WOW! What a fantastic afternoon Year 1 had on Monday.

As part of our topic ‘Paws, Claws and Whiskers’  we are learning about different classification of animals and their induvial features. One group of animals we are learning about is Birds. As part of this learning we were lucky enough to have some very special visitors come into school…

Below you can see some pictures of the amazing birds that Martin from the Dorset Falconry Park bought in to show us. The afternoon was filled with fun facts, interesting information and time for the children to ask their own questions.

First we were lucky enough to see a Barn Owl and an Eagle Owl. We found out about their faces, why they are shaped like ears and where there ears actually are! As well as why their eyes are the perfect shape for hunting at night.

Next we took a look at a Harris Hawk. This is a medium sized bird of Prey from America, identifiable by its brown and reddish feathers at the head and shoulders often with white tipped feathers at the end of its tail. We looked at how birds feathers span out towards the ends to allow air to go through as they fly.

After that we looked at Kestrel. This is a bird of prey that some of us had seen before. Martin told us about the sort of small animals that a Kestrel is able to catch and eat. We learnt about why different birds hunt different sorts of animals for their dinner and the importance of the birds not wasting their energy hunting prey that is too big for them.

Finally we met an ENORMOUS Bald Eagle!!! WOW!

Lots of us couldn’t believe our eyes when Martin bought the Bald Eagle out for us to see. We had been learning some facts about how the Bald Eagle got its name the week before, so we were able to show this off when asked. Martin was very impressed – he said we were the first school to know the answer! Well done Year 1!!

Bald Eagles live primarily in America and hunt fish. So we don’t need to worry about bumping into one around Weymouth. However, more recently Sea Eagles have been re-introduced to the UK, starting on the Isle Of Wight. These Eagles can be tracked online so we are planning on spending some time looking at this bird and seeing if any have flown over us here at Southill School.

A brilliant afternoon with lots of fantastic listening and questions from the children in year 1.

Well done everyone – a great start to learning all about the animal kingdom!