RSPB Team Member (Saving Slavonian Grebes – Volunteer Fieldwork Assistant)

Our Slavonian Grebe population is in trouble, numbers are declining and they are now absent on many lochs that were once home to this majestic species. To conserve them we need to understand more about them and the issues they are facing.

We need your help to plan and carry out fieldwork to investigate causes of decline in our Slavonian Grebe population. The information that you could collect will be vital to informing the science behind our work.

Slavonian Grebe once bred on at least 30 lochs around Inverness-shire and had a population of at least 80 pairs in the 1970’s, but in 2024 only 20 pairs on 14 lochs were recorded. With support from the Nature Restoration Fund, we are embarking on an ambitious project to investigate causes of the decline in Slavonian Grebe to help us improve and inform conservation efforts for the species. You could play a key part in this project as a Volunteer Fieldwork Assistant, helping us to collect important habitat and environmental information on the lochs used by Slavonian Grebes.

This volunteer role will be varied and flexible, there will be the opportunity to get involved in a variety of tasks depending upon your skills and interest. Some of these tasks will involve visiting loch study sites and some take place at our Inverness office. We are hoping to recruit a small team of volunteers to assist with these tasks. The tasks that you will have the opportunity to get involved with include the following: • Assisting with the preparation and assembly of field equipment (during May). • Collecting water samples (May). • Deploying and collecting invertebrate traps (May-June). • Visitor surveys (May-September). • Crow surveys (May-September). • Fish surveys (May-September). • Identifying freshwater invertebrates (from June). • Sorting and analysing camera trap images for mammal species (from July). • Vegetation surveys (September-October).

We will provide guidance and training for volunteers assisting with the project. We are looking for volunteers with some or all of the following skills and experience: • Good organisational skills • Ability to work well in a small team • Ability to walk 2-5km over rough terrain • Species identification skills including either, birds, fish, invertebrates or plants • Experience in collating and managing survey or monitoring data

If you have questions surrounding this role, please email David Tompkins on david.tompkins@rspb.org.uk

This role would be ideally suited to someone living in the Highland region as all of our survey sites are within 30 miles of Inverness.

This role offers the opportunity to make a direct impact for Slavonian Grebe. You will have a chance to develop hands on fieldwork experience and skills. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to develop your volunteering with the RSPB and contribute to our Saving Nature strategy by taking on this role.