Member Article

Kielder projects need your support

If you would like to get up close and personal with wildlife in Kielder this year, then Northumberland Wildlife would love to hear from you, as it is now recruiting volunteers for two exciting projects.

The Restoring Ratty project, which has l been made possible by National Lottery players and a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is working to re-introduce water voles to the Kielder area.

The project team is offering the opportunity for members of the public to help with the release of baby water voles into the Kielder area over the summer and the collection of data on mink and water voles

Volunteer teams will be needed to head out every fortnight to monitor mink rafts to ensure this threat to water voles doesn’t return to the area before and during the release.

The Restoring Ratty induction and training day is being held on Thursday 30 March at Kielder Castle between 11:00am - 2:00pm.

The second project with volunteering opportunities available is Osprey Watch which is now in its eighth year.

Breeding pairs of ospreys have arrived in Kielder between March and September for the last 8 years, and activity on the nest tends to be mainly throughout July and August as the chicks hatch, are fed, learn to fly and hunt.

As with previous years, the wildlife charity is hoping to recruit a large team of volunteers to spend weekends, Bank Holidays and Wednesdays providing an engaging osprey information point where the public can see the osprey nests from a telescope and binoculars, from April through to August, at a number of locations in the Kielder area.

There will also be the opportunity to help on wildlife cruises run in partnership with Calvert Trust.

Anybody interested shouldn’t be put off getting involved, if they are not an expert, as full training will be given at the 2017 season training and induction session on Tuesday 21 March between 10:30am - 2:30pm at the Calvert Trust, Kielder.

Anybody interested should complete the online volunteer registration form at: www.nwt.org.uk /volunteer or telephone: Lou Chapman, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Volunteer Co-ordinator on: 0191 2846884.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .