FEED BIRDS

EDUCATION TOUR FOR KIDS

FEED BIRDS: 31 MAY 2021

We’ll prepare the tools. Then we are going over there, the spot where we feed bananas to birds.

Tools that we need are: bananas, a rope to tie and a knife to cut the robe so we can hang the bananas.

We also have to use these, binoculars, to watch birds.

And mobile phone. I’ll tell you later what to use it for.

These are all the tools we need. Do you think you can do it?

Haha. You are excited.

Ok, so that’s it.

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In Kaeng Krachan forest, there are over 500 species of birds. There should be about 200 species around here. For the ones that have been discovered, we can just click here. This is the information from _Ban Maka?____ resort. We’ve asked them for the link.

When we click birds’ pictures, we will see what types of birds they are. Each of them.

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They are birds that can be found here. You will see how their bodies look like, what their colours are.

So when we see birds in this area, we can tell that hey, if the colours of their head and chest are like this, what type of bird should it be? We can compare on this link.

And this is why we need a mobile phone here. So we can look up for information of birds. Ok?

Are you ready to take bananas to feed birds? Ok, let’s go.

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You see? Birds started to fly over here now.

Ok, let’s start. So we will have to hang bananas here. But these are old bananas. Birds already ate them. We have to throw them away.

We throw them away over here, the spot to dump bananas that birds have already eaten.?

Here you go, just take them.

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Over here. Can you read this? It means no burning. We don’t burn them. We just dump things here and will use them as fertilizer.?

Let’s continue hanging bananas for birds.

Ok, let’s start. Give me the rope please.?

Why do we need rope again? “To tie.” Huh? Huh? Is that so??

We tie it in any way we want just to make it stay.?

My hands are too big. Can you push it in for me?

I can’t do it because my hands are too big. That’s it. Good job. Your hands are small.

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Very good. Now we’ll tie a knot so that we can hang it.?

Then we lift it up. Here you go. Lift it up to hang. Just anywhere.

Ok, good. Here’s another one. But this one is huge. It should be heavy. I’ll break it.

By the way, children cannot do this. It has to be done by parents, or any adults.

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Ok, here you go. You are the one who wraps the rope around because my hands are too big.?

One for each of us. Can you tie it like what we just did before??

Can you do it?

Yes. That’s right. Then hang it.

Which spot do you want to hang? Be careful with your hands.

This spot is fine.?

All good? Here, they are not ripe enough. Just these ones that are ripe. The rest will take about a couple of days to be ripe. But even though they are not ripe, when birds see these, they will come have a look and eat them.?

Do you know what type of banana is this? “No”?

How many types of bananas are there? They are all different.

These are cultivated bananas. Then there are Cavendish bananas which are the big ones, and sugar bananas, the small ones.?

Birds like to eat cultivated bananas. They don’t like Cavendish. I’ve tried before.?

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What do we put in this? Do you know?

“Hay” Huh? Are you sure?

Actually, I normally bring a lot of bananas. Once a week.?

Then put them in here. And hang them over there. Like that.

When birds finish with bananas hanging there, these bananas are ripe then. So we take them to hang there next.

But right now we run out of bananas. We don’t have any. What should we do?

NATURE TRAIL/PLANTS: 1 JUNE 2021

Today we are going to walk on the nature trail, the trail that we will walk on to study about nature.

Yesterday we went to feed birds and learned from here about types of birds. On this nature trail, we will learn about plants and trees because so many birds as we see need a place to call home, the habitat that they can live in, and food that they can have. And that means forest.

So the way to study how birds live and if they have food to eat, first, we will look at species of plants along the ground. Second, big trees. Third, vines that are creeping on the big trees. Fourth, bushes of trees around here like bamboo.?

Tools that we need to prepare for this nature trail are:?

Mobile phone. Because we will need to use it to look up for relevant information about types of plants and probably note something down.

Notebook and pen. Because it could be not convenient to note down on the phone. Notebook and pen can be faster.?

Shoes. This is a bad example because these shoes are not suitable. But for those who know the trail very well, that’s fine. But if you don’t know it well, sneakers are more suitable.?

Hat. To prevent you from the heat and also some insects.

Water. That’s it. We will be thirsty.

And another thing that we miss is that the trail has sharp rocks or trees with thorn. We should have gloves when we touch them. So this is just to know so next time we can be well-prepared.

Ok, shall we start? You can lead the way. This way, please.

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Be careful.

Here’s a sign. Yes, that way.

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There’s a plant here that I want you to learn about. It’s very interesting. It’s a type of ground cover plants. I can’t remember what it’s called. Cockscomb something.?

We can search about it later. Or we can look now. It’s a type of fern.?

In rainy season which we are going into, its leaves are getting partly blue. We can see the colour glowing. Then it will disappear.?

Yes, that’s bamboo. What’s the first one here again? It’s a type of ground plants. We don’t know what its benefits are for birds, either home or food for birds. We don’t know. Let’s have a look at it later.

Ok, that should be it for the ground plants. What about that one? You should know that one because grandmother has it at her place too. Yes, it could be used for cooking. What is it? Is it galangal?

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Ok, we can continue with the second one. Did you say it was bamboo??

Our navigator is getting tired himself, huh??

We will need to do some study here.

Tie your shorts tightly. You don’t want to lose them.

This was what we just saw right??

But I’ll have to…?

Because when we click on the birds’ picture, we will see types of their species right??

So we will have to do the same thing. Once we click on each picture, there should be information of many types of plants too. It will be for the next trips.

This is the first type that we have already seen on the ground.

These are the other types. I mean, for example, bush plants or bamboo. This one is also bamboo, right? We know them well.?

There are many types of bamboo. It is the same as bananas yesterday. There are many types of bananas. We just need to get to know them.

Let’s start with this, is bamboo home or food for birds? “Food”

What do they eat? There are worms in bamboo. They are called bamboo caterpillar. Have you seen it before??

It might not be this bamboo. But other types of bamboo have it. There are small insects in this type of bamboo. We will see birds coming to this tree. Sometimes they use it for a place to sleep after finishing their food hunting trip. Other times, they come to search for insects.

If we take notice of it, we will see. Ok, we’ve got 2 types so far.

There are 2 more types left.

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Now, trying to find a big tree, a tall, perennial plant that is interesting.

Viewpoint trail??

What is that?

Wait, we just passed an interesting type.?

Looks like mistletoe there.?

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Ok, what’s the leaf like??

When we look at a plant, we can notice its body, bark, leaf.?

Or if there are flowers and fruits, we can also look at them.

But sometimes we just don’t know. I don’t know either.

Big trees here could be Burma padauk. Do you know it?

Is it? You can peel it, right? Why is it like that?

Are there birds here? Not this one, right?

We will remember its leaves as they are. This is another type of big trees.

So we’ve got 3 groups of trees, right? Ground plants, perennial plants and bamboo.

So what’s left is the vines. This one is dead. Let’s have a look at the next one alive.

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These are dying so their colours are dark. If they just fall from trees, the colour will be red.?

Like Malay apple, beautiful.

I’m not sure if it’s a pussy willow. The one that has a lot of thorns and has kapok inside its fruit. But I’m not sure if this is it or not.

But I used to keep its information and search for its name. It’s available on the page.

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Yeah, that’s it. Do you know what it is?

You know cactus right?

“There’s a bird over there.”

What does that mean? It means it’s the bird’s home.?

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Be careful you might fall.

Where is this place?

We can sit there but it’s dangerous. We can fall to the base.?

Ok, let’s go to the next point. Jump here. Be careful of the stump.

We have to be careful here.

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This is Baan Maka viewpoint, our third point.

Can you see? It’s written over there, Baan Maka viewpoint.

This way. There’s a bench there. You still don’t want to go?

The bench is comfortable. Do you think it’s dangerous or what?

Do you see the lake that we went on the boat there yesterday?

Come here, it’s safe here.

That’s the garden where we fed bananas to birds.

Shall we walk on those mountains?

“Let’s ask our team member first.”

Team member doesn’t look fine for that.

So from this point, we are walking downhill now.?

Have we got all the 4 types yet??

We haven’t got the… “the bush”

…. the vines that creeping around trees yet. And the big tree.

Let’s walk down.

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How good you are!?

Your back is completely sweating.?

There’s a better way on the right here.

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Do you see the pond? The lake that we paddled in yesterday.?

Can we jump from here into the water? “Yes”

How’s everybody going?

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This is where we are supposed to wear gloves because rocks are very sharp.

“Uncle, wear the mask, please.”

Hold on to the trees and follow me down here. “Follow your steps.”

Yes, follow my steps.

“We are down here already. And what about our team member?”

See? Haha.

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Ok, so we’ve got it now. These vines use this tree to hang onto.

I think this is because if they are still on the ground, they won’t get enough light at them and also not enough wind. So they hang onto this tall tree to be high up there. So that they can get more light and more wind and they can grow.

But this one shouldn’t do any harm to the host tree. And this is the fourth group.

Why is its leaf like this? Covid-19.

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So we just came from that way, the entrance to go to the viewpoint.

Then we will see this entrance. We can use this way too.

We went up there and then we walked down.

We continue walking this way. I have to lead the way from here because there are snakes on this trail.

You have to keep looking at the ground and watching the navigator carefully,

So how many trees have we got? “4”

“It’s a purple flower here.”?

Can you tell someone about this? “Purple!”

Why is it also red there? “And blue at its edge too”.

Oh, we have found the strange one.

New discovery by ___babus?____

It is usually green. We can’t really find red ones.

“Here”. “Here too”. Wow, you don’t have to study anymore. You will be rich!

“Yayyy, we have arrived!”

TRAINING-1 25 JULY 2021

He can have nature tourism business.?

Where will you start, Babas? Up ___??_____

Teach the little girl how to walk too, Babas.

Let’s do 4 types per group, ok?

“4 types!?”

Yes, there are plenty of plants in rainy season. They should be enough.

You can be the co-guide with Bas. It should work out well.

We can go across the garden just then. But if we turn left, we are going to walk on the lower nature trail.

___Evelyn??____ says this is easy. “She doesn’t complain at all.”

So this is how the trail is, not too hard to walk on. It will be just so flat up there.

You will have to compete with Bas to see who’s the better guide here.

You will also help training Babas.

My glasses are getting foggy again.?

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?She wanted to hold your hand, don’t you see?

Hurry up, guide your little sister to look at the plants.

Carefully hold her, yes, like that.

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What is this one, Bas?

This one is likely to be bitter bush.

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This one is formed from its root.

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If it’s a family with an elderly person, they will choose this trail. Just like an exercise walk.

“So are we going to walk down?” Yes, that’s correct. Room 8 and 9.

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This is fern. But it was called moss. Very funny.

Yes. In the Southern region, people use it for feeding chicken in cages.?

And that’s a Thai name for it. For English, I’m not so sure about its common name.

It’s actually fern but it’s called moss.

If there are a lot of them, their colour will be glowing if we come during dew time in the morning.

But when they are old, how will they be when they are old, Bas?

The colour will change. “Ahh, so the colour will…, come have a look here. The colours change.” “They turn into brown, right?”

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Where are your binoculars, Evelyn?

Bas, return the binoculars to her. How are you going, Evelyn?

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Have you noticed that bamboo looks more beautiful than when we came here last month?

There are a lot of bamboo. We can take them to our garden.

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“Let’s Babas explain to us what type of tree it is.”

“What is it, Babas?”

This one can be in our 4th group. You can take a picture of it and we will go check with Uncle Boy. He will identify it for us.

There’s a person who can tell the type of plants by their leaf and fruit. I’ll have to ask him to identify again.

Just do what you can. Are we going to walk for a long time?

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Do you have anything to say to the little girl, Bas?

This guide doesn’t really have anything to say.

This one is another ground cover plant.

Does it look like butterfly here? “Is it butterfly?”

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Use alcohol spray on your neck for now.

Bas, what is this one?

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Bas, do you have anything to teach your little sister?

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What is it called again? Stingray??

So it’s stingray, right?

Be careful or you might fall.

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Evelyn, you’re walking too fast.

Very beautiful flowers here.

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I don’t know. This is the first time I see it. And it also grows here.

It could be a type of big tree.

Let’s ask Uncle Boy about this. But it’s so small I’m not sure if he can identify it or not.

EDUCATION PATHWAYS

DO ALL BIRDS LIKE BANANA? 18 JULY 2021

Hello. This week we are going to make a production of EP.1.?

Babas has planned this with ___Serene?____ last week.

What did we do in EP.1, Bas?

“Brought bananas to feed birds and watched them using binoculars.”

Oh, that’s very easy.

So, how do we start? Do we still have old bananas left?

“Bring bananas to feed birds.”

Don’t eat the bananas before birds, ok?

So how can we feed bananas to birds? Can you teach me, please?

“Break bananas into 3 parts.”

Ok, just two parts for now. One each. Can you carry it??

It’s light. Do you need a long rope? “A little bit.”

Why don’t birds come to eat bananas?

Because it’s the rainy season.

Does it make sense?

In rainy season, it rains. So, plants grow very well and birds have more food choices to choose from. So they don’t care about our bananas. Do they? Is that right?

Let’s bet who will finish first. I bet I’ll finish first. “This one is harder.”

Give me a reward.

What are you doing? You can’t do it anymore, the professional? “It’s already in there.”

Ok, what’s next? “Tie it.”

Hey, how can we hang it if you tie it like that?

“Just hang on, then tie like this.”

Oh, ok. There are steps.

“Where to hang?” “Here!”

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Is it enough food for a week? “Yes.”

Are you sure? “Yes because the old ones are still here.”

Have you ever been a bird before so you know if it’s enough or not?

I’ll have to come and fix this to make it stronger than this.

Birds know how to pick good stuffs to eat.

Tell your dad, don’t forget to come out and feed bananas to birds so that he can get merit and become handsome.

“Ok, done.”

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This is the time when birds come. We have small binoculars. We can have a look while waiting.

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You need to be able to see what type of bird it is.

“It has long wings and white colour on its stomach.”

Yes, you have to be able to identify from its features, from its characteristics.

“Can we chase it?”

Then it will swear at you. I’m eating and you’re disturbing me here!

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Are its wings black?

“The edge of its wings are white, its stomach is white.”

The stomach is white. The edge of the wings is white. It’s small.?

Is the tail long? “A little bit, a little bit.”

“If compared to its body then the tail is long.”

What’s the colour of the legs? “Don’t know.”

Try seeing the legs’ colour.

“It’s gone.” It’s still around there. Maybe down the ground.

Are those two birds the same type?

“At first it was on the red car and over there.”

And are they the same type? “Yes.”

And that means they come together.

“They are Myna.”

They don’t fight. They can eat together you see? They are from different species.

“A myna and a bird with grey body.”

Its long tail makes it look like a drongo but I can’t see it clearly. I don’t look in a close enough distance.

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Each type of bird has its own way to find food. Some types of birds come in individual. They take their time for the whole day to find food. Others come in pairs. Like lovers.

Or for the other type, they come in pairs but not as lovers. They can be friends or buddies that come together. And the last type, they come as a large flock.?

You can see those ones come in a pair. But there could be more than two. Two birds might be at a spot and the other three are at another.

There are studies about each type of bird and their habit to come out and find food.

“Birds continue coming.”?

“There’s a bird over there too!”?

“It’s a myna.” A myna isn’t it?

Why is its body quite thin?

“It’s a skinny myna.”

Oh it’s skinny hey? It can eat that much of bananas. It can be fat.

PUZZLE OF BIRD NAME 24 JULY 2021

What are we going to do today?

Go ahead, the program host.

“We are going to do bird’s name puzzle.”

Bird’s name puzzle? What about it?

“We are going to use binoculars to watch birds and we will tell what type of birds they are. Then we are going to teach how to spell the name.”

I don’t know. I don’t understand. Let’s just do it.

Just do it now because I don’t get it.

If you need any help from me, just tell, ok master Bas?

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Is the wing black?

“You come watch it here, uncle.”

Are they the same species? “Different”

“There are 2 types, one with black head and one not black.”

“Black and grey head.”

“On its body, the chest is white.”

White chest, right?

“Its wings are brown.”

It’s all black here.

“Going into the forest.”

“As I told you, the lower part is grey and the tail is brown.”?

“From Baan Maka website.”

This is it. The birds. Let’s scroll down to see which one.

“Here here.” Is it? Where did put my pen?

We will write it down first then.

“Here’s the pencil.”

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“What’s the bird’s name in English?”

Let’s see if it could be another bird. Could it be this one?

What’s the possibility to be this one?

Can you read it?

Haha. So we will start from being able to write its name first.

So how do you spell it? Eastern…

No, no, no, not that one. Can’t write down on that one.

Eastern, Eastern Crowned….

She can be your helper.

Eastern Crowned Warbler.

Just ask her.

Eastern, E- as in the Eastern direction.

“Eastern bird.”

Can you spell eastern?

E-A-S-T-E-R-N, pronounced as?

“Eastern.” Right.

Next is crowned.

How to spell crowned?

C-R-O-W-N-E-D

“Eastern Crowned Warbler.”

This is the English name. English speaking people will call it like this.

Do you know what it’s called in Thai?

“Quick, what’s the bird’s name in Thai language?”

“Are we going to make children draw pictures or they have already done from that one?”

Our purpose today is to…

“Spell the word, ah ok.”

… draw the picture and then write down and spell the word.

So it’s up to you if you want to draw the picture.

“How to write “crown”?”

Oh, year 7 student can’t write crown.

(Spell ‘crown’ in Thai)

You think if Evelyn comes here and…

Hang on, Evelyn can’t do this. It has to be older age than Evelyn.

“Year 1 and above.”

If year 1 children come, you can teach them?

“What’s the name of the bird in English again?”

“Eastern Crowned Warbler.”

“And in Thai?”

“Nok-Grajid-Hua-Mongkut.”

STORIES OF BANANA 31 JULY 2021

EP7 is the lesson for children in grade 4-6, in primary school, their last 3 years before they finish primary school.?

In primary school, they teach you about science and plant kingdom, right? And banana is a type of the plants, right?

Today we are going to study what type of plant banana is.

First, try looking it up on Google. Ask Google what banana is exactly.

Then sometimes, we will see… Like this, Wikipedia.

Ok, try making a presentation about what banana is exactly.

“Banana is a type of Herbaceous plant.”

So why is its stem tall then? If it’s Herbaceous plant, it should be short plants like vegetables or grass.?

Can it be that tall if it’s Herbaceous plant? “Yes”

Ok, if you say so. Why is it so? We can discuss about it later.

And what’s next? What does it say next?

“There are many types and species. Some types have shoot and the others don’t. Leaves are long and big. The lower leaf stalk looks like long sheath. Its stem is covered by many layers. There are banana blossoms at edge of its stems. They are counted as trunk. Its fruits are in the form of what’s called hands of bananas. Together they are called a bunch. Some types have their stem like…”

This point is more interesting. If we want to know what type of plant banana is, it is well-explained here. Let’s look at this.?

“Normally bananas are tall and strong enough so people often misunderstand that they are trees.”?

Here you go. Actually there is no actual banana tree in this world. Because it tells you that it is a psuedostem. Banana’s stem is composed of leaf stalk and blade. As you see its blades are wide so its stalks are in the middle, right? Then there’s a long base of the stalk called leaf sheath. What does it say here??

“The density of leaf sheath creates psuedostem.”?

You see each sheath is like this then boom, combined into one stem.

So there is no actual tree stem. They are all combined sheaths.?

Is that right? “Yes!”

“Today we are going to see bananas at the back of the garden.”

Whose garden is it?

“Uncle ___Pichai?____’s garden.”

“Our sponsor”. Our sponsor, isn’t he? How much does he give us?

“He gives us bananas.” Gives us bananas, right?

“Let’s go, go, go.”

Ok, we had enough here? “Yes.”

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“Ok, just follow us.”

How many parts are there? From what we have just learned, can you tell its parts?

And what are they?

“Its stem, oops…” It’s not the real stem, is it?

“That’s right.”?

“Leaves and…” Hahaha.

“Stalk” Just take a look at this Cultivated banana’s composition and explain what parts it has.

“Leaves and stalks.”

Is this one here also leaf? “Yes.” And stalk? “Yes, stalk.”

The stalk is an interesting part. It comes down to here which is called leaf sheath, separated here.

Each sheath combines and forms the stem.

“This one too!”

Yes, that’s right. The big one is also the same.

“They are all sheaths inside!”?

Yes! And that means there’s no actual tree stem, just sheaths.

“It’s a sheath tree.” Right. It’s not a tree with stem. And that is why it’s called Herbaceous plant.”

It grows from this part. It’s called rhizome.?

“Rhizome?” “Here?”?

Yes. Then it rises up as leaf sheath.

Here, each of the sheath.

“So that means it won’t die even if we pull the leaf sheath.”

If you pull too much, it could die.

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Explain it to me. I don’t know how to explain.

“You can help explain.”

I didn’t read then. You did. Right?

“This is banana blossom.”

“Banana blossom is considered flower of banana trees… which has its fruits in layers…”

Everyone is looking at banana blossom.

“… inside many fruits altogether. This is called a hand of bananas. They will continue expanding at leaf sheath. Multiple hands of bananas are called a bunch of bananas. The edge of the bunch is always at leaf sheath and there is no fruit…”?

Just wait…

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So this is it, right? “Yes.”

It is a hand of bananas right? “Yes.”

“Then it will get rid of this one.”

Which one? “Here.”

Did it fall out? “Hmm.”

And what will happen when the hand of bananas grows?

“The hand of bananas grows?”?

Yes. It doesn’t grow now, right? “Yes.”

So what about it when it grows?

“Like this here!”

“Oh, that scares me.”

What?

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After it produces hands of bananas and fruits, people can take banana blossom to eat.

This one is an example. Do you see they already cut the banana blossom?

So there are only hands of bananas and fruits left.

When its fruits are big enough, we take them to eat. Or give them to birds.

“Give to human.” Right? “Yes.”

This is Cultivated banana, a type of bananas… “That we can find.” Correct.

By the way, will we have bananas to buy and give them to birds? “Yes, definitely.”

Which bunch? “This bunch.”

“No, it’s too small.”

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“Let’s have a look how the banana tree without banana blossom will be like.”

So this is the one that banana blossom was cut? “Yes.”

Banana blossom was cut? “To eat.”

So how many bunches left? One, two, three.

“It’s hands of bananas.” Oh yeah, how many hands?

“One, two, three, four, five…”?

Six, seven, eight, nine, should be about ten. Ten approximately.

Then its fruits keep growing bigger. What’s next?

“Then it’s edible!”

It’s edible. Are we going to eat them or give them to birds?

“Give to birds.”

So if we want to eat, we got nothing because we give them all to birds.

“We can keep some for ourselves.”

Oh, ok we can keep some.

“Because we cut them as hands.”

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Do you know how they grow bananas?

“They just dig holes and grow.”

Like this, here. Small one.?

This one is too small.

Come here, this way.

“Cut them and pull them out!”

No! Use a hoe and dig the whole thing out.

Take it out and then plant it somewhere.

It will then grow into this big one within a year.

“A year?”

Yes.

“Until we have it this big?”

Yes.

Ok? “Ok.”

Are we done? “Done.”

If we are done, say goodbye to all the young kids. Today Big Brother Babus is here to…

“teach you…” … teach you about Cultivated banana.

Is it very interesting? “Very interesting.”

No, not at all. I better go.?

Bye bye. “Bye bye”

LUNCH

CHOICES:

COFFEE

EDUCATION

BUSINESS

FRIENDS

DINNER