Anglesea PS celebrates the plight of the plover

The first annual Plover Appreciation Day was held by BirdLife Australia on September 16 to encourage people across the globe to honour the plight of the plover.

Grade 4-6 Anglesea Primary School students celebrated the day with variety on fun, educational Hooded Plover related activities hosted by the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC).

The vulnerable Hooded Plover was the focus of the day for Anglesea Primary School students as it nests on local beaches along the Surf Coast.

GORCC aimed to increase student’s awareness about the fragility of the Hooded Plover in breeding season through activities including colouring ins, and creating banners, masks.

GORCC used the sand box to highlight the importance of the our beach ecosystem for the Hooded Plover to nest along the coast.

GORCC Education Coordinator Pete Crowcroft said it was great to see the students getting involved in the different activities.

“Students were really enthusiastic about painting the banners to help increase awareness about how to save the Hooded Plover,” he said.

Click on the photos below to see some of the action from the day.

Students look through the scope used to spot Hooded Plovers on the beach to see how far they could see.

Arts and craft activities were enjoyed by students who coloured in Hooded Plover pictures.

GORCC Education Coordinator Pete Crowcroft helps students create key Hooded Plover messages to let people know to give the ‘hoodies’ space on the beach.

Students enjoyed using the scope to see how far across the school oval they could see.

GORCC Education Activity Leader Hilary Bouma demonstrates dune habitats and Hooded Plover nesting habits.

Painting the banners was a highlight with students taking turns to add important ‘Save the Hoodie’ messages on the banners.

GORCC Education Coordinator Pete Crowcroft stands with students who proudly display their colouring in efforts to be displayed in the window of Bendigo bank, Anglesea.

Students battle the fiddly task of attaching string to the creative Hooded Plover masks.

Students proudly display their newly created Hooded Plover masks.

Students line up to see how far they can see using the scope.

‘Save the Hoodie’ banners were created as part of Plover Appreciation Day.

In conjunction with BirdLife Australia, GORCC is running a local #SaveTheHoodie campaign to encourage beachgoers to keep their dogs on leads and give hoodie chicks space to help ensure their survival. For more information about how you can help protect these vulnerable birds visit the Save The Hoodie website.

Interested in getting involved?  To volunteer contact BirdLife Australia at hoodedplover@birdlife.org.au.