These last two weeks, we've done a lot of training with the Nature Reserves Team. There are lots of topics in the world of nature conservation and we’ve been introduced to a few of them. We have worked at some of the nature reserves as well.  

We attended the "Identification of Invasive and Injurious species" training at Bog Meadows Nature Reserve with Lantra Awards. It’s important to control and eradicate non-native invasive species because they are considered one of the most important causes of biodiversity loss, endangering native species. Some of them are found at our natures reserves, such as Himalayan Balsam, Japanese knotweed, and Spanish Bluebell.

We also attended the 'Phase 1 Habitat Survey' training. This is a system for mapping wildlife habitats and we learnt about some of the types of grass, rush and sedges that we have at Slievenacloy Nature Reserve. 

This last training course on fencing will be very useful for the following weeks, as there’s a lot of work to do at Slievenacloy Nature Reserve. It was nice to learn how to repair a fence and put it into practice.  

But don’t forget that we also have a lot of work to do on our Nature Reserves every week. We wood chipped a lot this last week at Balloo and Straidkilly Nature Reserves. One of the nicest things to do at the nature reserves though, is to plant native wildflowers and that´s what we also did –we planted some primroses!

I'm going to end this blog with a picture of a Common Door Snail I spotted at Straidkilly Nature reserve! I don’t know why, but I like snails, and this is one of the most different looking ones I've seen.

The European Solidarity Corps (ESC) scheme offers young volunteers from European countries the opportunity to work with Ulster Wildlife for 12 months, with placements within our Nature Reserves, Living Landscapes and Fundraising and Communications teams.