Joshua and Brendan joined Joe, the Stour and Orwell Estuary Warden, based at Trimley Marshes Nature Reserve. They supported Joe with seasonal work across the reserves and as avid bird watchers, they were treated to some spectacular sightings.
They helped Joe paint the bird hides and visitor centre on the reserve, Joshua said with his new skill he “will most likely get roped into painting the garden shed now!” and they also learnt about tree identification and butterflies and dragonflies. Wildlife spotting highlights included seeing a “bearded tit outside the reservoir hide and surveying butterflies and dragonflies”, and Brendan added his highlight was “Seeing a seal on the river”.
Joe talked to them about his role and offered them the ‘day-in-a-life’ experience of what its like to be a nature reserve warden. Joshua enjoyed learning about the importance of livestock in maintaining nature reserve habitats and grassland areas. His one key bit of advice to help nature is to ensure that we “keep nature in mind whilst walking – keep dogs on leads and keep to footpaths to limit disturbance to ground nesting birds”. Brendan enjoyed becoming much better at identifying butterflies and discovering how varied a job as warden can be.
We asked the work experience students where their favourite place in Suffolk is to experience nature. Joshua said he loves visiting Landguard Bird Observatory during migration periods: “Nothing beats a rush of birds at a migration watch point.” He also recommends Levington Lagoon, where “wader roosts are spectacular at high tide in the winter, and I have occasionally seen summer roosts of yellow wagtail with up to 20 birds.” Brendan enjoys visiting Minsmere “as there are so many different species there and it’s a nice place with a variety of habitats.”
Meanwhile, Sophie joined the Fundraising team at our central office and is studying psychology at A-Level, so put this to use to research the psychology of how nature improves mental wellbeing. This research can then be used in future communications and funding applications to demonstrate the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time in nature. Sophie’s biggest takeaways were “learning how to write up my findings properly and clearly” and “meeting lots of friendly new people!”.
Amongst the research, Sophie found that when you spend time in nature “your nervous system physically relaxes, and your type of attention changes when you are surrounded by nature.” It wasn’t all spent doing research, Sophie also got involved with staff craft club and produced some fantastic drawings of plants and nature using oil pastels. One key takeaway Sophie shared from her work experiences was “I would really like people to respect and help protect wildlife conservation areas” and her local nature recommendation is to explore the fields and rivers in Hasketon and Woodbridge.
Thank you for all your hard work Joshua, Brendan, Sophie and Nathan – it was a joy to have you with us for the week!
Interested in gaining experience with the Trust? We have plenty of fantastic volunteering opportunities for all ages and stages of life which you can discover over on our Volunteering page.
