Birds of prey visit nursery

John from the NI School of Falconry brought a Burrowing owl, a Bengali owl, a Barn owl, a Kestrel and a Peregrine Falcon as well as a ‘Hooded’ Vulture called Heather to school.

The children were able to experience the owl swoop stealthily above their heads and saw the vulture use its long beak to take raw meat from John’s clenched fist! He also talked to the children about where the birds lived, what they ate and their peculiar habits.

This visit was arranged to give all 130 nursery aged children first-hand experience of learning how to care for birds – this has been their theme for January. Children also made bird feeders to take home to feed the birds in their gardens.

Magherafelt Nursery School was awarded the Green Flag as an Eco School and visits such as this is a very practical way of encouraging three and four year-old children and their families to be eco-aware and to care for their environment.