Who are our NZ animal celebrities and villains?

To launch our Term 3 enviro inquiry about protecting our endemic species from invasive pests, the middle and senior school took part in an animal scavenger hunt, through the native bush walk. Do you know the difference between native & endemic?

"I found it really fun to search through the gardens. We looked in places we wouldn't normally go and thought outside the box" Samantha

"It's so fun to go in nature".
Finn

"I wish we could do this for every lesson. I didn't know that honeybees were introduced"
Cynthia

Citizen Science - The Landcare Bird Survey

Building from our work to provide habitats for our native birds at Sunnyhills, we've been taking part in the Landcare Bird Survey. It was so much fun spotting birds in the sunshine.

Our favorite finds were the two fantails and tuis in the Fordyce entrance trees. The  flock of 9 African swallows dipping and diving over the field were pretty spectacular as well.

UPDATE - Room 20 saw two Spur-winged plovers hanging out on the field and hall roof. Wow!! Another Australian import we saw were a group of rosellas.

Sadly we also saw a cat catch a silver eye and two dead silver eyes😢 It was an action packed survey session.

We're wondering how to help our native birds and what threatens them.

And you can take part in the survey at home too! Just follow the link - http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/science/plants-animals-fungi/animals/birds/garden-bird-surveys

Room Tahi, Rua, Rima & Whitu - Reflect & Zentangle to Share

Did you know the senior school classes have been investigating how we can encourage more manu (birds) into the Sunnyhills environment?

Today we concluded our iniquiry by reflecting and making zentangle birds. Look out for our birds and research findings on display in the hall.

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Room 1 & 2 Big on Birds

Did you know the number of birds in an environment is a great indicator of how healthy the ecosystem is? Birds aren't just pretty plumage and sweet songs, they pollinate, disperse seeds and keep insect populations in check.

Room 1 & 2 brainstormed the Auckland garden birds that we know. We talked about our experiences with birds.

Next we turned on our super powers of observation and went out to find evidence of birds in our school environment. We found feathers, a nest, saw some birds and found poop. We concluded we could definitely do with more birds about.

Next week we're going to research local bird species and how we can attract them into school.