Floreat Primary School – Activities and Outings during TERM 3.
In Term 3 the Floreat Environment Educational Club activities focussed on birds of prey.
Owl pellet disecting.
On 25th and 26th August Grade 4-7 learners in the Club explored what owls eat by dissecting Spotted Eagle Owl “Pellets” – balls of indigestible bones, fur, shells etc regurgitated by the owls, and collected by Cape Bird Club volunteers. The activity was led by Sanjo Rose. She was helped by a number of CBC volunteers over the two days (thank you to Joy Fish, Cathy Jenkins, Colin and Melody Attwell, Matthew Orolowitz and also Jane Doherty who shared her time between the owl pellet dissections and the gardening group. It was very much a ‘hands-on’ activity, with the learners equipped with tweezers, magnifying glasses, dissecting needles (in reality, sosatie sticks), latex gloves and worksheets and ID sheets to enable them to identify the bones of different prey species eaten by the owls.
An interesting question was raised: It was noticed that part of the diet of the Spotted Eagle Owls was river crabs whose shells are brown. Yet in the owl pellets the fragments of the crab shells were bright orange. Does anyone in the Club know why this is so? What makes the crab shells change colour?
Outing to Eagle Encounters.
On 16th September, a few Cape Bird Club members and 39 learners continued learning about raptors on an outing to Eagle Encounters at Spier sponsored by Cape Bird Club.
The learners’ spirits were not dampened in the slightest by the rather wet weather but it did mean that the demonstration of birds of prey had to be held indoors.
After an introduction to the work being done at Eagle Encounters, and the efforts of that organization to ‘rewild’ birds that have (illegally) been ‘rescued’ / captured and tamed by people and to educate people what to do if they find an injured bird, each learner was given a small hand-held perch.
Everyone was thrilled to be introduced first to a very obliging Barn Owl which was lured from perch to perch with tiny bits of chicken placed by the handler so that the children could see him up close and feel how light he was in weight.
A young Wood Owl, much shyer, was our next bird. Learners were able to gently stroke the back of his head with two fingers so they could feel the softness of the feathers.
The third bird was a very vociferous Yellow-billed Kite that did not stop squawking for food from the moment he came out of his crate until he was returned to it. This gave the handler the opportunity to explain to the children that raising a young bird is indeed VERY hard work; that if they found a young bird in distress, they must seek an experienced (and licenced) bird rehabilitator and hand the bird over.
The children, divided into very small groups, were then allowed to go into the cages of the Spotted Eagle Owls and Wood Owls where they could handle them in a limited way and pose with them for photographs.
After wandering around looking at all the other raptors in cages – from the large Black Eagles and Secretarybirds to the tiniest Pygmy Falcon and Pearl-spotted Owlet, there was a short break for snacks, followed by a bird watching stroll on the other side of the river armed with binoculars.
Many thanks to Jana along with Gillian Barnes, Colin and Melody Attwell, as well as the ever-enthusiastic Floreat teacher Kristi Rossouw and two colleagues and who all helped make this outing a big success.
Jana Kemp, our newly-appointed CBC part-time Educator.
On 16th September Jana Kemp (see more below) joined us on the outing to Eagle Encounters so that she could meet some of the Floreat learners and staff, and they could also meet her. The children enjoyed her warm enthusiasm as she led them in an ice-breaker activity while we waited for Eagle Encounters to open.
On 1st October Jana Kemp, a young member of the Cape Bird Club, will be taking over from Michelle Vrettos as the part-time educator assisting with the Environmental Education Programme. Michelle has moved overseas to further her studies and we wish her every success in those. At the moment the programme is running at Floreat Primary School, but we are hopeful that, in the next year, we may be able to expand to one or two more schools in other disadvantaged areas.
Jana is at UCT studying towards a BSc in Genetics and Biological Sciences. She herself loves being in nature, and is very keen to share her enthusiasm, experiences and knowledge with young people who might not otherwise experience its beauty or understand the connectedness of all things in nature so that they might become keen conservators of a healthy environment. We are excited to have Jana to assist us and are looking forward to her enthusiastic input.
Jana Kemp, our newly-appointed educator/facilitator, enjoyed the hands-on experiences at Eagle Encounters as much as the learners did!
Conservation Corner.
Report by Jane Doherty.
Environmental education helps raise awareness and build knowledge about the issues affecting the natural world. It also equips learners with skills to contribute to conservation efforts. Environmental education can be particularly effective when it addresses local issues and allows learners to gain hands-on experience.
At the end of August and into September, learners at The Floreat Primary School began planting locally indigenous plants in a degraded patch of land which is being converted into an outdoor classroom and indigenous garden. The Cape Bird Club has donated R40,000 towards the realisation of this initiative, which is also supported by the Ingcungcu Sunbird Restoration Project. Learners from the Floreat Educational Environmental and Gardening Clubs have planned the space under the guidance of the school’s Deputy Head, Kristi Rossouw.
It will take three years to establish the indigenous garden which is designed to attract insects and birds. Hopefully, learners will be able to witness the return of nature as a result of rehabilitating the land through their own efforts.
More on the Floreat Educational Environmental Club can be found at https://www.birdlife.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/BirdLife-South-Africa-Owl-Awards-2022_Citations.pdf, as it was a recipient of Birdlife South Africa’s Owl Award in 2022.
Photographs by Jane Doherty, Cathy Jenkins, Kristi Rossouw and Colin Attwell.
Report by Priscilla Beeton.