Celebrating Volunteers on Lindisfarne NNR

This week, we celebrate all of our wonderful and committed volunteers who have all played a vital role in supporting the work we do here on Lindisfarne NNR. From practical habitat management to supporting with public engagement events, the wildlife of the Reserve has benefitted from all their hard work. 

A huge thank you from the NNR team to all of our volunteers for your dedication and enthusiasm! Keep up the good work! 

Volunteer Andy Pigg joined us last shorebird season and has wrote about his experiences. He enjoyed the summer so much he is back this year and is an invaluable member of the Shorebird team.

"In this my first year as a Shorebird Warden working for Natural England on the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve and as a complete novice, I found the whole experience extremely rewarding.

It was a real privilege to be able to work alongside highly experienced professionals who were able to educate me on the breeding habits of both the Little Tern and Ringed Plover as well as imparting a great deal of knowledge on the Flora and Fauna that can be found along the North Northumberland Coast. I am much the wiser for it and can now impress family and friends with my new found knowledge.

The remoteness of the site allowed greater opportunities to observe and study the Little Terns in some detail. I was awestruck by their dogged determination to succeed in the face of such adversity. Their long flight from West Africa, the unpredictable climate and tides along the North Sea Coast and a whole host of predators it is truly remarkable and inspiring when you see the first fledglings take to the air. Like a surrogate parent watching from the sidelines it filled me with a great deal of pride knowing that I had contributed to that success.

The majority of visitors on the beaches across the Reserve were very understanding over the restrictive access and appreciative of the wardens’ intervention in protecting some of our rarest breeding birds. Most left with, I suspect a degree of envy for those of us who have time to spare for such a good cause.

I can think of few better ways to spend the day than sat on the North Northumberland Coast in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty monitoring breeding birds, watching inquisitive seals off shore and spotting the occasional dolphin breaking through the waves."

Andy Pigg (Retired Army Officer)