Student Work Placement: Riley

In this blog conservation student Riley talks us through his placement with Glendale’s Nature Conservation Officer

Monday 25th March
I met one of the volunteer bird surveyors at the meeting spot in Hilly Fields and we sat down and got to know each other as we waited for the others to arrive. I immediately felt welcomed despite I have never done birdwatching before. The lady I met first at the meet up spot spent the majority of the day teaching me all kinds of bird and tree species and also taught me how to tell which birds are around by their singing.
The whole three hours went fast! The entire experience for me was relaxing and because I have always loved to learn about nature, this was an excellent experience. I even got to see two uncommon birds for Hilly Fields which were the Green woodpecker and a red kite!
I then did another task at Mayow Park, elsewhere in the borough, with different volunteers where I learnt how to plant tree whips and put guards on which I have never done before and it was an awesome feeling after I was able to do it all by myself. I know this is considered as a job to do these things but I genuinely felt joy and it did not whatsoever feel like a chore to me.
Another positive thing I’ve found doing this volunteering was communication. It was easy to talk to people I have never spoken too because every volunteer was welcoming and approachable. This was especially beneficial for me because of my autism I have found it hard to talk to people I don’t know, so this was really good practice for me to develop communication skills.

Tuesday 26th March
I went to Chinbrook meadows and I got to go in a newly built pond with a group of volunteers to plant some aquatic plants, helped make a dead hedgerow and litter picked the surrounding area. Everyone in the group is very kind and joyful because of being passionate about the type of work we were all doing. There was this one volunteer I started talking to during tea break and I told her about how my lecturer told me that conservation isn’t for me because I’m more aware of my surroundings and they reassured me to never let someone tell me what I can and can’t do and how I possibly even could have more to offer in the industry than I think. It was a long discussion and it really uplifted me, she was a very pleasant person to talk to. That just goes to show how great it is to volunteer in this group. I find it also easier to talk to people in this community due to relevant interests and you can talk for hours because there is so much about the industry such as different plant species, wildlife etc. I really enjoyed myself today.

Thursday 27th March
Today I built my first bug hotel! As a group we stacked up 4 or 5 wooden pallets and then gathered materials such as sticks and cut dried bamboo lengths to put into the bug hotel as sheltering space for insects and invertebrates. After we did that we applied chickenwire around the top of the bug hotel to prevent the sticks from falling out and to prevent any hazard to the public.
I also had the opportunity to put vertical logs into the ground which acts as food and shelter source for insects and invertebrates, these were called loggeries (A vital use of deadwood for the stag beetle lifecycle). During this volunteering I felt like I fit in and I felt welcomed to the group of volunteers where most of them I did not know.