Birds of Bray

Junior Spider Awards

2011-12-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

Congratulations once again for the girls of 3rd, 4th and 5th. Our Birds of Bray project has been shortlisted in the Junior Spider Awards. The award winners will be announced on 13th December.

Good Luck Girls,

You can view the list of shortlisted finalists here.

Winners in Washington

2011-11-29T01:54:00.000-08:00

Well done to Ms McHale and to 5th, 4th and 3rd class in St Philomena's. We were prize winners in Washington, at the Microsoft Partners in Learning Global Forum.

We came second in the "Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom" Category.

We are very popular in the media these days.

Read this article about us on siliconrepublic.com

Irish Teacher Scoops Global Microsoft Educator Award

What a busy week...

2011-11-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

Well ladies and gents,

It has been a hectic week so far here in Washington DC. We have been kept busy by Microsoft with workshops, excursions, presentations and projects. There is so much to see here and so much to learn from other teachers who are working hard with their classes from around the world. I have finally managed to find some time to share all that's been happening.

Yesterday a group of us were taken out to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre to have a look at all the work they do there, studying the environment, looking at water and trees and the animals and plants that live around them. It was a wonderful afternoon.

After that we came back to the hotel for the beginning of our presentations. It was our first chance to show off our projects to other teachers and also, to get a chance to walk around and talk to other teachers about their work. We also had our first juding interviews.

I've put some photos up on our Picassa albums to give you a quick look at where I am and what is happening.

Ms McHale in Washington

2011-11-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

Hi blog followers,

I've arrived in Washington after a long flight from Dublin to London and then on to Washington DC. (You should find a map and see how far I've had to fly.) We arrived at our very beautiful hotel, the JW Mariott last night. It's right beside the White House, so we went out for a walk to have a look at how lovely it is at night. It's hard to see in the photo, but it's a very impressive building. I felt like I was in a movie.

We have started this morning with our meetings and presentations. There are hundreds of people here from around the world, all with different skills and backgrounds, but all involved in education. You can imagine how many ideas are here to make classrooms exciting and interesting for kids around the world.

Be sure to check back again later. I'll keep you all updated on the exciting things that happen during the week.

A Maths Challenge...

2011-11-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

Since we started our Blog in January we have had lots of visitors from around the world. Our flag counter is on the right hand side of the page. Have a look at all the different nationalities that have visited our page.
Can you name all the flags? (Have you been to any of those countries?)
How many visitors have we had all together?
How many visitors have we had from Europe?
How many visitors have we had from outside Europe?

(This picture will help you with some of these questions. Click on the picture to see a larger version.)

Share a Birdwatching Story with us

2011-11-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Do you have birds that visit your garden? Do you see birds around your area? If you have any interesting stories about the birds you see we'd love to hear them.

Add a comment below telling us about the birds you see every day.

If you have any photos you would like to share you can e-mail them to: stphilomenas4@hotmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

Birds of Bray make National News

2011-11-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

We were delighted to be featured on the National 6 o'clock news on Tuesday. We are very proud of all our hard work and this was a great opportunity to share our work with the rest of Ireland.

You can see the news report at: RTÉ News Watch and Listen, Six One News, 1st November, 2011.

Our report is at 43 mins and 50 seconds.

Well done to all the girls for doing such a wonderful job during the morning of recording.

Birds of Bray on News2Day

2011-11-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Birds of Bray appeared on News 2 Day on Tuesday 1st November. The girls sound really wonderful, and did a fantastic job showing off all the work they've been doing.

You can view the report here: RTÉ News, Watch and Listen, News2Day, Tuesday 1st November 2011.
Visit the News2day website here.

Mooney Goes Wild over Birds of Bray

2011-10-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today the Mooney show called out to the school to interview 5th class about their Birds of Bray project.
Listen to the interview here.

3rd and 4th class go birdwatching in the People's Park

2011-10-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

Nature day in Knocksink Wood - 3rd and 4th have a great day.

2011-10-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday our class went to Knocksink Wood, in Enniskerry, for a nature day. We were very excited.

First we got into our groups. Each group got their equipment, like cameras, binoculars and notebooks. When we were ready we got on the bus.

When we arrived we climbed the long driveway. At the top we waited for the staff to arrive.

Eventually they came and we went into the Education Centre. It was full of stuffed animals, bones, games, feathers, models, insects and fossils. We did lots of fun activities during the day.

First we went on a treasure hunt in groups. We had to follow the arrows and find pictures of animals and their footprints. When we got to the end we matched the pictures. Dave met us at the end of our treasure hunts.

Next we were broken into two groups. Each group did different activities. The activities were a bird watching challenge, a sound map, and making birds using natural materials.

After that we had our lunch.

After lunch we did a bird call test with Hugh. He played bird calls and we had to guess the bird.

Finally, we were split into three groups. Two adults went with each group. We did:

· Smell bombs and perfumes

· Scavenger hunts

· Interesting tiny thing hunt using magnifying glasses

· Bird watching

We had lots of fun.

At the end of the day we packed our bags and went down the long driveway to the bus. Eventually we got back to school and went straight home.

We felt tired but happy. We had a marvellous day in Knocksink Wood.

(A whole class recount)

Birds of Bray on TV

2011-10-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

RTE News2Day came to the school to interview the Birds of Bray team about their wonderful project. 3rd, 4th and 5th class were involved in the day. Everyone was given a special job. Some people were demonstrating how we used our equipment, others were researching using books, posters and the internet. Everyone was looking wonderful, and we were in great form.

The interview should be on in October. Keep watching to find out the date and see the super-stars at work.

Have a look at some of our photos from the day:

3rd and 4th class visit Bray Harbour

2011-09-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Our Day Out

On Thursday we went to Bray Harbour. It was cool.
We were all well behaved at the harbour as bird watchers need to be calm and quiet. We saw lots of different birds. I saw a swan. It had a white body and an orange beak. It had grey webbed feet.
I also saw some ducks, a muscovy duck and mallard ducks, and some pigeons - a rock pigeon and wood pigeons. We also saw the little turnstone.

Two mums came with us to help out. On the way home we went to the library. We borrowed books and read them while we waited for some girls to get their library card.
After the library we went back to school. We had a great day.

by Caitlyn
4th class.

John and Edward the Cockatiels come to visit.

2011-09-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

Courtney brought her pet cockatiels in to visit the class. She told us all about the birds and explained how she takes care of them. Afterwards we wrote short reports about the cockatiels. It was a really interesting visit. Thanks Courtney.

John and Edward the Cockatiels

Starling

2011-08-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

The starlings likes to eat bread, apples, insects, peanuts, oats and bird seeds. Brown bread is the best for birds. They also eat bird suet.

Starlings are common in urban areas, and are frequent visitors to gardens and parks.

Starlings like to fly in groups. They are noisy, lively birds. A group of starlings is called a "murmuration".

The starling has a sharp beak. It is brownish black, but it has oily feathers so it sometimes looks greenish-blue. It has a speckled breast and back.

Sharing our Research on our Wiki

2011-08-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
We have a new Wiki site, http://www.birdsofbray.wikispaces.com/.
A wiki is a website that allows it's followers to add and edit information, pictures, videos, website links ...etc.
Using this Wiki we will create an interactive encyclopedia of facts relating to the birds in our local area. We hope the wiki will help us to share our learning with others and to learn from others.

We look forward to having plenty of followers for our wiki.

A Summer Project for you.

2011-08-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

Taken from http://www.birdinfo.co.za/

While you are all on holidays I would like you to watch out for a very interesting bird which visits Ireland in the summer. This bird is called the Common Swift and you can see his picture on some Dublin buses. Swifts are the most aerial birds. They live entirely on flying insects and their legs are so short that, if thy land on the ground, they cannot get into the air again.The only time they land is to build a nest, usually under the roof of older buildings.The young Swifts that are just about ready to fly now will not touch the ground again until they make their first nest in two years time. They can sleep in the air by flying very high and drifting about. Swifts look black and scream as they fly chasing eachother. You will see them in the town centre. Early in August they all leave Ireland for Africa and will not be here again until next May.
Good birdwatching,
Dermot.

Some Summer Birdwatching News from Hannah

2011-06-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have been birdwatching recently and the good weather encouraged me too.
I got lovely surprises too.

IN PEOPLE'S PARK/THE RIVER DARGLE:
1.A pair of moorhens - two rare water birds that are black with red and yellow bills.They have long wading legs and are slightly smaller than a mallard duck.
2.Many families of mallard duck babies - some are much bigger than others look a few days old.
3.A few days old straggler baby mallard duck got lost with the strong current of the river water's waves.
He swam from the beginning of the river to the end with hope to find his parents and siblings and his determination was rewarded with being reunited with his family.
We wished we had had some bread to feed the ducks but we did not.
We stayed out for hours thrilled by Nature.
The mother then had to keep an eye on the straggler.
We love to watch them grow.
4.We saw six young gulls and one mother gull preening themselves on the rocks in the river.

BRAY HARBOUR:
1.We often go down to the harbour in Bray to visit the Mute Swans,Chinese geese and the noisy gulls.
Myself and my sister brought a notebook to record what we saw.
We saw about a hundred mute swans and they chased us,honking and hissing loudly.
2.We saw some chinese geese and two yellow fluffy goslings!!!
We fed them our bread and observed them.
There were five geese,two goslings and about 100 mute swans too.

Birdwatching is great in Summer too!!!

From Hannah K

We went to the Robo Show in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra

2011-06-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

A few days before the Day arrived we practised presenting our project to all the classes.
I loved teaching the children about how we use our blog and all about our project.
We made our Checklist so we could tick off what equipment we need we had prepared and ready.
When finally the Robo Fair Day arrived we got there and back by bus.
There were lots of other stalls too.
I liked that at the beginning each school gave a summary of their project - That was a lovely way to attract us to other stalls.
The project about special Movie Affects really interested me.
We used bird books,notebooks,binoculars,posters,laptops and Moscow souvenirs such as Bonnie The bear and photos.
On the stage photos were taken,certs presented,projects were sumarised.
Teachers and other interested children came to ask about our project and visit our stall.
We met childeren our own ages,younger,older,teachers and Deirdre.
I liked the Trains Project - the childern were very good at explaining about their project.
I loved the Movie Affects project,The film they made was very well acted and they used clever techniques too.
My favourite part was the Questionare and meeting the other children at the other stalls.
Then the time to go back arrived we wished the day would repeat itself.
The End !!!

by Hannah K

Birds of Bray attend the Empowering Minds Robo Show

2011-06-16T14:01:00.001-07:00

Our class was invited to present our project at this years Empowering Minds Robo Show, in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra.
This show is held every year to give primary school classes the opportunity to share their work with digital tools with others. We had a really wonderful time meeting pupils from the other schools and talking to them about their projects. It was also great to have people come to talk to us about our project. We know plenty about birds now, and about writing blogs, so we were delighted to show off all we had done. We can't wait till next year. Hopefully we'll have a new project to show off then.

Have a look at our slideshow to see how much fun we had during our day in St Patrick's College.

An unusual tale...

2011-06-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I saw baby ducks and the Mammy, and I saw a HERON. But the HERON was trying to take the baby ducks, so the mammy duck jumped on the herons back. She got the baby ducks back. The baby ducks swam under the bush. Then I saw the heron sitting on the wall and it just started to stare at them, but the mammy was protecting the babies. I couldn't see the rest and I had to go home :(

But it was very INTERESTING!!!!!!!!!!

By:Amber Kenna !!!

A Poem from Lauren and MoreBlessing

2011-06-16T13:41:00.001-07:00

Birds Poem

                                                  birds are funny
                                                  birds are cute
                                                  birds like to have a little tut
                                                  lisen to the birds keep your ears open
                                                   birds like to sing like a flute
                                                   always remeber to keep quite when your birdwatching
                                                   it is very important tut,tut,tut.

by MoreBlessing and Laurenxx

Wagtail

2011-06-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

Wagtails are flying birds. Male wagtails are black above and white below. Female wagtails are grey and white. Young wagtails are brownish grey with black breast band.

They drink water and eat worms, flies, other insects and bread.

Wagtails can be found in towns and gardens, on farmland and near water. Wagtails are usually found on the ground. Wagtails run along the ground. They have long tails and they bob them.

By Natalia and Shannon

Magpie

2011-06-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

By Louise, Hannah and Amber

They magpie is a common member of the crow family. They are a common garden bird in Ireland and can be often seen on roofs of houses, in the park, in woods or in forests.

The magpie is a distinctive, noisy, black, white and bird with a long tail. At close range the black patches show green and purple iridescent gloss. The magpie is around forty-five cm long. A mature magpie weighs around 200-250 grams.

The magpie eats young birds or small birds such as robins, tits, wrens, and finches or eggs of other birds and rarely insects. They also eat berries, fruit, nuts, peas, grain, even large table scraps. Like other crows the magpie often buries surplus food to eat later on.

Juvenile magpies leave the nest at three or four weeks old. Its call is noisy and completely distinctive. Chacha chacha chack is the magpie's song call.

Magpies are often seen in pairs or small groups. They like to bury shiny, metal objects and along with the jackdaw has a largely reputation as a jewel thief.

Birds of Bray in the media

2011-06-01T14:57:00.001-07:00

http://www.into.ie/ROI/

Birds of Bray in the media.

2011-06-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.braypeople.ie/

Birds of Bray Logo

2011-05-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hello ladies,
Our project has been a great success so far, but as we will be entering the World Partners in Learning Forum in November, we now need to think of ways to extend our project and to include other members of the community.

The first step is to create a logo for our project. If we're writing to people it would be lovely to have a logo attached to our letters.
This logo could also be used on book marks, posters and maybe we could even create a calendar...

Let's get our thinking caps on and try to come up with some ideas for how we can expand our project, but also I'd like you all to start thinking of a suitable logo for the project.

Thinking caps on!!!

A message from Shannon

2011-04-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am a birdwatcher. Birds are fun. Birds are real. You and me, we all have to birdwatch.

We know how to keep quiet when we are birdwatching.

A poem from Amy

2011-04-25T15:00:00.001-07:00

Here is the bird feeder. Herecomes, seeds and crumbs.
Sprinkle them on and see what comes out.
One blue tit, one robin, one chafinch, one sparrow.
Four of my bird friends are eating today.
Feed, feed, feed the birds
In the wintertime
When the days are dark and cold
Food is hard to find
Feed, feed, feed the birds
Till the spring has come
Scatter birdseed on the snow
Feeding birds is fun.
by Amy Doyle

A Blackbird poem from Hannah K

2011-04-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

The Blackbird

The little blackbird ,black as coal,
Happy and bonny ,with such a soul,
Swift and free,as all blackbirds should be,
Beak of gold, it'll still be there when you're old...

Cheep Cheep ,as you peep,
In a bush, you're soft as plush,
Play with robins,Both of you a bobbing,
Blackbird,Blackbird,Your sweet songs are always heard...
Play along the buttercups, chased by pups,
On the lawn, do sing to me at dawn,
Eat my mix, but don't fly yourself into a fix,
Play with song thrush, both of you singing in a bush...

Hidden in the sky, up way up high,
Stay on my gate, never be late,
Fly like a fairy, feeling light and airy,
Patiently wait, at Spring for your mate...

By Hannah K ,

... dedicated to my loyal cat Bubastik...

A poem from Amber

2011-04-25T14:49:00.001-07:00

Birds

birds are sweet

birds are cool

don't go near them because they will get frightened by you

birds are cool

birds are sweet

give them some bread so then they will tweet.

by Amber Kenna

Big News from Moscow

2011-04-01T02:53:00.000-07:00

Ms McHale receiving her award from
Dr. Deirdre Butler at the Microsoft
Partners in Learning European Forum.

A number of different awards for outstanding projects in different categories were given by an international jury of education experts, led by Dr. Deirdre Butler, professor at St. Patrick’s College, Dublin. Those who demonstrated the most innovative teaching practices using technology are then selected to attend the Partners in Learning Global Forum which will be held in Washington D.C. later this year.

Ms McHale and her class were delighted when the “Birds of Bray” project was awarded first runner up in the Knowledge Building and Critical Thinking category. This project will now be further developed and they have been invited to present the project at the Global Forum in Washington D.C. in November 2011.

Birdwatching in Moscow

2011-04-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

I managed to get out of the hotel for an afternoon to spend some time looking around Moscow. While I was walking down the road I saw these birds.
Who can tell me what they are... I think they look the same in Ireland.

A poem by Sophie

2011-04-01T02:25:00.000-07:00

Robin

There was a little robin looking in my door ,

He then went and hopped around the cornor ,

He ate some nuts.

He joyfully said to his friends

''oh look there's more bread on the shed''.
So he flew onto the shed and ate some more bread
and then he said ''whats this new thing i can see ''
He ate it and he liked it ,it was porridge oats hmmmmm .
And when he was finished he perched on a rock
Before flying away

By Sophie Earls

Three Poems From Natalia S

2011-04-01T01:33:00.001-07:00

BirdsFriendly birds are in the way,
And they say,
Come,come,come out to play,
Special friends they are to me,
Feeding them is up to me.

Birds fly high in the sky,,
You will learn more about them soon,
Just bird watch everyday.

Flying
flying is what birds do,
laying is also one too,
you can always see a bird,
i also see them on my way to school,
never fright a bird or else it will,
go go go away.

Ducks
Ducks can swim,
You can too,
So try it out and swim with a duck.

Ducks splash in the water,
Splash splash,
Ducks go quack quack.

When they get tired ,
They lay on the sand,
To dry of when the sun shines down.

by Natalia Soltysik

A Poem from Lauren...

2011-04-01T01:25:00.000-07:00

Birds poem

      Birds go here .
   Birds go there .
Birds are flying everywere.

In the sun.

In the wind .
Any weather..
Birds love air.
                                             by Lauren Murphy.

On the way home...

2011-03-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers,

It's been a long week in Moscow. Microsoft kept everyone very busy with lots of early mornings, late nights, long meetings, presentations, talk, collaborating with other teachers, and lots of new ideas. It was a great week and very exciting to see Moscow.

Here's a picture of the Irish team in Moscow.
From left: VictorMcNair (Northern Ireland Judge), Doreen McHale (Rep. of Ireland Teacher), Christine Murphy Gardner (Northern Ireland Teacher), Deirdre Butler (Rep. of Ireland Judge), Cathal O'Connell (Rep. of Ireland Teacher).

But now, it's all over, and we're in the airport ready to come home. I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep and a big lie-in tomorrow morning.
I'll see you all on Monday morning and tell you all the exciting news... and I have some BIG news.

From,
Ms McHale

Research by Amy... flags

2011-03-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Irish Flag

Russian Flag

Greetings from Moscow...continued.

2011-03-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

Hello again bloggers,

It's day two at the Innovative Educators Forum and today is much more relaxed than yesterday.
This morning we had lots of wonderful talks. In particular there was one from a speaker called John Devitt. A very clever, and very entertaining man. He had some very exciting ideas about how to use technology in the classroom in very interesting ways.

Here is one idea called the Learning Event Generator:

Click on the link and have a look at the tool and tell me what you think

Photos from the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum in Moscow

2011-03-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

Natalia's poem...

2011-03-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Bloggers,

I wrote a short poem about birdwatchers. Here it is.

Birdwatchers...

Birdwatchers need to be calm and quite,
I am a birdwatchers of my own,
Birdwatchers are people who bird watch.
by Natalia Soltysik.

Greetings from Moscow...

2011-03-22T02:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Bloggers,

I had my bags packed and I was ready to go. I couldn't wait to get on the plane and head off to Moscow.

I met some new friends on the way from other schools in Ireland.

We flew from Dublin to Frankfurt and then on to Moscow. (Can you tell me where Frankfurt is?

Finally we arrived in Moscow. It was a long flight yesterday.

We arrived in very late last night so I didn't have a chance to send my message last night. We didn't get to bed until 1.00 in the morning. We were very tired this morning when we had to get up at 6.30. Yikes!!

We arrived at the hotel for the forum this morning and got to work putting our stand together.

Ms McHale had brought loads of information, the lovely posters, some photographs of all you guys working on your project and sharing your learning, and some souvenirs from Ireland to share with the other teachers at the forum.

Can you see me at the stand?

We have been meeting with people all morning and lots of other are interested in our Blog. A teacher from Russia wants to do a bird project with her class now because of all your hard work. She's going to be looking at our blog to get some ideas. We'll have to keep up the good work.

Don't forget, this is a competition, so Ms McHale has also been talking to the judges about all your work.

It has been a very busy morning. So I'm off now to look at all the other exhibits and get some great ideas.

We hope you're all working hard,

Bonnie the Bear

What did we think about our Project?

2011-03-21T02:16:00.001-07:00

Off to Moscow...

2011-03-21T02:11:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

We've made it to the airport, but we're really early, so we decided we would take a few minutes to start off the blog of our journey to Moscow. We're both very excited and looking forward to learning some new things and meeting some interesting people.

Remember, we'll be checking the blog and e-mail during the week, and if anyone has any poems or stories they would like added to the blog they can e-mail them to Ms McHale (stphilomenas4@hotmail.com).

We'll be in touch soon,

Ms McHale and Bonnie the Bear.

Birds of Bray Poster

2011-03-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

Off to Moscow...

2011-03-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

I'm heading off to Moscow tomorrow to go to the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum. I will be sharing our project with lots of other teachers around Europe.
It's going to be a busy week, with lots to see and do, and I'm looking forward to seeing all the other projects that are going on in classrooms around Europe. Hopefully I'll pick up some great ideas that I can take back and try out in St Philomena's.
I'll be blogging for the week to let you all know the exciting things that are happening.
Wish me luck!!

Ms McHale

Look at these beautiful birds...

2011-03-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

I watched these two fancy birds preening themselves on the roof of a house and I thought they looked lovely. I think they are a type of pigeon, but I'm not sure what type.

Can you find out what they are?

Hannah K keeps an eye out in the People's Park...

2011-03-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

We're all birdwatchers so here's some news :

The Mandarin Quack!
By Hannah Kalinin.

In Peoples Park I saw today another beauty duck. My estimate was a tufted duck as it was orange,white,black,and river,royalblue .

But it was soon googled by me.Answer :A mandarin duck, a type of tufted duck!
He is my fave bird. I have seen 1 of them before in the zoo but never as such a nice surprise in Bray!This bird comes from somewhere far beyond Peoples Park!I love this bird and I know everyone will agree!!!

A Poem About the Mandarin Duck.

This little duck ,full of her own little luck,

She sits on a stone ,it's her little home,

She dives , she dances,taking mallard duck chances,

She looks in her cool , clear ,river water pool(mirrior)

She: her name is Mandy , loving places sandy ,

She has an eye for a nest , She always looks her best ,

Of her chicks we can dream , Would always have a shiny sheen ,

She eats reed, sometimes forages for some weed ,

She flaps her webbed feet ,to the river's beat ,

She loves to be on www.birdsofbray.blogspot.com!

By Hannah Kalinin

People's Park = Bird's Den by Hannah Kalinin

Mandy Mandarin is in the middle on a rock. Poem and picture inspired by and dedicated to this magical Mandy.

Senior Infants drew pictures of our School Walk

2011-03-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

Special Project - Microsoft Innovative Educators Forum

2011-03-07T02:19:00.000-08:00

We are entering our Birds of Bray project in the Microsoft European Innovative Educators Forum. Ms McHale is going to Moscow at the end of March to share our project with other teachers from around Europe. We have been working really hard and hopefully some other teachers will see our project and think it's a great idea, and then they will try it out with their own classes. It would be great if there were birdwatching classrooms all over Eurpope.

Wicklow Bird Race

2011-03-07T02:00:00.000-08:00

Hi,
I thought the class might be interested.

The Annual Wicklow Bird Race was held two weekends ago. A bird race consists of teams (up to four people) who go looking for as many different species of birds that they can find within certain areas or time limits or both. Wicklow county was the designated area and the race was from 8.00 till18.00.

The winning team scored 98 different types of birds on the day.

Regards,

Dermot McCabe.

4th class teach Senior Infants all about Birds

2011-02-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

Senior Infants came to visit our class this afternoon to learn about birds.
We had activities planned for them:
1. Bird watching out the classroom window using binoculars.
2. Watching our video clips of local birds to look at behaviour and listen to bird calls.
3. Looking at picture books and posters to learn bird names and describe them.

This video show how busy it was in the class this afternoon.
We all had great fun...

Thanks to Senior Infants for being so interested in birds.

A canary report from 1st Class

2011-02-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

Here is an example of their reports from Niamh Davies. What a wonderful job and a very beautiful picture.
Well done Niamh...and thank you all so much for sharing your work with us.

The Birds of Bray Story

2011-02-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

We have worked so hard, done all the research, learned loads, and shared our learning with other classes. Here is our story.

Bird Behaviour

2011-02-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Have a look a this selection of video clips. Watch how the birds move and behave towards each other. What food are they eating? Listen carefully and you can hear the song of each of the birds.Can you name the birds in this video?

A note from the principal - Ms Breen

2011-02-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

Ms Breen said...

Girls, your project is wonderful! I have spent a couple of hours this afternoon reading all your comments and reports. The photos are wonderful and very clear. I learnt lots about birds and then looked out my window to see what birds were in my own garden. I'm looking forward to coming into the class during your birdwatching time. Keep up the good work!

Bird Challenge - How many can you name?

2011-02-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

These are some of the photos we have taken of local birds over the past month. How many birds can you name? There are 19 birds in the picture.
Good Luck...

It's a blurry picture... but what type of duck is this?

2011-02-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

We saw this little duck on our walk in the park. He was very difficult to get a picture of as he was hiding near the bank and moving all the time.

What bird is this?

2011-02-21T10:08:00.001-08:00

We saw this bird on our trip to the park. We think it's an Egyptian Swan, but we are not sure. Can anyone help us?

Garden Birds Survey

2011-02-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

Log on to BirdWatch Ireland to enter the results from your Garden Bird Survey. Use the notes you have taken in your notebook and on your survey form to help you.

Click on the BirdWatch Ireland logo to take you to the survey page. You will have to register using your e-mail address to log on to the website.

What do you think?

2011-02-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

Hello ladies...

We have been working on our project for almost 6 weeks and we have been very busy.
During that time we have carried our plenty of internet research, taken a research trip to the library, and we've gone on field trips around our school grounds, to Bray Harbour and the People's Park. We have had a number of visitors to the class to talk to us about birds, and also we have worked with other classes to teach them what we have learned.
We have been feeding the birds outside our classroom, and every day we spend time watching them to see how they behave, what food they like to eat, and what they look like. You have also done lots of work at home. Everyone has been feeding the birds in their garden and watching carefully to see which birds are visiting. We have recorded this information for the BirdWatch Ireland Garden Birds Survey. We have also looked at different bird feeders and bird food to test which is the most popular with different types of birds.
We have worked in class on art projects to do with birds.
We have used all we have learned from our internet research, books, posters and visitors, but most importantly, from what we have seen to write reports about the wild birds in our local area.
All our reports, photos and videos are collected here on our blog. We have had some interesting visitors who have left some very helpful information and you girls have been brilliant at leaving comments and giving feedback to our visitors and to each other.

I'd like to know, after all this work, what do you think?

What has been your favourite part of the project?
What has been the most interesting thing you have learned?
Was there anything you found difficult?
Did you learn any new skills?
Was there any part of the project you didn't enjoy?

I look forward to reading your replies...

Ms McHale

Wise Words from Dermot

2011-02-18T07:26:00.001-08:00

Hello again 4th Class,
I have been looking at your pictures outside your classroom window. You have some birds not on your list pictured there. 2,3,4,5 are pics of a Great Tit. Pic 12 is a male Siskin, a little finch that visits feeders in the Winter. In Pics 18,19,20 you have a Dunnock, sometimes called a Hedge Sparrow although it is not related to Sparrows at all.Your list should be up to fifty birds by trhe Summer! Nice work, all of you.
Dermot.

First Class Came to Visit

2011-02-18T03:07:00.000-08:00

1st class heard about all our great work with birds. They were very interested so we invited them to our classroom to do some birdwatching with us.

When they arrived we broke the class into two small groups. We gave them binoculars so they could see all the birds outside the classroom window. Five of us were asked to be window-watchers so we could point out different birds to them. They loved looking out the window and they got really good at seeing the birds and finding them on the bird identification posters.

We also showed them all our books and posters about birds and we played some of the videos we have taken of different birds so they could watch how the birds move.

Ms Stone brought us a beautiful painting of blue tits hanging on a branch, which she inherited from her grandmother.

We all have a really lovely afternoon. Thanks for visiting 1st class.

Science at home: Designing Bird Feeders

2011-02-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

We have been working on a project at home. Our task was to design two different bird feeders, which we could hang in our garden. We had to design them using waterproof materials (so they could stay outside in the rain). We brought them in to school to show each other and compare our feeders. It was great, we all used different types of materials and all the feeders look different.
During our mid-term break we're going to bring our feeders home to hang in our garden. We'll put the same type of food in each feeder and watch to see which feeders are the most attractive for the birds.

Some Very Special Pets

2011-02-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

Today Megan and Lauren brought their pet canaries, Bono and Joey, to visit the school. They visited 4th class, senior infants,1st class and 3rd class.

First Lauren and Megan showed and talked about their canaries to 4th class. They talked about how they clean them and wash them, how they clean their cage and how they give them air.
They answed questions from the class and told us about who takes care of the birds and who plays with them .

Next they went to senior infants to explain to them what they eat and how the canarys behave.

After that they went to 1st class for a visit. It was a great suprise for first class because they did not know they were coming. Again they explained to them everything they knew they really enjoyed it. 1st class are going to write a report on the canary. We can add that on to the website.

Next they went to 3rd class. They ansewered their questions and told them how the canaries behave and what they eat and how they play with them.

It was a very good day!!! Well done girls and thanks for bringing in the beautiful birds.

By Lauren, MoreBlessing and Tarryn

Our Birdwatching Day.

2011-02-17T06:28:00.000-08:00

A few of the girls wrote a report about our birdwatching day. They wrote the report at home and then e-mailed them to me. We also took some photos during the day. I think they're so great that I wanted to share them with you.
Ms McHale.

Reporter 1: Amber K

Today walking down the park was interesting.
Because we seen a new swan the egyiption swan that we never seen before.
We saw loads of seagulls some mallard ducks.
Some of us saw black birds,Hooded Crow,rook. Some of us did see them birds some of us didn't.

Then we sketched two birds and we were suppose to take down what birds we saw as well that was really fun. We took our

cameras
binoculars
pencil's and rubber's
bird watching note books

with our camera's we zoomed in to take a better look at the birds
with our binouculars we looked in them to see if we saw birds
with our bird watching notebooks we took down what birds we saw where they m/f and the last one was to count how many we saw

                                                     thats interesting
so i really love to see more birds/ducks down parks,fields,front gardens anywhere at all.
                                                thats all i wanted to say
                                                           Bye!!!!!!

Reporter 2: Tarryn
Today the (14 of February) 4th class went to Dargle Park in Bray to do some birdwatching. It was a bright sunny morning and the birds were happily chirping. We saw lots of different birds like the Seagull, Rook, Egyptian swan, Blackbird and Mallard duck. It was a very enjoyable outing and I was excited to see the Egyptian Swan.

Back at school, 3rd class joined us for bird watching from our classroom window where they saw a Coal Tit, a Blackbird and a Robin.

During the afternoon 4th class went to Senior Infants. We were each given a Senior Infants pupil to mind. We went outside around the school looking for signs of spring. We had to work from a sheet that my teacher, Ms McHale, gave to us to help us find the signs of spring. We saw buds, daffodil shoots, little baby leaves on the trees and new bushes. I had a lovely day at school today.

Reporter 3: Naoimi

On monday we went to the park to have a look at birds .We saw rooks,sea gulls,mallerd ducks and an egyptian swan.We had never seen an egyptian swan before so it was very interesting and exciting! When we came back 3rd class came in to our class to look out the window for birds with us. We saw a great tit,a robin and a hooded crow. When we came in from yard we went on a nature walk with senior infants. We each got a partner and went to look for birds and signs of nature.We saw a hooded crow and a few sea gulls flying by.
It was really an exciting day!
Reporter 4: Sophie

Today we went to the park . We fed the birds bread in the peoples park which is in Bray . When we threw out the bread on the grass, suddenly seagulls, crows and rooks came gliding down . There was so many birds flying that you could hardly see a thing it was even difficult to see the sky. When we were finished feeding the bird's we sketched the birds that we had seen in our note book. I really enjoyed doing this.

While we were gone to feed the birds and take some photo's third class were using our class room to do some bird watching of their own.

Later on that day my class mates and I brought the senior infants class out around the school grounds for a spring walk. We tried to explain to them some of the signs of spring such as buds on the trees and shoots from flowers.
Reporter 5: Natalia B

Today was my favorite day in Ireland. The sun was shining, it was a little cold and warm wind was blowing. I am with my class went to the park. I saw the Egyptian swan. I saw a very nice birds. I saw rooks, blackbirds, gulls and ducks. We took pictures of all the birds we've seen. Then we went to the playground, it was very good. It was a really nice day.

Mallard Duck

2011-02-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

The mallard duck is a water bird. A baby duck is called a duckling.

The mallard duck is a vegetarian. The mallard duck eats water weeds, bread and scraps. Brown bread is healthier than white bread but they can still eat it.

The mallard duck lives on land and swims in the water. It builds it's nest in the reeds.

This picture was taken during our field trip to the
People's Park in Bray.

The male mallard duck has a green head, an orange beak and orange legs, brown and white wings and a blue patch on its wing. The female mallard duck has brown and white speckled feathers. She also has a brown and orange beak.

The mallard duck has webbed feet to help it swim, but this means it waddles when it walks. It is a good flyer, and it skims over the water when it is landing.

By,

Tarryn, MoreBlessing and Lauren

Racing Pigeon

2011-02-14T06:19:00.000-08:00

The racing pigeon is one of a large group of pigeons.

Pigeons can fly very fast. Up to 60 miles per hour. They are very good at finding their way home. That's why people keep them as racing pigeons. There are a number of pigeon shows on in different Countries i.e. black pool. This is where pigeon fanciers go to buy and sell pigeons and pigeon products . Also it is a way for pigeon fanciers to get to know each other. When pigeons go racing they go in a big truck with lots of other pigeons from all over Dublin. They travel for hours until they reach there destination such as the inland races. In Ireland some of these places are Mallow, Pilmore Beach, Thurles, Skibbereen and Barleycove. There are Channel Races in Talbenny, Sennen Cove, and St. Malo in France which is the longest race.

By Amy, Temera and Hannah A

Pigeons eat pigeon food, beans, Pease, Hormoform, and maize. Pigeons get feed twice a day . They also drink water. The vitamins the pigeons get is called Gem Ultra-vits. This is full of vitamins and nutrients for the pigeons. They also get health grit and minerals and Red Band .

The racing pigeon is a large bird. It has a big, round breast, short legs with reddish-pink claws, strong wings and a medium length tail. They have small, black, red or brown eyes, and curved, pointy beaks.

They can be lots of colours, such as blue , red , white , black , mealy, grizzles, pied, check pied, blue pied , red pied, black pied, mealy pied, black grizzle , red grizzle , blue grizzle, check grizzle.

Baby pigeons have yellow fluffy feathers when they are very young, and then they grow grey feathers as they get older.

Pigeons can be seen all around town. They live in lofts but commoners don’t live in lofts. Most racing pigeons have a little pigeon ring around there foot with numbers on it for when there gone racing and they come back with the ring on there foot and the owner clocks it in to the clock . Commoners means a pigeon that has no owner and he has no ring on his foot.

Pigeons are a unique and intelligent birds. They are very smart little birds. Some pigeons fight over the smallest bit of food. They will fight for their nest box and their perch and fight for their young if any other pigeon goes near them.

When they fight they stand up to each other. They will smack each other with their wings and they will also peck at each other.

Everyone is getting involved...

2011-02-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

We're still busy writing our reports. They'll all start appearing on our blog over the next few days. The news of our project is spreading and other teachers are getting involved. Dave Foley came in to see what was happening. One of the groups showed him what they were doing and explained how to use the blog. He was very interested in our bird watching. While he was in the room he saw a robin, two blackbirds and a wagtail. He'll have to come back for another visit soon.

Message from Diane Spencer

2011-02-12T17:08:00.001-08:00

Hello Class 4

I have really enjoyed reading your blog! I am also learning about different kinds of birds, I thought your turnstone photo was fantastic! I am very envious because I have never seen one! Lucky you! The next few weeks are going to be really exciting for bird lovers. Lots of our migrants will be flying in to breed during the Spring, so you should see lots of chicks over the next month or two.

Keep up the good work!

Best wishes,

Dianne Spencer

Sparrow hawk from Bill

2011-02-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

Hi all

The photos are, we think, of a Sparrowhawk which we found on our front lawn munching on a pigeon. We sat in our car for five minutes before it saw us and flew away. When we got into the house we found that it was sat on our hedge and the two photos are taken from my bedroom window!!

At first we thought it might be a Goshawk but it was too small for that (although there is a family of Goshawks about five miles from us who live in a wood next to a racing pigeon training stable. I live in Grantham and we do see some beautiful birds. I think that it is because we are not far from a nature reserve.

I do hope you like the pictures and good luck with your project I will follow your posts with interest

Bill

Art Work - Flying Birds

2011-02-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

We have been doing a number of art projects related to our Birdwatch Study.

Our most recent project was to make hanging birds to decorate our classroom. Some of us chose to decorate our birds to look like real birds we have seen outside our classroom window, and some of us invented an imaginary bird.

Now they're all hung and it looks like we have a flock of birds flying around our classroom. It's lovely.

Special Visitor

2011-02-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

Ms Hayes, one of the wonderful teachers in our school, came to our class on Friday afternoon to join us for some birdwatching. Ms Hayes used to be a member of Birdwatch Ireland, and she knows alot about birds. She brought a beautiful calendar with her which was full of amazing photos. She talked to us about the things we should look out for when we're trying to identify birds.

We should look at:

Their size and their feathers.

Their beaks - to tell us what type of food they like to eat.

Their wings - to see if there are any markings or "flashings"

Their feet - to see where the bird usually lives.

She also did some birdwatching with us and was amazed at all the birds we were able to name already.

It's great to have others involved in our project.

Thanks Ms Hayes.

Blue Tit

2011-02-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

A blue-tit is a member of the tit family.

A blue tit is a small bird. It is 12 cm long. It has a blue cap with white cheeks and yellow underparts. The young birds are more yellowish overall. The blue tit has a bit of white on its head, big black eyes and a black beak.

They have small tails and short beaks. When oil shines on them they shine beautifully. It looks green and light yellow.

They love peanuts and bird cakes, and are often first on the feeders.

A blue tit makes a "churr" sound. Its song is a clear, quite high-pitched "tsee-hee-he-hee…". It's call is a series of scolding chuckles, and also many short twitters.
A blue tit is so light and it is so acrobatic that it can feed from the thinnest branches where bigger birds can't reach. It is only a small bird, but it scolds bigger birds when they try to push them out of the way.

It is very hard to see a blue tit. It is a wild bird and not a pet bird .Blue tits nest in tree holes - or nest boxes if you put them up.

Blue tits breed throughout Ireland. They prefer broad-leaved woodland, but also in farmland, parks and gardens. They nest in cavities in trees or walls, often choosing unusual sites such as a pipes or letterboxes.

The most common place to find blue tits in Ireland is Knocksink woods.

By,
Kirsty, Niamh and Sophie

Robin

2011-02-11T04:19:00.000-08:00

The robin is a bird. It is a member of the thrush family.

It is a very small bird. The robin is 14-15 cm long. The robin has a bright red face and breast, just like on a Christmas card. It also has a white belly and eye ring. It has a small and strong beak. It also has brown wings. It has a grey and white belly.

The robin loves to eat bread. Brown is better than white. It also loves to eat worms, bird seeds and fruits, e.g.apples, berries. The robin drinks water.

The robin often hops around and sometimes runs too! The robin is very fast at running!! It also sings a lovely tune. Its like a lovely whistle song. The male robin sings the loveliest song to attract the female. Sometimes the robin sings in the night!

The robin can live in parks, trees, bushes and gardens. It can be seen in the countryside and in cities. The robin can be seen in Ireland and the Great Britain.

The robin is fatter in the Winter!

The robin is a very friendly bird. It often hops around when gardeners are working, looking for worms.

By
Kieva, Roeanne and Natalia B

What bird is this?

2011-02-08T16:28:00.000-08:00

We saw this bird on our trip to Bray Harbour.

What bird is this?

2011-02-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

Our Trip to Bray Harbour: Visiting the Swans

2011-02-08T07:10:00.001-08:00

What a team!!

In January our class went for a walk down to Bray Harbour to visit the colony of mute swans that live there.

We had to remember a few rules:

Don't get too close to the swans as they are terretorial birds.

Stay calm and quiet so we don't scare the birds.

It was a great experience as we saw loads of birds, and we were very close to them. It was a great change to look at their behaviour and what they look like.

We took some photos.

We fed the birds.

We took loads of photos of the birds and the harbour, and of course of each other.

Some of us brought food so we could feed the birds.

I'd like everyone to leave a comment about what they enjoyed most during the day. What are your special memories?

Bird-watching in the classroom

2011-02-08T07:04:00.000-08:00

What an exciting afternoon we had. We have been putting food outside our classroom window to try and attract some of the birds closer to us so we can watch them.

This afternoon we put out some oats and some bread scraps on the wall. We filled a bird feeder with seed and hung it on a tree, and we hung a suet ball for birds from another tree. We didn't think we'd have many birds this afternoon, because there were so many people walking past our classroom.

But...we were wrong!

One group was put in charge of the birdwatching while the rest of us worked on our bird reports. The group had binoculars and a camera. They had the bird identification posters ready just in case anything came for a bite.

Over the afternoon we saw loads of different types of birds. Two hooded crows came to eat our oats and bread. We also saw a siskin, five gold finches, a robin, a male and female blackbird, two coal tits, a magpie, a long-tailed tit, a pied wagtail and a chaffinch. It was really exciting. They hopped and flew about very fast so we had to be quick to spot them. We looked at their appearance carefully and check some of them using the posters, but we managed very well.

By the end of the afternoon everyone was looking out the window.

Tomorrow we'll put some food out earlier and we'll leave a team of birdwatchers at the window all day to see what birds come to visit.

Wood Pigeon

2011-02-08T06:39:00.000-08:00

The wood pigeon is a cousin of the feral pigeon.

The woodpigeon is 41cm long. It has a white patch on its neck, grey feathers on its head, back and wings and it has a mauve breast.

The wood pigeon is a vegetarian. They eat bread, peanuts, ivy berries, acorns, weed seed and oats. Brown bread is healthier but they can also eat white bread. In the summer they feed on cereals,potatoes,beans,peas and greens.

The wood pigeon makes its nest with twigs, sticks and dirt. It feeds its babies by collecting worms,flys and spiders.

It lives in towns and cities . Most pigeons live in Britain and Ireland.

Bird Watching walk around the school

2011-02-08T02:15:00.000-08:00

Today we went on a walk to look for birds around the school. We brought our binoculars, our bird-watching notebooks and our pencils and rubbers.
We had to be really quiet, stay together, and look around in the the trees, the sky, on the buildings, in the bushes, on the ground.

We got on really well. We saw lots of birds. The birds we saw today were:
Robin; Magpie; Hooded Crow; Coal Tit; Racing Pigeon; Wood Pigeon; Seagull; Wren; Blackbird; Great Tit; Blue Tit

We also listened to some of the birds singing:
The robin has a lovely, loud, musical chirp.
The pigeon has a soft cooing sound.
The crow has loud, rough sound.
The magpie has a repetitive, loud, rough laugh like a machine gun.

We had a great time and lots of fun. It's nice to get outside into the fresh air.

The Mute Swan

2011-02-04T03:56:00.001-08:00

Classification:Swans are white birds. They are flying birds and they live near water. A male swan is called a cob, a female is called a pen and a baby swan is called a cygnet.

Appearance:The mute swan is white and feathery with a long, graceful neck. Swans have long, orange beaks with a bit of black at the top of their beaks. Swans have white feathers. They have black webbed feet and short, black, skinny legs. They have an oval shaped body and a short, pointy tail.
The mute swan is Irelands biggest bird. When the male swan stands up it could be the size of a twelve year old girl.
When a swan is in the water, to dry it's wings it makes a loveheart shape with it's wings.

Habitat:Swans are water birds. All swans live near the water. They live near rivers, lakes, harbours, beaches, canals, or ponds. Swans sleep on land.
There is a colony of mute swans in Bray Harbour.

Diet:Swans are herbivore birds. This means they are mostly vegetarian.
Swans can be fed bread. Brown bread is healthier than white bread. They come out of the water when people give food to them.
They hunt for plants and drink water. Swans can use their long necks to reach water plants at depths of one meter.
They also graze on land and sometimes feed on amphibians, snails and insects.

Behaviour:Swans fly high in the sky. When swans get ready to fly, they flap their wings and run across the surface until they are ready to fly. When swans fly their wings beat powerfully and slowly with a swishing sound.
Swans have webbed feet to swim very gracefully, but they waddle when they walk.
Swans can be agressive and dangerous. They hiss and peck at each other. One reason for this is to clean each other, and another reason is for fighting. They are also territorial birds, which means they like to protect their own space.
Swans are not good pets.

What to look out for...

2011-02-04T03:27:00.000-08:00

When you see a bird, as yourself these questions.

Using this information you can use your bird guide to help to identify your bird.

GOOD LUCK!!