Fifteen students from Moor Hall Primary School got the opportunity to join us for a lovely (if not a bit wet!) walk around the reserve on Monday. The students are members of Moor Hall's Bird Club and working towards their Bronze Wildlife Action Award. I got the chance to show them around and introduce them to a few birds they hadn't yet met!
The children learned how to use binoculars and got plenty of practice while looking for herons, chatty chiffchaffs and zooming in on song thrushes that greeted us on the bridleway. We made it all the way to the willow screen overlooking the lakes where we spotted dozens of house martins, sand martins, swifts, as well as ducks and geese - and the other usual suspects.
The group was also awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from RSPB Middleton Lakes nature reserve. The children managed to raise an impressive £40 for the RSPB by selling crafts they'd made including finger puppets, masks and bookmarks. (You can see photos of the kids selling their wares on the school's website, here.)
Martin Fisher, one of our volunteers, has been working with this school for years; including a fair few Big Schools' Birdwatches! Thank you to Martin for helping us link up with this primary school. We hope they'll come again!
If you know of a primary school near you that could well be interested in a fun day out at Middleton Lakes nature reserve (or having an RSPB visitor in their classroom), contact Becca (rebecca.neal@rspb.org.uk or 01827 259756) or myself (alexis.johnson@rspb.org.uk) about promoting our programmes. You can also direct teachers to our Living Classrooms website.
Alexis Johnson
:: Field Teacher @ Middleton Lakes & Sandwell Valley nature reserves ::
I really enjoyed being part of the visit too - shame about the rain!