I’ve already experienced so much in such a short amount of time. Finding slow-worms and grass snakes on my first day – a first for me and hoping this is a sign that the rest of the traineeship will surprise me with more wildlife wonders over the next 10 months – to working with volunteers on tasks to maintain important habitats such as meadows. I have visited numerous reserves, completing a variety of tasks including repairing boardwalks, mowing and raking, coppicing and removing and inserting new gate posts (I will never take a gate post for granted again – I believe the ones I have come across have been particularly tough to remove but Iain (my supervisor) assures me they’re not all like this...I’ll wait until the next one before I believe him though). I have had the pleasure of meeting volunteers out on our roving tasks who have made me feel so welcome and, through their own experiences and knowledge, have already taught me a great deal and been so generous with their time. I have come to realise how important all the volunteers are in completing tasks with the saying ‘many hands make light work' being completely accurate!