AMAZING Volunteers

Tuesday 24th May was the day that our first volunteer group of the 2011 season spent with us at Skalanes. It was not the day they were meant to be here (that was Saturday 21st) but the volcanic eruption had forced the group to drive the north route around Iceland and heavy snow had trapped them the other side of the mountain.

However on Tuesday Oli and Bjarki took two cars over the mountain to pick them up, before bringing them out to the first ford where I collected them. My first impression of the group as I drove them to the centre was that they were "amazing"! I based this conclusion on the fact that the mountains were amazing, the wildlife was amazing, the centre was amazing....you get the idea.

Living and working at Skalanes for the past 8 weeks you start to accept the beautiful and wild scenery and the natural history of the area as "normal" and it takes the fresh eyes of visitors to remind you of what you take for granted on a daily basis.

Thus began the adventures of volunteers from the UK, France, Slovakia, Romania and the USA.

We were not sure how long the group would be able to stay at Skalanes as they had arrived late, but luckily for us they were able to stay for the full week. What followed was a whirlwind mixture of tree planting, shoveling manure, vegetable garden digging, beer brewing, cheese and bread making, fire wood collecting, pig and cattle herding, laughter and general enjoyment.

The group that overused the word "amazing" in the first 15 minutes of their stay were truly amazing! Never did they tire of the tasks we gave them and we had plenty of those. They tackled everything we gave them with a brilliant mixture of enthusiasm and humor. Individually they were lovely people and as a group everyone got on very well.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we said good bye to the group last night after a couple of pizzas and beers in town. They have truly set a high standard for all following groups to attain!

Hopefully the wet weather we have been having will change towards the end of the week and we will now be able to get out and do some more monitoring work.  I have come across several snipe nests over the last couple of days with eggs in them so I hope to mark a couple and then check up on them every so often to see how they are getting on.

No volunteers for a couple of weeks, but students from University of Glasgow and South Connecticut University next week.

"Dirty" SEEDS Volunteers celebrate finishing a turf wall

SEEDS Volunteers out on the reserve

Ringed Plover

Snipe Eggs