National Tree Day 2011

Well, around a month after our National Tree Day event, I finally get time to write up our blog!
It was a really nice day in the end, after the first date was postponed due to threat of a storm. There was a bit of drizzle in the beginning but it soon brightened up and there was no need for my wellies and rainjacket. As my little one was sick it was just me from my family, but we had a great turnout of ten participants in our group who joined up with the big team of Whiteman Park staff and helpers.

Adam and Lily were the first ones there and had already planted a couple of seedlings before I arrived.

One of our first seedlings for the day.



The finished product!

Sheridan and Tekebo came along and really enjoyed it.

Tekebo looks ready to go into battle as a Seedling Soldier or a Plant Protector! :-)

                                                                                Getting stuck into it

Before too long we had all planted at least 15 seedlings each. There were a range of species that we planted,  including Acacia saligna (Golden Wreath Wattle), Melaleuca preissiana (stout paperbark), Eucalyptus todtiana (Blackbutt), Corymbia calophylla (Marri), Banksia menziesii (Firewood Banskia), Banksia ilicifolia (Holly-leaved Banskia) and Hakea prostrata (Harsh Hakea). Several of the species are chosen for their bird attracting fruits and flowers. One such species of bird that the park hopes to attract is the rare Carnaby's black cockatoo.

Karena, Lin and Ryan brought along some family and friends visiting from China

Ryan shows us his budding horticultural skills

Neighbours connecting through conservation

Lily took some time to herself to enjoy the surroundings

Most of our group (photo taken by Lin)

Thanks to Whiteman Park staff for providing us with planting equipment, seedlings and species information. We all had a really good time. Thanks to everyone who took part, also.

Sheridan later gave me her take on the day  "It was a great day- my son and I planted about 20 baby natives of different varieties. My son loved getting involved and soon had the entire routine down. We received gardening gloves and hats that we could take home. All in all it was a lovely day connecting with friends, family and mother earth"

Look forward to helping out again next year!

A glimpse of sunshine in the hills

The family headed up to John Forrest National Park last weekend as there was a break between rainy periods. After a delicious lunch at the Mundaring Hotel we went for a brief walk by the pool by the tavern.


Asha is really fond of trying to eat pebbles and rocks; perhaps she'll be a "rock licker" (geologist) when she grows up! She also loves to wear Daddy's hat.

                  There weren't that many birds about except for this black duck and a 28 parrot.

Asha doesn't like to keep still, and we spent a lot of our time chasing her and making sure she didn't disappear down the paths, across the bridges or down the stairs!

Tearing the girl away from her favourite stick and the little pebbles is always difficult, and she gets really engrossed in examining everything around her.

We did get to experience a brief walk but due to time constraints from setting off too late in the day, it soon began to get a bit gloomy.

Just as we left, the showers started again and we saw a couple of kangaroos bounding off into the distance off the road. Next time we visit John Forrest NP we plan to do a longer walk and eat a smaller lunch, although if we leave it too long I may be reduced to a slowish preggo waddle rather than a brisk bushwalk!

National Tree Day postponed until next week

We were all geared up to take part in National Tree Day today at Whiteman Park but it has been rescheduled for next week, Sun 7 August due to bad weather. Such a pity but as more people from our group can make it next week it could be a blessing in disguise.  Here is a link, so you can check out what's happening on the day: http://treeday.planetark.org/site/48585. We'll be there from 9am for a couple of hours. We are looking forward to getting our hands dirty and helping out.

We'll be back soon

The Natural Wonders have been hibernating a bit over the winter so far, due to sneezy kids and rainy weather. Our next official outing will be to assist at a National Tree Day site on the 31st July. We are yet to choose a location but will let people know what we are up to once we have sorted that out. National Tree Day is always lots of fun!

zoo fun postponed

We have unfortunately had to postpone today's fun day at the zoo due to some unforseen circumstances. Hopefully we can enjoy a day out next month discovering the amazing Australian animals that live at the zoo!

Easter Sunday at Whiteman Park

After our Nature Group outing on the 17th April, we decided to spend Easter Sunday at Whiteman Park. It's such a lovely relaxing atmosphere for families, giving children the freedom to play as they wish. There was a Alpaca show and festival held on Easter Sunday.





Asha and Lily checking out the Alpacas.
It was great Eve and Asha could make it for a short time in the morning, Lily was so happy to see her favourite next door neighbours :-)

Big smiles from Lily, mummy and Aunty Corinne.

Lily feeling pretty proud to be on her first tram ride and to be sitting next to great grandpa :-)
















The Tram ride was only half an hour from the village to mussel pool then back again.






Lily finishing off her wonderful day with a little play in the playground.







It's worth checking the Whiteman Park website from time to time to keep an eye on what events are coming up www.whitemanpark.com.au/events/eventListing.aspx

A visit from the Easter Bilby at Whiteman Park

The Natural Wonders group enjoyed a visit from the Easter Bilby last Sunday, during our April outing to Whiteman Park! Three families set out to make a rustic birds nest and then find easter eggs that the bilby had delivered. A light shower or two in the morning made the park cool and fresh, just right for collecting twigs and hunting easter eggs.

                                                        Big smiles for the group shot!

Firstly we explored one area of Mussel Pool, crossing over the little bridge to the island, and searched for small twigs and other suitable materials to build our nests. It was also a great opportunity for the families to enjoy each others company and engage in a bit of free play.

Tynuka got rather close to some nature when a dragon fly flew over to say "Hi"

As usual some of our group were busy cleaning up rubbish along our walk. Good one Ads!

Emma really embraced the challenge of creating a birds nest and did an amazing job of it! The finished nest looked great!

The easter egg hunt was great fun and the kids (and us adults) really enjoyed it. The eggs looked pretty happy also to be found, as you can see from the pics!

The girls loved carrying their pretty baskets with all the goodies inside them. We had to be careful not to litter all the bits of coloured fluff from the baskets.

Chrissy (bilby!) did a wonderful job of decorating the eggs and hiding them for the kids. It was definitely the best egg hunt I've ever been involved in!

Our next event will be held on the weekend of the 21-22 May, most likely the Sunday again. I look forward to seeing some more new faces! Stay tuned for more details on location. 

Easter Fun at Whiteman Park

The Natural Wonders group will be heading to Whiteman Park for some easter fun this weekend. We are looking forward to an easter egg hunt and birds nest making activity. I haven't made a birds nest before so I'm very keen to learn! At this stage we have six families confirmed for the event, so it will no doubt be enjoyable but not too crazy. Whiteman Park is so beautiful and there is so much to see and do; my family will definitely visit there a lot more often, and it's only 15 mins away from our place.

Our second group event- Whitfords Nodes beachwalk

Our second event was held on the 20th March, and was a early morning beachcombing walk at Whitford Nodes beach. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the late 20s. Five families took part this time, although my girl had to stay at home with her dad due to the dreaded snifflies. The event began with a quick play in the playground......

 

We then headed down to the beach for our beachcombing activity. We were lucky we were able to supply some activity sheets and a beachcombing guide to the participants courtesy of the Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre website (the NMDC is an education centre based in Hillarys) to make our event more fun and informative. As I didn't have a little "Natural Wonder" in tow I was on litter and photo duties!

Here are a few things we found washed up on the beach!



 

Adam and Lily find a cuttle bone





















The first item was found by Adam and Lily, a cuttlefish bone. This is a common sight on a sea shore. It is the internal shell of a cuttlefish and is made up of tiny air sacs which aid in flotation.


Sausage Jelly



I found a couple of squishy jelly looking sacs and after consulting my beachcombing kit, learnt that they were sausage jellies, which are the egg sacs of snails!



Fibreball (posidonia seagrass)



Possibly another fibreball



We found several lumps of seagrass called fibreballs which are fomed by decaying leaves being tangled together.



 

 

 

Mollusc shells



 

Paddleweed



The Reeves found a selection of mollusc shells and I found a small clump of paddleweed, which like its name suggests has paddle shaped leaves. Dugongs generally eat this type of seagrass. I also found some brown sponge

 which had lost its pretty colours.



Sea Sponge







Nicole, Karena and Ryan create sea creature shapes

 Before too long the littlies became tired so we relaxed, enjoyed the beach, played sandcastles and created sea creatures in the sand





Andrew and Marcus making some really cool castles



 

  

The contents of our litter bag: only a few bits of plastic and some cigarette butts



  

 Chrissy and Lily...... leaving only footprints of course  :-)

Thanks to the families who came along to our second event, I hope you and your kids had a great time. I was so glad that our litter bag hardly required filling up, the beach was pretty clean!

Our next event will be on the 17 April at Whiteman Park, so stay tuned for more information!