Having just returned from a ten day camp at Lake Atanoskovo, I thought I might share what my daily work schedule is like. I work for an environmental NGO, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, www.bspb.org Specifically, I spend most of my time at the nature center 'Poda' situated south of Burgas. As part of Bulgaria's largest wetlands complex and with many mixed breedig colonies, it is a great place for birders and lovers of nature.
In general, my workday begins with me walking to the bus stop and riding the twenty minutes to the stop nearest the center. Often, I meet my counterpart, Anton, on the bus where we catch up on each other's weekends, nights, health, whatever. Mornings at the center usually begin with a cup of coffee, checking email, and looking through the telescope to see what birds are out and about. Having an idea about what birds tourists are likely to see before they arrive is helpful for me in case there are birds whose names I don't know, I can look them up in a guidebook or ask for assistance before the tourists arrive and start asking me. I usually know the names of the birds in the area, but every week it seems new birds arrive and the old ones leave, so I am constantly having to renew my knowledge of our winged friends.
Then we wait for tourist groups. Usually, there are a couple of tour groups in the morning. If they are a German group, I may work at our small souvenir stand and communicate with pointing and a calculator. If they are an english-speaking group, then I may give the tour. The presentation downstairs lasts about fifteen minutes as we discuss the three different water habitats and then we head upstairs to the viewing terrace for another fifteen minutes or so, where I point out a few birds if they are about and let folk look through binoculors the center provides. After the tour groups leave, we often get started on various work projects. Throughout the day, individual groups of tourists will visit and spend possibly hours on the terrace or in a blind in the area.
Past work projects have included painting the entire center, varnishing display bird-houses, cutting reeds, and general maintenence. I know quite a bit more now than when I started about different types of birds and also about nature conservation center management.
In general, my workday begins with me walking to the bus stop and riding the twenty minutes to the stop nearest the center. Often, I meet my counterpart, Anton, on the bus where we catch up on each other's weekends, nights, health, whatever. Mornings at the center usually begin with a cup of coffee, checking email, and looking through the telescope to see what birds are out and about. Having an idea about what birds tourists are likely to see before they arrive is helpful for me in case there are birds whose names I don't know, I can look them up in a guidebook or ask for assistance before the tourists arrive and start asking me. I usually know the names of the birds in the area, but every week it seems new birds arrive and the old ones leave, so I am constantly having to renew my knowledge of our winged friends.
Then we wait for tourist groups. Usually, there are a couple of tour groups in the morning. If they are a German group, I may work at our small souvenir stand and communicate with pointing and a calculator. If they are an english-speaking group, then I may give the tour. The presentation downstairs lasts about fifteen minutes as we discuss the three different water habitats and then we head upstairs to the viewing terrace for another fifteen minutes or so, where I point out a few birds if they are about and let folk look through binoculors the center provides. After the tour groups leave, we often get started on various work projects. Throughout the day, individual groups of tourists will visit and spend possibly hours on the terrace or in a blind in the area.
Past work projects have included painting the entire center, varnishing display bird-houses, cutting reeds, and general maintenence. I know quite a bit more now than when I started about different types of birds and also about nature conservation center management.
Before - PODA in the Spring
After - PODA after our hard work!
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