During their Forest School sessions, Reception children have been learning about the plumage of different British birds and what details to look for so that they can be identified. Telling birds apart can be really challenging so it is important to use our observation skills and that takes practice. We talked about what are important indicators. What size is the bird? Does it have a coloured beak or feet? Can you compare varieties of the same bird? For example there are a lot of finches and tits but they all have slightly different plumage. How do you tell those birds apart?
To do this we viewed the birds live on the RSPB web cam, we used spotting sheets to try and match varieties. The children were so excited to find a match and name that bird. Then we looked at still images of each bird and described what we could see. Once we’d had some practice at observing the children then drew the birds. They really took care to make sure the colours were applied in the right places. Could you tell the difference between a Great Tit and a Coal Tit? If you want to join in with the children at home, birdwatching in the garden is a lovely activity and if you can take part in the RSPB birdwatch survey you will be helping to protect all our native species.
