Today was a crazy, wild, windy autumn day out at Karkarook Park!  The kids didn't seem to mind - running around in the wind, rolling down hills, finding 'hidy holes' and getting a good look at several dragonflies busily flying over the wetlands in the bright autumn sun!
We got up close and personal with the wetland and some of its creatures, but there were not many frogs or birds to listen to or insects to catch as it was just soooo windy :-(  ... But for most of the time the kids find their own fun and it is just as important to be out, being active and playing outside in nature... bugs or no bugs!

Today was definitely an action packed Leap into Nature session! We started with a walk among the wetlands, learning the different wetland birds - Purple Swamphens, Eurasian Coots and Pied Cormorants and birds that live in the grasses and bushes - spotting some lovely Superb Fairy-wrens and the ubiquitous Magpie. Hill rolling was a great enjoyment for the kids and mums! We tried our hand at pond dipping with everyone getting there feet a bit wet in the process! We found water boatmen, lots of Mosquito fish and saw our star attraction for the day - the Dragonfly zipping here and there over the water.
We looked for other bugs, made some dragonflies of our own to take home and enjoyed a slow stroll back finding things to look at, puddles to jump in and new friends along the way. Thanks to all the new mums and kids that joined in today!  We look forward to doing it all again tomorrow!

 

T'was a beautiful day to wonder in the bush today at Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve in Bundoora.   It was great to see families travel just that little bit further to experience something they may not have done before.  We set off on our walk and the Kangaroos were there waiting to greet us. They are very tame and used to people so the kids had a great time watching them feed and slowly hop away.
We found a little 'camp spot' by the billabong and enjoyed lots of bug hunting, finding many skinks, doing tree rubbings on trees with different textured bark and playing with clay making lovely creations.
We also did a 'quadrat' where we marked out an area in the bush and we all walked around finding things for us to write down. We found... trees, different types of bark, leaves, bushes, praying mantis, ants and each other!
Please see some photos on our Facebook page - computer issues! :-(  https://www.facebook.com/leapintonature