Over the last two weeks, Ajay and Jo have been working on a
little tern decoy project with nearby Holy Island and Lowick First Schools. This started with
a talk about the challenges that little terns face (predation, disturbance, the elements), followed by
practical decoy-making sessions.
Because the beaches where little terns chose to nest
are vulnerable to tidal flooding, this year decoys will be used to attract the
birds to safe places to nest on Lindisfarne NNR. This has been done successfully in the past
on the Reserve by Andrew. Local potter Ian Kille has kindly been experimenting
with clay to create some brilliant decoys and has fired the decoys made by the children of Holy Island and Lowick First Schools.
The schoolchildren, aged 4 to
8, have been making and painting clay decoys whilst learning about the terns and the importance of Lindisfarne NNR (one of just two breeding sites in Northumberland).
Their decoys will be put on the beach in the coming weeks and the children will
have a follow-up guided walk in the summer when they undertake their beach
clean at Sandham Bay.
Years 3 and 4 painting their little terns
Reception busy painting
After the decoy-making sessions, the children did some drawings and writing about little terns:
No comments:
Post a Comment