Birds on the Edge project soars into new school term

Harry Spotter’s Challenge progress report August 2023. Credit: Joe Shutt

The Birds on the Edge project returns to ten local primary school to connect pupils with nature through the Harry Spotter Bird Challenge.

The four-year North York Moors Trust project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is working within the National Park and surrounding areas to connect people with nature (including many young people for the first time) and support both participants and wildlife to thrive locally through hands-on conservation, education, and creative engagement.

Working with local primary schools the Harry Spotter’s Bird Watch Challenge is connecting young people with nature, equipping them with knowledge about our environment, and empowering them to put new skills into practice.

In spring and summer 2023, each school received a visit from dedicated staff from the Outdoor Learning team at the North York Moors National Park.

Pupils were taught about the importance of bird populations to our local ecosystem, the challenges birds on the edge face in light of changes to the environment and habitat, and the constructive steps we can take to support local and migratory populations to thrive in the North York Moors.

As part of hands-on green learning, each class built a bird feeding station for their school grounds and were given a demonstration on how to identify birds, input data, and generate charts.

Pupils were empowered to put their new skills into practice. Provided with seed, ID guides, binoculars, a table to log bird numbers, and a raft of ideas of how to attract bird species, pupils were set the task of monitoring bird species in their school grounds and local community for 15 minutes each morning for four weeks.

With schools returning for the new term, over the coming weeks the Birds of the Edge project will soar back into classrooms to present pupils with their bird survey results and explain what the data tells us and how it can be used to inform conservation work.

This autumn each primary school will also take part in the flyway geo-challenge, where they will learn how to use GPS units and log coordinates. Schools will be given a trackable geo-coin to hide locally and upload to the geocache website, with pupils set the mission of moving the coin along the 3,000-mile migratory route of turtle dove to Sub-Saharan Africa. Pupils will connect with international schools along the route and share their acquired knowledge about the experiences of migratory bird species whilst in the North York Moors and the steps we are taking to support them to thrive whilst here breeding.

In 2023, through the Harry Spotter’s Challenge, we have worked with:

Glaisdale Primary School

Gillamoor Church of England Primary School

Goathland Primary School

Helmsley Primary School

Ingleby Greenhow Primary School

Lealholm Primary School

Oakridge Community Primary School

Osmotherley Primary School

Hedda’s Catholic Primary School

Hilda’s Church of England Primary School

We have engaged 184 local primary school pupils and 22 adults.

The Birds on the Edge project is:

Boosting pupil wellbeing through time spent connecting with nature and the associated health benefits.

Improving awareness of challenges facing our environment.

Empowering action to improve habitat.

Equipping pupils with new skills, including bird surveying, data gathering, and using GPS.