed professional, of course!). I was even lucky enough to spot two of them, along with a third still in his hibernation hole, which is an incredibly rare sight.
On the whole, my two weeks were enjoyable, though the work was demanding. This was of course also despite getting horribly sunburnt, in the unseasonably warm weather. I hope I am able to do such a thing again in the future, but only time will tell.