My First Month as Heritage Trainee at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

By David Bridger

Rye Harbour Heritage Trainee

My first month as a Heritage Trainee at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve has been full of learning new skills and learning new faces, and it has been such an engaging and enjoyable ride thus far. In the space of just a couple of months I have made the jump from working for a local retail brand to aligning my passion and interest for wildlife with the necessary training and experience that I lacked. I hope that the past version of myself that entered 2023 at the beginning of the year is proud. One truly never knows what life has waiting around the corner for you.

Having worked and lived locally for some years now, I have been familiar with the unique beauty of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve for some time. Something that has particularly struck me since I started this position however, is how the dynamic between local and regular visitors is reflected in the array of bird life within the reserve, and just how crucial this balance is for future of the reserve. Rye Harbour Nature Reserve benefits from dedicated year-round volunteers and our local, regular visitors, much like the Oystercatchers and Little Egrets that can be found on the reserve in all seasons. Holidaymakers, dog-walkers and new visitors to the reserve are like visiting, migrating birds – terns, Curlews or Avocets – that bring bursts of interest and enthusiasm to the area. Each group occupying its niche and maintaining balance and diversity in the reserve, something vital for nature to thrive.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck into land management tasks on the reserve, the maintenance and upkeep of the miles of anti-predatory, electric fencing being a primary and ongoing concern to protect the ground-nesting birds that are so vulnerable to disturbance and predation. As for the education and community engagement side of things, it has been a delight to shadow my colleagues as they lead school and university groups around the reserve, within the classroom in the Discovery Centre, and in visiting local schools to deliver lessons in Forest School session. Indeed, it feels so rewarding to see children engage with wildlife and enjoy time spent in the great outdoors – something I can very much relate to, in my own childhood and now into my adulthood! Rye Harbour Nature Reserve’s first Slow Worm sighting of 2023 was recorded by one such group, which made for a very exciting find that captured the attention of all involved.

In the coming month of May, I am looking forward to spring being in full swing, and the new opportunities to learn and develop my skills further. As the weather starts to warm up and the reserve sees increasing visits from school and visiting groups, I look forward to applying myself to community engagement and education, as well as receiving training in First Aid, a necessary and vital qualification when leading groups of any kind. Watch this space!