I developed a desire to work in nature around the late 1980's and it is difficult to remember back that far as to what came first.  About that time I started to help a wood cutting syndicate organized by Richard Woolner in Reydon Wood and started to gain skills like the correct method for felling a small tree and stacking woodpiles. Richard, I think, was involved earlier in helping to start up Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

Also about this time I started volunteering on Suffolk Wildlife Trust's North Cove Reserve, and other organisation’s reserves too such as Wheatfen in Norfolk and not content with this, my holidays were spent on various other reserves around England, Scotland and Wales.   

To fill in more spare time at weekends I became involved with Hen Reedbeds, Wenhaston Common, Reydon Wood Suffolk Wildlife Trust work parties and others.

My time at Loch Garten was taken with monitoring nesting ospreys for eight years then moving on down to Rutland Water doing the same in 1997. I monitored them in various ways at Rutland until 2013 approximately when the birds had become firmly established.

At the same time I travelled to Italy from 1997 every year at the end of May, for a week, monitoring migrating honey buzzard to stop them being shot as they passed through from Africa to Europe. To add to that I went to southern Spain for several years monitoring and counting black stork as they migrated to Africa. This was on the first week of September.

Volunteering in these various ways has been the highlight of my life. Living in the Suffolk countryside all my life I find it amazing that blue butterflies did not exist until my volunteering started.

How my Volunteer Wardening started was at Wheatfen when John Tooley, the Warden there, approached me and asked if I could help him warden Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Castle Marshes. It took me about half a second to consider this and I said "Yes please". Mike Harding and Maria Parker put me through a training session and induction and John just about left me to look after the reserve on my own.

I renewed all 27 gates and wing fences with instructions from Steve Aylward, sometimes working in horizontal sleet showers. At about the end of the renewals I had been working near the furthest end of the reserve and was making my way back to the entrance, when I noticed a chunky little Redpoll Bull trotting towards me in the next compartment. Seeing a closed gate between us I did not worry but when the bull got to the gate it sent it flying through the air. Then the worrying started. But I was OK because he was only interested in a cow in the next compartment, that is all I am saying on that subject.

Last but by no means least in 1993 I also agreed to become Warden at North Cove Reserve which was conveniently next to Castle Marshes and with the help of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, preserved one of the last remaining alder carr wet woodlands.

My Volunteering is not yet over, but age is slowing me down, I still have much to enjoy.

George Batchelor, Volunteer Warden, Castle Marshes Reserve.