Imagine spending a 24-hour shift caring for premature babies. Imagine that after those physically and emotionally exhausting hours, without thinking about the well-deserved rest that awaits you, you go out into the field to count birds. For most of us, this seems unimaginable – but Szeréna Magyari makes it look natural.

Who is Szeréna? She is a nurse at a neonatology clinic and, in addition, a dedicated volunteer of the Milvus Group. A young woman who continues to impress us with her devotion and passion for nature and birds.

It all began in childhood, when holidays in the countryside meant time spent in nature and learning about birds from her grandmother. We were fortunate to meet her at a nest-building activity, where she came after seeing a poster at her school. More activities followed, and soon she found a place where her passion for birds could flourish, while we found a volunteer we can always rely on, no matter the situation.

After approximately five years of intensive volunteering, Szeréna has taken part in almost all our programmes. She has assisted with numerous environmental education sessions, participated in every bird monitoring programme, ringed hundreds of birds at our Ringing Camp on the Chituc Spit, where she spends part of her annual leave each year, and has been present at many other activities – so many that even we have lost count.

She speaks passionately about what these five years have meant to her, about the small rewards of her work. And of course, the reward is not financial. It is the perfect rainbow over Grindul Chituc, the company of people as passionate about birds as she is, or the joy of seeing a new species for the first time.

Today, on International Volunteer Day, we want to say thank you – to Szeréna and all our volunteers – for their time, energy and passion. You are the heart and soul of the Milvus Group, and without you, our mission would not be possible.

Thank you for being here, for making the world a better place, and for inspiring us every single day!