Until next time, Caerlaverock
I have spent the last four months working at WWT Caerlaverock and my main takeaway: it’s a little bit magic.
For a lot of people, winter is a dark, sad time where all you want to do is wrap up and stay inside to hibernate. And for a long time, I was much the same way. I hated having to get up early on winter mornings while it was still dark. I was perpetually forgetting to leave time for defrosting my car so was always running later than I would have liked.
This winter though things changed for me. Yes, I was still getting up while it was dark and having to defrost my car but my mind-set had changed: I liked my job.
Unheard of, right?
But suddenly, I actually liked my colleagues, I was learning new things and I got to talk to interesting people who visited every day.
My morning became about driving as the sun was coming up and seeing what colours the sky would be, instead of begrudging the fact that I was awake at all.
Lesser redpoll photo credit Marianne Nicholson
Welcoming me as my car rattled over the cattle grid at 8.50 was the sound of Caerlaverock’s birdscape: a gaggle of geese, a clattering of jackdaws, a bevy of swans. All day I got to celebrate with people when they’d seen something special out on the reserve. My own knowledge of birds has developed exponentially (although to be fair, it was not a high bar to exceed and I am definitely still far from being any good). It’s been really exciting for me, building on my ID skills and learning about the importance of our habitat for wintering birds.
One of my favourite things was when it was quiet and I had the opportunity to take myself out for a walk with the camera. As an inexpert birder, areas that I was drawn to were always the feeders on the Peter Scott Trail and the Peter Scott Observatory. On a cold day in the depth of winter, I was out on such a walk and was waiting patiently at the feeders, taking pictures and admiring the agility and speed of the passerines. And then as is from nowhere the elusive water rail appeared in the bushes! On the same day, I also correctly identified a Lesser Redpoll. The magic of knowing what I was looking at and the joy that came with it was none other.
But the most magical thing Caerlaverock gave me? An idea of what I want my future to look like. Thanks to the team for taking a chance on me, I am confidently able to answer when people ask me what I want to be doing next: working in conservation engagement and connecting people to nature. The question now is: how will I ever like a job as much as this one?
Feature photo: whooper swan, credit Marianne Nicholson
Written by Marianne Nicholson
