Red Earth Ecology will return to Fivebough Wetlands in 2025
This location was the focus of an art installation at the Leeton Community Op Shop in 2020 that resulted in the design of a banner that’s displayed at the Wetlands, as well as stickers that use the same design which are sold in the Leeton Visitor Information Centre.
That Fivebough At The Heart of Leeton project was recommended to NSW Parliament in an address last year by local MP Helen Dalton that was recorded in Hansard.
This year our aim will be to develop an activity sheet for schoolchildren that educates about waterbirds ahead of an excursion to the Wetland.
“The significance of Fivebough as a destination for migratory birds from as far away as Siberia is one that attracts twitchers but is not as well known to Leeton locals,” said Jason Richardson.
We will detail a handful of birds, although Fivebough’s role as a jewel of the Riverina stems from being habitat for the highest number of waterbird species and it ranked second within the Murray-Darling Basin for the total number of species recorded in a single survey.
“Our aim is to help kids identify the significance of different beak shapes among those feathered residents in an extension of our Beak Technique Activity Sheets,” said Mr Richardson.
In recent years Red Earth Ecology has been running workshops for children that use their interest in birds as a way to understand the significance of habitat.
Those activity sheets were most recently part of the 2024 Action Day event at Griffith Pioneer Park Museum and they had a good response from all ages.
This year REE will be continuing with both those projects by developing an activity sheet that focuses on the beaks of waterbirds to be part of an excursion being planned for students at Parkview Primary.
“We are planning to share a draft of the waterbird activity sheet with the Murrumbidgee Field Naturalists in coming months,” said Mr Richardson.
“It will be wonderful to draw on the experiences of members, whose assistance has been greatly appreciated over the years — particularly in the development of the first Beak Technique sheets and the delivery of the Fivebough At The Heart of Leeton project.”
Red Earth Ecology is supported with a Country Art Support Program grant administered by Western Riverina Arts and Create NSW through funding from the NSW Government.