Birds of Poole Harbour, School Bird Boats by Paul Morton
Since 2008 an initiative has been running in Poole Harbour to get local primary school children out on the water and to get them to connect with their local environment. Initially funded by a Heritage Lottery Grant and run by the Poole RSPB Local Group, three to four school groups would be taken out each winter on Brownsea Island Ferries around Poole Harbour and be shown the best the area has to offer
(Photo 1: Brent Geese - Near Sandbanks by Paul Morton)
Poole Harbour is a SPECTACULAR place to be in the winter as large flocks of avocet and black-tailed godwit dash back and fourth between feeding grounds and roost sites, out on the water great northern divers and red-breasted mergansers bob along on the crests of small wavelets, and on the Brownsea Lagoon, spoonbills please the crowds with their charismatic charm and funny appearance.
Sadly, after several years the funding for the trips had stopped and it looked as if the initiative would have to end. Luckily at around the same time a new charity was being set up called Birds of Poole Harbour, an environmental education charity that aimed to boost the profile of bird conservation, preservation and monitoring in and around Poole Harbour. The charity was able to find a local sponsor who very kindly upped the amount of funding to allow not only three or four trips to take place each winter but now TWENTY, meaning zero cost to the pupil, the parent or the school and allowing the project to engage with around 1300 pupils each winter.
(Photo 2: Spoonbill - Holes Bay - by Paul Morton)
Since 2012 we, the Birds of Poole Harbour charity, have been running the trips with the help of some dedicated RSPB volunteers and the outcome has been just incredible. When each child gets on board they are handed their own pair of binoculars to use and briefed on how to use them, vital as we don’t want them missing views of merlin chasing down dunlin over Brownsea, the UK’s largest spoonbill flock snoozing at RSPB Arne and seals eating fish in the Middlebere Channel - each a regularly occurring spectacle through the cold winter months.
The initiative is split into two parts, firstly we host an in-class session with each school group where they are presented with the concept as to why they’re doing the trip, what we hope to see, and the importance of taking an interest in their local environment.
The second part of the initiative is the boat trip its self, a two-hour tour around the harbour pupils being shown as many species as possible, whilst talking about the important human-wildlife relationship within the harbour, how that relationship is managed, and why the harbour is important for people as well as wildlife.
In Feb 2016, one trip was even lucky enough to have Chris Packham on board as he talked to the children about his own childhood experiences with nature and sharing his expert knowledge!We feel very honored and proud to be able to engage with the naturalists of tomorrow and we hope that we can continue influencing and inspiring these local youngsters to grow up taking an active interest in the world around them, near and far.
(Photo 3: Sunset over Wareham on a foggy winter afternoon by Paul Morton) Bird Boat Video with Chris Packham: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDsqmlM5xs0
Find out more about Birds of Poole Harbour at:
http://www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk/
See the Brownsea Live Birdcam here.
Tweet: @harbourbirds
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