30 Jan 2017
A wild storm severely damaged a large river Red Gum in the school dam paddock on 22 January, 2017. A large branch broke off and fell onto the playground fence, also damaging two Tallow wood gum trees very close to the school playground, planted for the school's 100th year 39 years ago. These have been removed and the fence will be fixed. However, the trunk of the main tree has been saved to provide another roosting spot in the protected woodland and wetland habitat we have as part of the school grounds. and for our increasing number of wildlife we observe in our environmental science studies. Al's Tree Services helped by Longreach Cranes removed the damaged branches. With the large tree clear of leaves we can now see the large cavity at the top of the trunk which is a nesting site for Galah's. The nest has three new chicks in it and when at the lunchtime assembly when the students were told about the chicks there was a collective sigh of 'Awww.' The children be looking forward to see the pink feathery heads peeking out of the nest.
Although a very old and established tree has been lost we now have a great bird spot to add to our school observation sites.
