JC's placement comes to an end
My time here at Caelaverock has been an unforgettable experience, every second of my year in Scotland filled with highs and lows.
Throughout the past 12 months, I have learnt an indescribable amount of new skills and more knowledge than I would have ever imagined. From the early mornings, carrying out breeding birds surveys to late night natterjack peak adult count and everything in between: it has been an incredible time in my life.
Life at Caerlaverock is very different to other reserves I have volunteered on. With our small but amazing team, it is a real pleasure to come together and put our best effort in for our beautiful site. The wildlife is like nothing I have ever seen before, with a plethora of different species all throughout the year, ranging from the geese and swans in the winter to the large variety of migrants in the summer, along with the large diversity of mammals, amphibians and a small of invertebrate life.
I have also became somewhat of a birder myself over the past year. I had liked birds beforehand but never got into them that much but being here you cannot help yourself. Amazing species like snow geese, great white egret, wood sandpiper, short-eared owl and even a hooded crow came to our site - and all were lifers for me - and it has been a real treat to see all these interesting species come and go.
Each week there is always something different to do and new tasks to tackle. Throughout the seasons jobs and tasks change: throughout winter I led swan talks engaging with the public talking about the whooper swans and large barnacle geese population that migrate from Svalbard. In addition, we carried out the large majority of our habitat management in this time, creating coppice plots to enable a greater biodiversity to flourish in the future.
In the summer, we undertook a wide variety of important surveying and monitoring with the majority of them being focused around birds! We did breeding bird surveys, nest box monitoring, hide and building monitoring and wader monitoring out on the merse - it all happens at Caerlaverock... even sometimes all that in one entire day. We call it monitoring madness! As well as the monitoring, I’ve also enjoyed working with the sheep, trimming their feet and shearing them on occasion. I've also had the opportunity to use both of our tractors weekly to mow or top our fields. Both have become my speciality I'd say.
As I mentioned, working at Caerlaverock has been tricky at times but it has been well worth it. I, myself, have been involved with numerous projects including the tree sparrow nest box project, black headed gull raft creation, coppice plot establishment, renovation of the Peter Scott Trail, wildflower meadow creation, wildlife garden improvement and the introduction of mini wetlands, and so much more!
With this year said and done now, I feel like I’ve grown as a person and positively impacted Caelaverock with some of my ideas. I’ll be leaving and heading back to university with a heavy heart, taking all my skills and experiences with me. Nevertheless, to Caerlaverock, the volunteers and the staff I’m sure I’ll be back someday…
Peace out,
JC.
