Bush Skills for Youth

As an environmental educator, it is always a great thrill to spend time with a brilliant group of young, upcoming naturalists, especially in the magic setting of some Perth Hills bushland. Today's 'All About Eagles' workshop in John Forrest National Park was no exception. I had the privilege of working with Kathy Levett from the East Metropolitan Regional Council's "Bush Skills for Youth" program, and we ran a workshop for 12-16 year-old children who gave up a morning of their school holidays to learn about Wedge-tailed Eagle ecology through a hands-on educational workshop.

The format of the day involved a talk in the National Park's Margaret Forrest centre about eagle biology, then a walk up into the hilly country to search for eagles and experience a deep valley, like the ones may resident Perth Hills 'wedgies' call home.

During the walk, I was thrilled to talk to some young boys and girls who were wearing camouflaged clothes and even carrying a short length of rope "just in case he needed to climb a tree!!" This gave me fond memories of my early teenage years when I first began to explore the vast hills forest and discover eagles in the wild.

After a break for morning tea we got stuck into the real fun part of the activity - building eagle nests! The 30 children divided into three groups and each gathered their own sticks, carefully prepared the lining of fresh eucalypt leaves and constructed the most realistic eagle eyrie they could. I was very impressed with how accurately the kids undertook the construction - they would make a good bunch of eagles!

Last time I conducted this activity was back in 2012, but the happiness on the children's faces told me it was still a fun and enjoyable way to learn ornithology. And what better setting than an outdoor bush classroom?!

We completed the morning with a 'bush detective' activity which involved the children doing a treasure hunt for various prey remains (bones and feathers) that I hid in and around the completed eagle nests. It was great to watch the kids search high and low around their nest, making sure they left no stick unturned! A final discussion on the identify of each prey animal consumed gave everyone a real insight into what it's like to conduct research on eagles in real life.

Thanks so much to Kathy and EMRC for the opportunity to be involved in such a fantastic environmental education program, and to Rolf Perey from Guildford Photographics for documenting the morning with an eagle-eye for detail! I'd also like to thank the Department of Parks and Wildlife for their cooperation in allowing us to use the National Park facilities. I'm looking forward to the next eagle workshop already!