Volunteering at the Peregrine viewpoint at Malham Cove is a great way to learn about these amazing birds and to give members of the public a chance to see them. We know from comments like “wow” and “amazing” that people really appreciate what we do.
Best of all though is sharing the special moments with the Peregrines – such as watching a young chick take its first tentative flight, seeing a dramatic food pass or marvelling as youngsters practise their flying overhead. We are privileged indeed.
When you become a volunteer you never quite know what you might be expected to do or what opportunities might arise. Many of the duties are fairly routine, for example – checking infrastructure on rights of way, counting cars, litter picking and pointing people in the right direction. However, this year I have also watched the stars and planets in a planetarium, fed a baby lamb with a bottle, and have even learned about foraging and sustainability in Cyprus! Volunteering is definitely supporting my continuing education!
Volunteering in the Yorkshire Dales National Park also introduced us to a new hobby – geocaching. We started off by maintaining some of the caches in the Malham area but soon got the bug and became geocachers ourselves…
To date we have been geocaching in five different countries and have found over 1300 caches. Along the way we have been to some stunning locations, learned interesting facts and had fun finding the caches.
For more information on how to become a volunteer and get involved in looking after this special landscape, go to www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/ways-to-volunteer
