2019 was a productive year with our Floreat Bird Club and we ended with a memorable outing to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. 43 learners were able to attend, in addition to three teachers and one Cape Bird Club representative. We slotted in with an education program run by SANBI called ‘Birds in the Ecosystem’ and they generously provided the transport to and from the school.
The kids particularly enjoyed the fun introduction session which challenged them to match bird calls with species they know!
Following the intro session, we had two hours to explore the garden. It was a very hot day (about 35 C) but the kids remained keen and eager to find bird species. We focused on drawing their attention to what habitat birds were located in. We had almost enough binoculars for each child. Most of the kids are very comfortable using the bins by now, although some of the new kids needed a bit of help. It is encouraging to see the kids become more comfortable with using the field guides. Several are also confident to draw ID conclusions without checking the book first.
As usual the birding in the garden was super, with many different species seen: owls, buzzards, Cape Batis, thrush, robin-chat etc. Highlights of the morning were watching a water snake catch tadpoles, a nice close sighting of a Spotted Eagle-owl and some very tame Cape Spurfowl!
Due to the heat we ‘picnicked’ several times. During these picnics we helped the kids ID bird calls. This was a new experience for many and required lots of focus on their part!
Our time was up all too soon with all of us agreeing we needed to visit the garden again soon to do some more exploring!
2019 was a really fun year with our Floreat Bird Club and we are very thankful for the enthusiasm of teachers Nicole and Kristi at the school who assist us with organizing outings. We look forward to another year (the third one at Floreat!) of inspiring a love of birds in these primary school learners!
