Saturday 29 September 2012

Applecross Primary


Another day, another nest box! Today we had the privilege of spending the day at Applecross Primary School running our Schools Nestbox Program. The Year 5 class made six nest boxes of different sizes: two parrot, two possum and two Black-Cockatoo boxes. Above you can see them adding the finishing coat of paint under Gill's supervision, and below you can see Simon installing the first box.

Thanks to the fantastic teachers Vanessa Mann and Jessica Williams for organising us to come along, and to the kids who ran a fundraiser to help make it happen. Also, we can’t forget our sponsors, MacMahon Construction and Mundaring Hardware. What a brilliant way to finish off the school term - Happy Holidays!

If any students from Applecross want to tell us about the day or what animals have been using their boxes, please put your comments in the section provided below. We would love to hear from you!


Wednesday 12 September 2012

Winters Flat Primary




Today we got to run a workshop for Gill's nephew's school, Winters Flat Primary, while visiting family in Castlemaine. If any students from Winters Flat want to let us know about the day or what has been visiting their boxes please put a comment in the section provided below. We would love to hear from you! 

The Year 1 class had so many questions after our presentations in the class room. Lucky we went straight out to start building after showing them Simon'sduckling film, as they all got very excited seeing the little fluff balls dropping to the ground and thinking that maybe, just maybe, something similar would happen in a nest box near them one day.



The five boxes we made, however, were for parrots and possums, not ducks, but with the severe lack of hollows around Castlemaine due to all the trees being cleared during the gold rush, it is highly likely that these boxes will get used. Everyone had a go at using the different tools and had great fun putting them together and then painting them.


While we waited for the paint to dry, the kids drew some wonderful pictures of building the boxes and what might use them and we all went for an adventure along the creek, exploring this habitat to see what interesting plants and animals we could find.



Simon prepared the boxes and got the ladder ready for hanging, while the students played a game of charades - acting out the different animals they thought might use the boxes, like parrots, possums and bats.

Students eagerly put their hands up to see if they can guess the animal.

The local newspaper was also interested in what the students were doing and sent along a reporter to take a photo and write a little article - click on the article below to enlarge it and have a read!

A big thank you to the local construction team who were upgrading the bridge on the Pyrenees Highway near Chewton, and happily donated us some form ply off-cuts. Also to the resident who gave us hollow logs from her firewood pile - thanks!