Messages from Peta & Lisa

I always look forward to visiting Mayfield and I understand why the children get so excited!  There’s so much to experience, like feeding the cows, climbing the tractors, swimming and throwing rocks in the river and of course the wildlife.  So we were pretty excited when we found a huge nest along the river one day.  I found this next last year on one of my ventures out with the children and just wanted share this amazing sight with the children on a recent visit.
We were pretty excited to walk down to the river in search of this huge nest that was made in the tallest tree across the river.  Once we found it, we sat down and gazed in amazement. Not only did we see the nest, we also saw the eagle soaring above us in search for prey.  Mr Bruce, explained about how hot air rises and the eagle uses this so it doesn’t have to flap it’s wings as much, it soars on the wind.
When we came back to the Centre, we were pretty excited to tell our friends about it all.  We even watched a video on eagles soaring and catching fish with it’s huge talons!  We listened to eagle sounds and looked at a close-up video of their huge nest and watched eaglets hatch out of eggs.
– Written by Peta

We later began to discuss the physical characteristics of the eagle and our research led to the eagles wing span.  A huge span of 2.3 meters.  We took turns laying down next to the tape measure stretched out, averaging 2 children long.  Wow!! We couldn’t believe it was that big.  The children were so excited to show their peers.  We drew a wing span on some cardboard fro the children to collage for our own Karana Eagle, so everyone could join in .  Fast forward a week and the children are still enthusiastic about the eagle and as I entered the room, I was greeted with more questions and facts regarding the Mayfield eagle.
So after reading a book titled “Australian Native Birds.” featuring the wedge-tailed eagle, the kindy children through using fallen leaves, bark and pinecone fronds would be a great substitute for feathers, so we ventured over the fence, to collect the natural collage materials needed.  The eagle collage has been our for a couple of days now with the children coming and going adding more and more natural flora feathers, chatting to each other while crafting.

It’s so nice to listen as the Mayfield children describe the next and the eagle’s habitats.  I can’t wait to visit and watch the Mayfield Eagle soar too.
– Written by Lisa