Hey, my name is Imogen and I’m from North-East England. I am a volunteer on the Island Birds project run by Association BIOM as part of the European Solidarity Corps. Since arriving in Croatia in February, I’ve had the chance to work on different islands and parts of the mainland, to take part in seabird monitoring, help with bird ringing and create an educational workshop for children.
I have been volunteering at the Beli Visitor Centre and Rescue Centre for Griffon Vultures for a month now. I typically spend my days talking to visitors about the birds we have here and why, so that they can understand the process of rescue and recovery. It’s very rewarding knowing I can educate them about griffon vultures and their lives, especially when they’re so engaged and ask questions to learn more.
I have also been involved with the monitoring of electricity pylons, to see whether they cause the deaths of birds – this was a great opportunity to learn about the different arrangements of pylons and why some are more likely than others to electrocute birds, due to the placement of the wires.
Finally, I have been able to visit a feeding station for wild vultures, despite the smell, seeing them fly overhead and sitting in nearby trees was a fantastic experience!
Working and living here has been great and given me new skills to take into my future career as a conservationist. I’ll be sad to leave the peace and quiet of Beli, but I’m also looking forward to Zagreb, which is where I’m going next.
/Imogen is a participant of the Island Birds project implemented by the Association BIOM as part of the European Solidarity Corps program./