A warning from the future...

It was a great day for birds at Princess Vlei on May 11, when 50 visitors from the year 3018 came to learn about birds.

The visitors, from Levana, Steenberg, Floreat, Harmony and John Graham Primary schools (yes, they are still there in 3018!), had come on a rescue mission. They reported that there were no birds in the year 3018, but they had discovered images and old movies showing birds. They wanted to know more about them, and to warn residents of the present day to take steps to make sure that there would be birds in the future.
 
They were guided by a spirit guide, who told them what Princess Vlei used to be like many years in the past, when the only human residents were Khoi groups who lived in harmony with nature and did not destroy it. Two bird guardians from the 2018 Bird Club, Gillian Barnes and Priscilla Beeton were there to lend the visitors binoculars and tell them more about the birds. Brendon Bussy, the Chief Time Lord, and other time lords ensured that our visitors returned to their time travelling ship in time and did not get stuck in 2018. The visitors wore face masks so that they did not infect the birds and plants with viruses from 3018.

 
The visitors spent the afternoon carefully observing the birds and Princess Vlei, and making notes on what food and nesting materials there were for them, and what dangers there were that might have caused birds to go extinct. They also drew maps of the area. They found interesting objects such as a skull, which the 2018 manager of Princess Vlei, Denisha Anand, told them had once belonged to a mole rat.
 
When they had completed their observations, the visitors reported their findings back to the others. All groups reported that one of the dangers to birds was the litter that was found, which they felt might have caused birds to go extinct – and they warned us to tell the people of 2018 to stop using so much plastic and leaving it lying around.The Bird Guardians were asked to assess the presentations and choose a winner – this was a difficult task, as all the presentations were so interesting. They awarded a team from John Graham a prize of a R500 voucher to spend on bird friendly plants at the school. The group from Harmony came second.
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Below are some of their sketches and notes:

 
All thanks to Brendon Bussy for his fabulous game, available as a shared document here, for use by non-profit groups for educational purposes. Also thanks to the wonderful bird guardians for their help and support; to the teachers for being such wonderful Time Lords; and to the Hans Hoheisen Trust and National Lotteries Commission for making this possible. We look forward to hosting visitors from the future (and perhaps the past?) again.

Below is a video of the presentations