How to save wildlife: on the front-line with the RSPB Species Volunteer Network

“I think part of the reason for that is because I’ve had the privilege of being part of this project. Being able to see Curlews in their breeding habitat and having a glimpse into their ‘private’ lives has brought me closer to them still, and the reward of spotting one on the backdrop of a beautiful upland heath in North Wales (where they’re essentially invisible!) is an even better feeling. So good in fact that it makes the wind-battered hours spent trudging through bogs and ripping my trousers on barbed wire with only bewildered sheep for company totally worth it!

“For me the Curlew is a familiar friend, and it saddens me to think that it might one day disappear from Wales (or from Britain altogether), especially when the breeding population in the UK is so important globally. So, it feels as though the Curlew is symbolic of why we must work to conserve these essential UK habitats and species. That's why I’m so grateful to be able to help this project and the Curlew in my own small way, and I hope that one day projects like this one will prevail, and the Curlew will once again have a stable home on this little island.”

“I was involved with DBB, both at Insh Marshes and at its only other site in Strathspey, and when I retired from the RSPB at the end of 2022 it seemed natural to continue working with DBB as a volunteer. I took on the role of DBB Species Champion as part of the Rare Invertebrates of the Cairngorms project. My personal motivation for working for DBB is simply because I get enjoyment from seeing and studying moths. They are beautiful and fascinating insects, around us all the time but rarely seen. If we can save rare species from going extinct, we should do it for ourselves and future generations.

“We are at an exciting stage in DBB conservation. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) set up a conservation breeding facility at the Highland Wildlife Park. From an initial batch of eggs taken from Insh Marshes in 2021, this project rears enough DBB to enable us to release into new suitable sites. Following the first releases in 2023, monitoring in 2024 failed to find any adult moths at the release site, but we aren’t disheartened, as they may just have gone undetected.

“Elsewhere, DBB had a bumper year. Monitoring at Insh Marshes found more than twice as many moths on site than had been recorded in any previous year! And there was also a record count near Balmoral in Deeside, the third Scottish site for DBB. So, there were perhaps mixed fortunes for DBB in 2024 but plenty of hope for the future, thanks to the continuing efforts by staff of several organisations and enthusiastic volunteers.

“In my experience, staff of conservation bodies are usually overstretched, with a significant administration workload. Volunteers are generally free of such burdens and can sometimes focus their energies in a way that paid staff cannot. Looking to the future, I am taking inspiration from another keen and enterprising local volunteer, Stewart Taylor. I’m working on building up a relationship with a local farmer to create more DBB habitat. Through my role as DBB Species Champion I hope to play a leading role in the conservation of this rare and beautiful species.”

With thanks to the Nature Restoration Fund who funded habitat work for the Dark Bordered Beauty at Balmoral in 2021, as well the Cairngorms National Park Authority for their support. 

“The beach warden work is varied. We spend many dedicated hours in all weathers on Chesil Beach monitoring the birds, from courtship, through the nesting and hatching periods, to observing the gorgeous, fluffy chicks growing in confidence to leave the nest, and finally watching the fledglings learning to fly and dive for fish successfully in the Fleet Lagoon. It’s such a privilege to observe them so closely!

“I am part of a smaller group of volunteers who assist with nest management activities, and as a larger group we also help to set up and take down the site infrastructure at the beginning and end of each season too.

“A huge highlight this year was the Chesil Little Tern Project featuring on BBC’s Springwatch! We were very lucky to be visited at the colony by Iolo Williams and his filming crew on a beautifully sunny morning. Iolo Williams used to volunteer at a Little Tern colony and he took such a genuine, keen interest in the birds, and the work we do as volunteers to help them.

“Before we knew it, the Chesil Little Terns were flying off across Lyme Bay on their long journey back to Africa for the winter. It was so satisfying to watch the Little Terns depart on migration once again, knowing they were taking their brand new, fledged young with them.  But I always look forward to that day in spring when the first Little Terns are spotted once again at Chesil and our volunteering work begins again!”