Getting Involved
There are many ways to get involved with Foxglove Covert. Volunteering is great fun and can be a fantastic way to meet new like minded people. The main volunteer day for practical tasks is Tuesday. In the winter time the group usually work together on major habitat management jobs such as coppicing trees and scrub clearance. This is physical outdoor work and a good way to get fresh air and exercise!
No experience is required, just a willingness to learn and have fun! There is never any pressure and volunteers work at their own pace. In the summer, jobs vary and are more to do with the day to day running and maintenance of the visitor facilities. Tuesday tasks can include painting signs, improving footpaths and pruning back branches alonside pathways. Mowing and strimming also feature during the summer month job list.
At Foxglove we monitor around 100 large nest boxes and hundreds of small ones. These have to be repaired and replaced before the breeding season. This brings with it opportunities to visit other MOD conservation sites. As you will have seen on recent blog posts, there are chances later in the year to return to these nests to ring the resident birds.
The Swaledale bird ringing team meet on most weekends to monitor the bird population. This is usually done through mist netting under BTO guidelines. Volunteers spend many hours ringing birds and all data collated is sent to the BTO for important research.
All wildlife is surveyed and volunteers help with recording flowers, plants, trees, invertebrates and mammals too. If you have a relevant skill or interest then please get in touch. If you would like to learn more about a particular species then we would love to hear from you too.
Nature is offered a helping hand at Foxglove and volunteers help with filling bird feeders, checking the Exmoor ponies and believe it or not feeding the Water Voles!
Assisting with educational visits is another volunteer option. A main purpose of the LNR is to engage young people in nature and what better way than to let them have hands-on experience, this is truly rewarding.
Not all volunteering takes place at the reserve. Bag packing and coffee mornings are examples of some of the fundraising activities that are carried out to promote the reserve and raise money for the registered charity. Bakers are always welcome!
No matter what your age, experience or background, there is something for everyone at Foxglove. If you would like to get involved but feel that you are short of spare time you can adopt one of our bird boxes, join the 100 club or become a Friend of Foxglove.
If any of the above interests you then please contact us for more information. We are also looking to recruit an enthusiastic, committed person to work on the reserve on Sundays only from 10.00am-4.00pm. This is a paid position. For more information please do get in touch.