Buzzard encounter

I was walking Milo, the collie, in the local, beautifully secluded woodland behind the house. It is a really peaceful spot, and I value having such a natural place on my doorstep, where I can just step away from the sounds of the city (well, most of them).  Just recently I saw a buzzard there, which was very exciting, as I had not realised that they are now living in cities as well, and had not expected to see one in Birmingham.

Five minutes after arriving in the woodland, I heard the cat-like cry of the buzzard - it is distinctive, a sort of meeaw which you can hear here, at the RSPB site. All of a sudden, a bird thudded down onto the path ahead of us, flump! and for a second I thought it was a baby buzzard, fallen out of the nest. It seemed to have big feet. I soon realised it wasn't moving, so I put Milo on his lead and ventured to have a look. I could see it was dead, and on closer inspection it was clear why: it was a headless pigeon. That's right, a pigeon without a head. There was no blood gushing everywhere, so I wondered if it was something which had fallen out of the buzzard's nest. I went along the path in great excitement, and then stopped for Milo to potter in the side. There was a rustle in the trees overhead. I looked up, high, into the tall branches and there, right over my head, was the buzzard. It sat, staring down at me, those amazing eyes watching me looking up at it!  It was fantastic to see it so close-up, but in the next second it took flight and I saw its large, brown wings outstretched as it went towards the lake.

I was so excited, Milo and I ran all the way to the lake, (he just thought it was a game), and I checked with my heart beating fast that the coot chick was still visible (and not soon to follow the pigeon). It was still there, thankfully, and is getting larger - just one remains from a second clutch of five eggs, so I am glad that it survives!

I got back to the house, and after relaying my story in great excitement, I came downstairs and went into the living room. I was only in there a few seconds when I saw a baby bird on the inside of the glass, beating at the window trying to get out. It was certainly turning into a weird evening. I think it was a robin, with a speckled breast, and one has been in the kitchen before. They must come in through the back door when it is open for Milo. I quickly opened a window and it flew out, just as someone from next door was coming up the path..."Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise as a bird flew out of the window towards her. What would she have thought if she knew my nickname was bird lady!?

Bird Friendly Schools Visit 2

I hesitate to admit that my return visit to St Philip's School was at the beginning of May, but it was so good it must be blogged!

Nest site!
I was back in my guise as "Bird Lady", which I was even called by a member of staff! I was delighted to see that the year 3 children had been inspired by my first visit and had continued to keep the bird feeder filled up, and to keep looking out for birds at home and in school. It was obvious that they had been learning more, as they all seemed to know far more birds' names than before, including all the most common ones that they might see at school or at home. The girls (there were only a few of them!) had made a "nest" for birds in the school grounds and were very keen to go and show me. We went out and I had a look at the quite thoughtful collection of twigs and leaves that they had hidden together in a bush. One girl walked alongside me and said, "you know when you were last here, it was really good fun, and since then I've been wanting to learn more about birds"! Well for me, that made it all worthwhile. In fact, all of them made it worthwhile, as they were such lovely children, but she articulated it in a simple and memorable way for me. To have interested one child in nature and the world around them was my goal, but to have such a fantastic, enthusiastic response from them was wonderful.

Questions
There were lots more questions this time too: one girl asked how birds knew how to fly to places like Africa. I hope I told her something like the truth when I said we weren't exactly sure and that perhaps one day when they were older, one of them might be the one to discover the reason. The boy who had asked previously if birds were poor, asked me if birds celebrated their birthdays.

Habitats
So we recapped on the first visit very quickly and it was obvious that they knew the 6 garden birds already! I then asked them to think about habitats, ie places birds lived, and to start thinking about the different places that they could see birds. I had a picture of a town, one of the seaside cliffs, and another of lush green countryside. The children soon picked up on the idea that different birds lived in different areas, and then we began to think why.

Guess the beak!
To do this, the RSPB had provided a large felt board, to which I could stick cut out pieces of several birds. I had a heron; a kestrel, a sparrow and several others. Each was cut up into its various parts of body, beak, tail, and feet. It was the children's job to identify which part went with each bird, by finding out what it ate and where it lived, and figuring out what sort of feet or beak would suit this environment.  Actually it soon became obvious that this was easy for the children to do... They all enjoyed helping me assemble the birds.

Activities
After break we had controlled mayhem, or so it seemed to me, although it was all good, relaxed fun. Some of the children took the opportunity to go outside with one of the assistants, to look for birds, while others had some colouring and cutting from the RSPB website - there is a great section for kids of all ages with different level activities: http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/  I thought they would like the peregrine falcon templates, as the peregrine, the world's fastest flier, is quite an exciting bird! I was able to tell them how they, and other birds of prey, have moved into the cities and live on very tall buildings, such as the University clocktower, and the BT Tower. I had the most exciting encounter at work recently, seeing the peregrine really close to as it streaked past a 3rd floor window, yellow talons flashing! Made my day...

Have a go!
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a Bird Friendly Schools Project person, and I hope the scheme does run next year, as it is so much fun. I would completely recommend it to anyone who has an interest in birds, as you don't need to have an in-depth knowledge, but just enthusiasm to pass on to the children, and the rewards of seeing them enjoying wildlife is just heartwarming. I think it is so important that everyone is given the same chance as me to become interested in the natural world and to benefit from the simple but rich appreciation of the creatures whom we share this world with. It is even more important that they grow up knowing why we have to protect and save the environment.