I can’t believe that I have already done seven months of my traineeship and am now into my eighth! I’ve learnt so much more than I thought I ever would and the skills and experiences I’ve had so far will hopefully make it easier to land a job in the conservation sector. I get asked all the time what I’ve been up to and learnt throughout the traineeship but it’s so hard to recall everything that I thought I’d try and round it up in a blog!
Readying to pass on wisdom...
Green Farm at dawn by Dominique Cragg
Lydia reflects on the skills, knowledge and experience she's gained as another trainee joins the team...
Brushcutting by Iain Turbin
Practical Skills
My practical abilities when I started the traineeship were pretty much non-existent so I really feel I’ve come on in leaps and bounds with this. My arm no longer feels like it’s about to fall off after a few seconds of cutting with a bow saw to complete coppicing tasks. I actually manage to hit my intended target and not my thumb when hammering in nails fixing board walks or completing fencing tasks!
Passing my assessments for brushcutter and chainsaw operations have been fun and somewhat challenging but the feeling of accomplishment from passing these things, when at times I really didn’t think I would, have been a great achievement. As mentioned in one of Meg's blogs clearing crassula from a pond at Trench wood is not something I thought I’d ever do and is definitely a highlight of the traineeship for me. I’ve found the autumn and winter months have been a great time to work on my practical skills as the time of year allows some of the more severe work, like felling trees, to take place.
Wood spurge by Lydia Rackham
Knowledge
My knowledge of conservation topics and management has grown immensely over the traineeship. I’m now starting to understand how I would go about making habitat management decisions based on what’s best for wildlife as well as getting to grips with how different contracts work. I honestly never realised how much work went into keeping the reserves as good as we see them when visiting.
I've also really enjoyed improving my identification skills, especially through the spring as the wildflowers are appearing. Since starting the traineeship I’ve found I’m noticing a lot more in the environments around me and am developing a slight obsession with trying to ID everything I come across.
During our admin days we get to do project-based work and one I’ve been working on is collating data from winter bird surveys done by Steve (Senior Conservation Officer) over the last couple of decades with a view to look at any trends that might be present and why these may be. It’s been interesting work and I’ve learnt a lot about the different birds seen and their ecology.
Dormouse nest by Lydia Rackham
Surveys
Surveys were something that I was really looking forward to and whilst we’re only now just coming into prime survey season, the ones I have been able to do so far haven’t disappointed. I’ve recently been to help on dormouse nest box surveys and although I didn’t see any dormice (it was a bit too early), seeing the nests from last year’s inhabitants was just as exciting and I'm looking forward to continuing this over the coming months. Only this morning (very early - see the main photo at the top of the page) I went on a bird survey with Reserves Officer Dominique at Green Farm to help note what species are showing on this new site – my bird ID is very basic but I’m hoping that as the survey season continues my skills will only get better!
Volunteers
Completing tasks alongside our volunteers is something that I really enjoy, they’re great fun and it is great to get to know them all. Each volunteer has a lot of knowledge and I’m lucky that they are willing to share their skills and expertise with me. Through my chainsaw training they were extremely helpful and gave me great bits of advice to get through it. I’ve come to realise just how important our volunteers are in completing much needed work on our nature reserves and am extremely appreciative of their help and support (and patience) through my traineeship so far.
Social Media
Appearing on social media in any format was something I was really nervous about – I’m not a natural in front of a camera by any means so when I was asked to do my meet the teams video I wanted to run away. As I've now done more wildlife-focused videos, I’ve definitely become more confident and, I hate to admit it, but I actually quite enjoy them. Hearing myself and Meg on the radio taking part in an interview for BBC Hereford and Worcester was another thing I never thought I’d listen to and, just when I thought I’d escaped it, there we were on their social media pages with a video of us completing our pond clearance task. At the time I couldn't have been more embarrassed but I’ve come to realise that opportunities like those are constantly improving my confidence.
Last month I went along to the summer magazine editorial where I got a behind the scenes of what goes on when creating the members' magazines. Again, I had no idea of the time and effort that goes into producing the content and it provided an interesting and enjoyable insight into communications.
I could write thousands of words and not feel like I can do the traineeship justice of how brilliant it is proving to be for me – there are so many things I’ve done that I haven’t been able to include. Every new skill allows me to feel a bit more confident and is giving me a greater understanding of conservation issues and resolutions and I’m growing evermore excited for my future career in conservation - having only just over four months left, I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me. It was great having Meg as my fellow trainee for the first few months and I was sad to see her go although really happy for her to get her dream job. Having been a lone trainee for the past month, it’s been lovely over the last couple of weeks to welcome Romy - our latest trainee to the team - and I’m looking forward to working together and passing on a few words of wisdom of my own from one trainee to another.