The children at Colby Primary School are writing
a nature diary about their school grounds. This week they tell us
about the arrival of spring and making bird nest boxes.
Hungry birds
The weather has been very cold and wet these last
few weeks. We have put out lots of seeds and peanuts for the birds
as they are still very hungry.
One of the bird boxes made by Mr Freeman |
The blackbirds and hedge sparrows seem very confused
with the return of all the wintry weather. They had been searching
for nesting materials.
They are enjoying the fat balls we have hung in
the hedges. In our neighbours garden there
are several moorhens feeding.
Mr Freeman from Norwich
heard about our school on the radio and is bringing us five bird
nesting boxes. He has built different ones for great tits, blue
tits, and robins.
They open at the bottom to make it easier to clean
them out when the fledglings have flown. Mr Pinder from the RSPB
is also coming to school to show us where to put the boxes.
Visitors
Linda Laxton from British Wildflower Plants came
to school to talk to the gardening club about the wildflower seeds
we could plant around the pond and our wild area, to encourage more
wildlife into the garden.
The garden is very wet at the moment but we have
some meadow flower seeds to sow in these places as the ground becomes
drier.
Helen Baczkowska from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust
has also been to give us some advice about the pond. There are lots
of dead leaves in it and Class 2 haven't found many creatures in
the water.
Daffodils in the school gardens |
Helen says this won't help the wildlife and there
is a lot of weed on the surface of the pond as well.
The first signs of spring trees
The willow tunnel and bower are enjoying having
their feet in water and both are showing signs of new growth. Our
recently planted black poplars are also showing early buds.
On the field we have planted some young fruit trees.
The moles had given us some help by providing us with lush soil
from their hills. The soil was perfect for planting new trees. They
will form a lovely shaded area where we can sit and read in the
summer.
We were given these trees as part of a healthy
eating week last year but it was too late to plant trees at the
time. We look forward to tasting their fruits!
Weather report from Class 3
The weather has continued to be cold with wintry
showers. The wind registered three on the
Beaufort scale a few weeks ago and brought snow flurries with it.
It even turned to heavier snow and near the start
of the month we had about 13cm deep in our playground.
Colby school will be showing three wildlife
films made in their school grounds at the 大象传媒 Wild in Your Garden
event in Chapelfield Gardens in Norwich on Monday 30 May, 2005.
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