RESIDENTS of Dumfries, Annan and the surrounding areas have spent nearly 2700 hours volunteering at WWT Caerlaverock Wetland Centre.
And those with an interest in wildlife are being invited to come and join the team, with an exciting and varied range of roles on offer.
Mary Harper, from Annan, has volunteered for several years with the charity.
She has been involved in a wide range of activities from welcoming visitors in the centre to supporting monitoring work by recording their bird sightings.
Volunteers’ tasks include providing people with information on arrival at WWT Caerlaverock, helping them identify species and serving food and drinks in the visitor centre.
Mary said: “It’s a great thing now I am retired, it gives a structure to my week and the team at Caerlaverock are just really friendly and I enjoy coming and meeting up with them.”
Others, like Andy Matrundola, works with the reserve team, a group of a dozen hard working and committed volunteers, who are out, rain or shine, to manage the habitats on the reserve.
From fence repairs to nest box surveys, there is a huge variety of activities that they get involved in while supporting the reserve wardens.
Andy added: “As a new person in Dumfries, this was the first place I came to and I feel really at home here and have really enjoyed my time.
“(WWT Caerlaverock is important) because of all the restoration work that is going on at this wonderful reserve that creates amazing habitats for amazing birds.”
Engagement officer Marianne Nicholson said: “We have a small team of staff at WWT Caerlaverock and we simply could not function fully without the help our wonderful volunteers like Mary and Andy.
“Their support and dedication allow us to do so much more work than we could ever without them.”
In the summer, the nature reserve is host to a plethora of dragonflies and damselflies, and it has been designated as a Dragonfly Hotspot by the British Dragonfly Society.
The entire population of Svalbard barnacle geese migrate to the Solway in autumn and thousands of water birds spend the winter on the reserve.
The site also has the most northerly UK population of natterjack toads and one of only two UK populations of tadpole shrimps.
If you would like to find out more about volunteering opportunities at WWT Caerlaverock contact Rebekah Allison at [email protected] or phone 01387 770200.
