Conservation Officer (Stone-curlew fieldworker - Brecks or North-west Norfolk)

How would you like to help protect one of the UK's rarest breeding birds? The stone-curlew is one of the UK’s rarest breeding birds and we need your help to monitor and work together with farmers to protect nests on farmland.

Why we want you: The stone-curlew is one of the UK’s rarest breeding birds and is reliant on RSPB and farmers working together to protect nests on farmland. This work is very labour intensive, and we need you to help with monitoring population levels and protecting nests and chicks to maintain healthy productivity.

What's in it for you: You will learn about the ecology of stone-curlews and the RSPB’s work to bring about population recovery. You will be one of a lucky few that have had the opportunity to observe the behaviour of these special birds away from public viewing areas.

You will also be contributing to the population recovery of one of the UK’s rarest birds.

You will learn new field skills as monitoring stone-curlews is not quite the same as monitoring any other bird.

The Skills you'll need:

• You will need to be an experienced fieldworker/ ornithologist.
• Good communication skills as you'll need to communicate effectively with farmers and farm staff.
• Able to run short distances over rough ground.
• Able to complete accurate written records and electronic records.
• Able to work flexible hours sometimes at short notice an advantage.

You'll also need your own vehicle, preferably 4x4 and your own binoculars and telescope.

Key Tasks:

• Locate and monitor nesting stone-curlews
• Liaise with famers to protect eggs and chicks during farming operations
• Maintain accurate written records of observations

Committment: April – Aug/Sept - Being able to work flexible hours, sometimes at short notice would be an advantage, but on average 1 day per week/ fortnight. The busiest period is April- June, then continues to get quieter. This role is repeated every year and a long term commitment to the role would be welcomed.

Resources/Training:

• On the job training in all aspects of fieldwork
• PPE

Thank you for reading this role description. Clicking on ‘more about this role’ and the downloadable pdf will give you just the generic role profile for this opportunity. A role profile is the family to which an opportunity belongs and informs vetting and training requirements and may not be an exact fit to the role described above.