Down at the CREEC

Before you comment on my spelling ability - I’ll just point out that the place we were at today is called the Canning River Eco Education Centre - or CREEC for short. This wonderful environment education building is located right next to Kent St Weir along the beautiful, paperbark-lined banks of the Canning River.

Today Gill and I visited CREEC to conduct a short nest-box workshop with members of the Cockatoo Kids Club. We had about 20 kids attend and watch us give a talk about hollow homes and recycling rubbish to build nest boxes. I was MOST impressed with these children’s ability to identify local native birds. Western Rosella, Australian Ringneck, Barn Owl, Brushtail Possum - they rattled off species names perfectly! Just shows what impact being a member of a cockatoo club has!

After the talk we showed the audience some pre-made nest boxes we’d brought along, which were designed for smaller birds including parrots and mammals like possums. Then it was time to venture outside and have a walk around the Canning River, point out existing wildlife habitat and select 2 trees in which to hang our boxes.

We finished with a climbing demonstration as I put a rope up the tree and hoisted up the first box, which I fixed in place with a length of TV antenna cable I’d picked up from a verge collection. Nothing like reusing old junk!

Thanks to Hayley from CREEC for contacting us to come and be part of the Cockatoo Kids Club education program, and for the opportunity to hang some more of our boxes in a great educational setting!