Recently I started volunteering with Dorset Wildlife Trust at the Fine Foundation Wild Chesil Centre. I have taken on two roles; to be a visitor engagement volunteer within the Centre, and an outdoor engagement volunteer patrolling Chesil Beach, which is due to start soon. All the staff have been incredibly friendly and welcoming, and fellow volunteers have been really helpful in showing me the ropes.
As I’ve started at the end of winter, there haven’t been many people visiting the Centre yet during my shifts, but this has provided me with the perfect opportunity to explore the Centre’s exhibits and shop, and the surrounding area. This has allowed me to gain a more in-depth understanding of the wildlife and habitat in this special part of Dorset.
There seem to be lots of opportunities to get even more involved if you wish, and I recently took part in a seashore identification training session and survey. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible, but we still spent some time at a nearby beach, looking under seaweed and lifting up rocks to see if we could find and identify the many species of mollusc, crustaceans and fish that call this area home. For me the star species were the dark red beadlet anemone, who hide out under the seaweed once the tide has gone out.
