Patty Summers of the Wild Bird Care Centre (WBCC) gave her first presentations to two classes at Beckwith Public School in March 2011. These enthusiastic presentations and fourteen others that followed at other area elementary schools in 2011 (in Pakenham, Almonte and Carleton Place) were sponsored by MVFN through our Environmental Education Program (EEP). In 2014 more of these presentations by Summers are taking place in local schools.
Patty mesmerizes Grade 3 and 5 students with fascinating and factual details of the wings, claws and beaks of many wild birds native to our area. She is a natural teacher and does a superb job. The students touch and inspect real beaks, wings and claws, and study them through magnifying glasses, with the exception of those who just cannot bear to touch them! Patty’s love for the natural world and birds in particular really shines through, and her encyclopedic knowledge keeps every child engaged and excited, and asking questions for over an hour.
Teachers are very grateful to MVFN and the WBCC and are most impressed with Patty and her presentations. The children learn a lot – Â how bird beaks and claws have adapted to enable each bird to capture their food in the most efficient way possible. For example, did you know that ospreys have little rough scales on the bottom of their feet which enable the bird to hang onto the slippery fish after it has been caught?
MVFN should be proud of this contribution to the students in our local schools. I am sure it will contribute to their quest and thirst for more information about birds, their environment and the natural world.
Other presentations by Summers cover  topics such as: What’s on the Menu?;All about Feathers; How to Eat and Not be Eaten; How Birds Survive our Canadian Winters; Human Impacts on Birds: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly; and Pairing Up: Building a Nest and Raising Young.
A huge THANKS! to Patty and the WBCC for developing these inspiring programs for our students. Please feel free to visit the Wild Bird Care Centre any day between 12 and 3 pm (it’s free) or for more information about the centre call 613-828-2849, or visit www.wildbirdcarecentre.org. For more information about EEP, please contact EEP Chair Brenda Boyd.
~ photo by Brenda Boyd and text from story written by Brenda Boyd
