The RSPB Twite project has been in hiatus due to Covid restrictions but is now being revived. Volunteers are being sought - see the letter from Kate Aspin reproduced below. If anyone is interested then please contact Kate directly.

Hi all,

I hope you are all well and coping through this particularly tricky time.  I just wanted to say thanks to those volunteers who offered to help with fieldwork earlier this year that was cancelled due to Covid and the resulting lockdown.  I’m not sure whether anyone got in touch to tell you as we were all furloughed very quickly without much notice, but your offer was appreciated and it was frustrating that we couldn’t go ahead this year.  However, I am starting planning for next year and the prospect of getting out and about doing fieldwork is really cheering me up on this rainy dismal day whilst working from home.  I wanted to share with you the following volunteering opportunities that will be coming up next year in case you want to put your name forward to help out: 


Feeding Stations
We’re going to really push the feeding stations this year and hope to increase both the number of sites and timescale when the feeding stations are active.  So we need as many volunteers as possible to help with this. 

What will this involve?  Visiting your site twice a week (although sites can be shared between volunteers), putting the seed out and monitoring for 1 hour per visit to see which birds are using the seed.  It may also involve the maintenance of monitoring cameras at well used sites. Please note, if you are unable to do your visit due to holiday etc. then cover will be found.

When?  Mid-winter site – we are researching the value of setting up 2 or 3 mid-winter feeding stations starting from January to March to see if any twite overwintering in the South Pennines use them.
Spring – potentially 14 feeding stations active between mid-March and mid-May.
Late summer/Autumn – potentially restart feeding at the 14 feeding stations between July and October.


Heavy Grazing Trial
The purpose of this trial is to test whether a period of heavy grazing and disturbance by livestock in spring results in an increase in dandelion (a key twite food) abundance the next year.  Unfortunately the second year of this trial was cancelled this year due to lockdown, but we are planning to repeat it again this year. 

What will it involve and when?  Volunteers will make 3 visits to their site, one at the end of March, one in early May and one in mid-May.  Volunteers will complete surveys of control and treatment fields collecting data on dandelion abundance, sward height and number of livestock.  Each visit will take no more than 1 day. 

If you are interested in any of the above opportunities, please let me know and I will keep you in the loop as the planning progresses.  There may also be additional opportunities coming up, but I need more time to research and plan these before I share with you.

Take care and I look forward to hearing from you,

Katie Aspin
Twite Project Officer (working days Wednesday and Thursday)

The RSPB, Northern England Region, Westleigh Mews, Wakefield Road, Denby Dale, Huddersfield, HD8 8QD
Temporary Mobile 07708924559

rspb.org.uk

Volunteers wanted:

Hi all,

I hope you are all doing well and getting through these long lockdown weeks. 

We still have some volunteering opportunities available to start this spring including helping to run a feeding station near Scammonden Reservoir and help with field surveys for the heavy grazing trial.  Please see below for more details:

Feeding Stations
What will this involve?  Visiting your site twice a week (although sites can be shared between volunteers), putting the seed out and monitoring for 1 hour per visit to see which birds are using the seed.  It may also involve the maintenance of monitoring cameras at well used sites.

When? 
Spring – between 22nd March – 16th May
Late summer/Autumn – restart feeding 19th July – 10th October

Heavy Grazing Trial
The purpose of this trial is to test whether a period of heavy grazing and disturbance by livestock in spring results in an increase in dandelion (a key twite food) abundance the next year.  Unfortunately the second year of this trial was cancelled this year due to lockdown, but we are planning to repeat it again this year. 

What will it involve and when?  Volunteers will make 3 visits to their site, one at the end of March, one in early May and one in mid-May.  Volunteers will complete surveys of control and treatment fields collecting data on dandelion abundance, sward height and number of livestock.  Each visit will take no more than 1 day (likely 2/3 hours per visit). 

If you are interested in any of the above opportunities, please get in touch.  I would also appreciate it if you could share this email with anyone who you think may be interested in volunteering.

Many thanks,

Katie Aspin
Twite Project Officer (working days Thursday and Friday)

The RSPB, Northern England Region, Westleigh Mews, Wakefield Road, Denby Dale, Huddersfield, HD8 8QD
Mobile 07736722177

rspb.org.uk