3rd and 4th class go birdwatching in the People's Park

Nature day in Knocksink Wood - 3rd and 4th have a great day.

Yesterday our class went to Knocksink Wood, in Enniskerry, for a nature day.  We were very excited.

First we got into our groups.  Each group got their equipment, like cameras, binoculars and notebooks.  When we were ready we got on the bus. 

When we arrived we climbed the long driveway.  At the top we waited for the staff to arrive.

Eventually they came and we went into the Education Centre.  It was full of stuffed animals, bones, games, feathers, models, insects and fossils.  We did lots of fun activities during the day.

First we went on a treasure hunt in groups.  We had to follow the arrows and find pictures of animals and their footprints.  When we got to the end we matched the pictures. Dave met us at the end of our treasure hunts.

Next we were broken into two groups.  Each group did different activities.  The activities were a bird watching challenge, a sound map, and making birds using natural materials.

After that we had our lunch. 

After lunch we did a bird call test with Hugh.  He played bird calls and we had to guess the bird. 

Finally, we were split into three groups.  Two adults went with each group.  We did:

·         Smell bombs and perfumes

·         Scavenger hunts

·         Interesting tiny thing hunt using magnifying glasses

·         Bird watching

We had lots of fun.

At the end of the day we packed our bags and went down the long driveway to the bus.  Eventually we got back to school and went straight home. 

We felt tired but happy.  We had a marvellous day in Knocksink Wood.

(A whole class recount)

3rd and 4th class visit Bray Harbour

Our Day Out

On Thursday we went to Bray Harbour.  It was cool. 
We were all well behaved at the harbour as bird watchers need to be calm and quiet.  We saw lots of different birds.  I saw a swan.  It had a white body and an orange beak.  It had grey webbed feet.
I also saw some ducks, a muscovy duck and mallard ducks, and some pigeons - a rock pigeon and wood pigeons.  We also saw the little turnstone.

Two mums came with us to help out. On the way home we went to the library.  We borrowed books and read them while we waited for some girls to get their library card.
After the library we went back to school.  We had a great day.

by Caitlyn
4th class.

We went to the Robo Show in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra

A few days before the Day arrived we practised presenting our project to all the classes.
I loved teaching the children about how we use our blog and all about our project.
We made our Checklist so we could tick off what equipment we need we had prepared and ready.
When finally the Robo Fair Day arrived we got there and back by bus.
There were lots of other stalls too.
I liked that at the beginning each school gave a summary of their project - That was a lovely way to attract us to other stalls.
The project about special Movie Affects really interested me.
We used bird books,notebooks,binoculars,posters,laptops and Moscow souvenirs such as Bonnie The bear and photos.
On the stage photos were taken,certs presented,projects were sumarised.
Teachers and other interested children came to ask about our project and visit our stall.
We met childeren our own ages,younger,older,teachers and Deirdre.
I liked the Trains Project - the childern were very good at explaining about their project.
I loved the Movie Affects project,The film they made was very well acted and they used clever techniques too.
My favourite part was the Questionare and meeting the other children at the other stalls.
Then the time to go back arrived we wished the day would repeat itself.
The End !!!

by Hannah K

Off to Moscow...

Hi guys,

We've made it to the airport, but we're really early, so we decided we would take a few minutes to start off the blog of our journey to Moscow.   We're both very excited and looking forward to learning some new things and meeting some interesting people.

Remember, we'll be checking the blog and e-mail during the week, and if anyone has any poems or stories they would like added to the blog they can e-mail them to Ms McHale (stphilomenas4@hotmail.com).

We'll be in touch soon,

Ms McHale and Bonnie the Bear.

Birds of Bray Poster

Senior Infants drew pictures of our School Walk

Our Birdwatching Day.

A few of the girls wrote a report about our birdwatching day.  They wrote the report at home and then e-mailed them to me.  We also took some photos during the day.  I think they're so great that I wanted to share them with you.
Ms McHale.

Reporter 1: Amber K

Today walking down the park was interesting.
Because we seen a new swan the egyiption swan that we never seen before.
We saw loads of seagulls some mallard ducks.
Some of us saw black birds,Hooded Crow,rook. Some of us did see them birds some of us didn't.

Then we sketched two birds and we were suppose to take down what birds we saw as well that was really fun. We took our

• cameras
• binoculars
• pencil's and rubber's
• bird watching note books

1. with our camera's we zoomed in to take a better look at the birds
2. with our binouculars we looked in them to see if we saw birds
3. with our bird watching notebooks  we took down what birds we saw where they m/f  and the last one was to count  how many we saw

                                                     thats interesting
so i really love to see more birds/ducks down parks,fields,front gardens anywhere  at all.
                                                thats all i wanted to say
                                                           Bye!!!!!!

Reporter 2: Tarryn
Today the (14 of February) 4th class went to Dargle Park in Bray to do some birdwatching. It was a bright sunny morning and the birds were happily chirping. We saw lots of different  birds like the Seagull, Rook, Egyptian  swan, Blackbird and Mallard duck.  It was a very enjoyable outing and I was excited to see the Egyptian Swan.

Back at school, 3rd class joined us for bird watching from our classroom window where they saw a Coal Tit, a Blackbird and a Robin.

During the afternoon 4th class went to Senior Infants. We were each given a Senior Infants pupil to mind. We went outside around the school looking for signs of spring. We had to work from a sheet that my teacher, Ms McHale, gave to us to help us find the signs of spring. We saw buds, daffodil shoots, little baby leaves on the trees and new bushes.   I had a lovely day at school today.

Reporter 3: Naoimi

On monday we went to the park to have a look at birds .We saw rooks,sea gulls,mallerd ducks and an egyptian swan.We had never seen an egyptian swan before so it was very interesting and exciting! When we came back 3rd class came in to our class to look out the window for birds with us. We saw a great tit,a robin and a hooded crow. When we came in from yard we went on a nature walk with senior infants. We each got a partner and went to look for birds and signs of nature.We saw a hooded crow and a few sea gulls flying by.
It was really an exciting day!
Reporter 4: Sophie

Today we went to the park . We fed the birds bread in the peoples park which is in Bray . When we threw out the bread on the grass, suddenly seagulls, crows and rooks came gliding down . There was so many birds flying that you could hardly see a thing it was even difficult to see the sky. When we were finished feeding the bird's we sketched the birds that we had seen in our note book. I really enjoyed doing this.

While we were gone to feed the birds and take some photo's third class were using our class room to do some bird watching of their own.

Later on that day my class mates and I brought the senior infants class out around the school grounds for a spring walk. We tried to explain to them some of the signs of spring such as buds on the trees and shoots from flowers.
Reporter 5: Natalia B

Today was my favorite day in Ireland.  The sun was shining, it was a little cold and warm wind was blowing.  I am with my class went to the park. I saw the Egyptian swan.  I saw a very nice birds.  I saw rooks, blackbirds, gulls and ducks.   We took pictures of all the birds we've seen.  Then we went to the playground, it was very good.  It was a really nice day.

Our Trip to Bray Harbour: Visiting the Swans



What a team!!

In January our class went for a walk down to Bray Harbour to visit the colony of mute swans that live there. 

We had to remember a few rules:

Don't get too close to the swans as they are terretorial birds.

Stay calm and quiet so we don't scare the birds.

It was a great experience as we saw loads of birds, and we were very close to them.  It was a great change to look at their behaviour and what they look like.



We took some photos.



We fed the birds.



We took loads of photos of the birds and the harbour, and of course of each other.



Some of us brought food so we could feed the birds.

I'd like everyone to leave a comment about what they enjoyed most during the day.  What are your special memories?

The Mute Swan

Classification:Swans are white birds. They are flying birds and they live near water. A male swan is called a cob, a female is called a pen and a baby swan is called a cygnet.

Appearance:The mute swan is white and feathery with a long, graceful neck. Swans have long, orange beaks with a bit of black at the top of their beaks. Swans have white feathers. They have black webbed feet and short, black, skinny legs. They have an oval shaped body and a short, pointy tail.
The mute swan is Irelands biggest bird. When the male swan stands up it could be the size of a twelve year old girl.
When a swan is in the water, to dry it's wings it makes a loveheart shape with it's wings.

Habitat:Swans are water birds. All swans live near the water. They live near rivers, lakes, harbours, beaches, canals, or ponds. Swans sleep on land.
There is a colony of mute swans in Bray Harbour.

Diet:Swans are herbivore birds. This means they are mostly vegetarian.
Swans can be fed bread. Brown bread is healthier than white bread. They come out of the water when people give food to them.
They hunt for plants and drink water. Swans can use their long necks to reach water plants at depths of one meter.
They also graze on land and sometimes feed on amphibians, snails and insects.

Behaviour:Swans fly high in the sky. When swans get ready to fly, they flap their wings and run across the surface until they are ready to fly. When swans fly their wings beat powerfully and slowly with a swishing sound.
Swans have webbed feet to swim very gracefully, but they waddle when they walk.
Swans can be agressive and dangerous. They hiss and peck at each other. One reason for this is to clean each other, and another reason is for fighting. They are also territorial birds, which means they like to protect their own space.
Swans are not good pets.