Bird of the Week - Long-Tailed Tit

Joining me for birdwatching this week were Ellie, Elly, Nella and Paula from Year 2. In the wildlife garden we spotted:
Crow
Pigeons
Great Tit
and the bird of the week - Long-Tailed Tit. I spotted a pair of these in the trees outside Class 1. They are a lovely little bird with a pink tummy, black and white face and ....you guessed it... a long tail!

We also practised using binoculars for spotting birds in the tops of trees:

Finally, I wanted to tell you that the results of the RSPB School Birdwatch are in! Here are the girls proudly showing off the certificate we received for taking part:

You can check out the results for yourselves at http://www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch/ - the winner was.....the Blackbird!  Closely followed by woodpigeons, starlings, blue tits, sparrows, crows and magpies. The wildlife garden is looking really lovely now with daffodils, bees and butterflies to spot as well as birds - so go and have a look one lunchtime and let me know what you find! Bye for now, Mrs. Longmoor

Bird of the Week - Peregrine Falcon

We did something a bit different this week for birdwatching club. We had a look at birds on the internet. We are very lucky to have peregrine falcons nesting in Derby and Nottingham which you can watch 24 hours a day by webcams. Follow these links to have a look for yourselves.
http://www.derby.gov.uk/dccwebdev/museum/peregrine/webcam.htm
http://www.ntu.ac.uk/ecoweb/ntu_doing/falcons/103295.cfm

 A female falcon at Derby Cathedral.
There are lots more webcams on the internet that let you watch birds close up as they raise their chicks. Have fun! Mrs. Longmoor

Fairtrade Fortnight at Parklands

Here is our fabulous Fair trade Fortnight display which was recently seen in the family room during Fair trade fortnight. The display was put up by Mrs Jane Harvey, a member of the Eco-team. Mrs Meller held an assembly to tell us all about Fair trade fortnight, and to look out for the Fair trade Logo on the things we buy. Mrs Harvey also used Fair trade ingredients in cookery club on a Monday after school.  Mrs Padley.

Tulip Test Garden - The Tulips have emerged

Exciting news, our alarm clock tulips have started to emerge from the ground. the tulips were planted back in December ( have a look in the blog history) and are part of a worldwide project to track the start of spring. Check out their website to see the amazing map that shows how Spring is starting across the whole world - www.learner.org/jnorth/ and click on tulip test gardens  on the left side. As you can see Parklands pupils are keeping an eye on the tulips, our photo shows some serious weeding going on.

The tulips are planted just in front of the main entrance to the school, so check them out if you are passing by, and keep me posted on their developments. Lots more Eco news to come soon, so watch this space. Mrs Padley

Birdwatching Club - Spot of the Week - the Great Tit

Well it looks like the beautiful spring sunshine has really brought the birds out this week. Spotting with me were Billy, Sachin and Myles from Year 2. We spent around 10 minutes in the wildlife garden (lovely spring flowers coming up too) and there was plenty to see - robins, blue tits, goldfinches and my spot of the week - the Great Tit.

These are a very common bird found in parks and gardens - a bit bigger than a blue tit with green wings and a yellow tummy with a black stripe down its front. It's a great time of year now for birdspotting as birds start making their nests - see if you can spot a bird collecting twigs for its nest this week. Until next time, Mrs Longmoor