A year flies by...
My year-long Practical Reserve Management Placement has really given me an idea of what it’s like to work with nature. The best part of my job I hear you ask? Every day is different. I love the seasonality of this work, from the talks about the noisy the geese and whooper arriving in the autumn, the dark days I’ve had in the depths of winter mending fence lines and chainsawing, spring days of trying to work on birdsong identification and nest box monitoring, then scorching days on the saltmarsh trying to navigate myself through the intricate creek systems they’ve developed over time.
One of the key things I’ll be taking away with me is a passion for birding, something if you had told me a year ago would happen, I would’ve laughed. Birding is now definitely a hobby of mine, with my bird list since the start of my placement at 117 species seen. Throughout the year on the reserve I’ve eagerly twitched a few out of the ordinary visitations which I’ve seen such as a black tern, ring necked duck and wood sandpiper.
Feeding swans during winter.
Some of the highlights of my placement year have been:
- Engagement (swan talks, guided walks, attending fairs), as it meant I got to speak to people about the conservation work we do and why it matters.
- Surveying, surveying, surveying! I’ve undertaken WeBs, natterjack toad spawn string counts, dragonfly surveys and saltmarsh plant ID. All of this has given me solid start to monitoring UK wildlife!
- Being out on the saltmarsh at 6am assisting with breeding bird surveys and spotting my first sighting of a short-eared owl flying not more than 20 metres away from me.
- Designing and creating a bird feeding stand for the entrance of the visitor centre. Read about it in my blog here.
- Living on a nature reserve (who wouldn’t love this?!)
Wetlands!
I would recommend a placement year to anyone who wants pursue a career in conservation whilst at university. This last year has taught me how different it is learning in a room, then actually being out in the field doing the practical. Sometimes solutions aren’t textbook, but that’s why practical conservation is great as it allows you to put your creative thinking cap on! So what’s next for me? I’ll be heading back to university to finish off the last year of my Geography degree. After this, the world of conservation awaits!
I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to live and work on such a wonderful site, with a great bunch of people.
Peace out,
Madisyn
Words by Madisyn Pett
