We spent the day at the Alice Springs desert park to learn about native animals, birds and also indigenous culture.

We started the day with a bird show where the official star was the wedge-tailed eagle. It swooped in from a distance at great speed and looked majestic. The unofficial star was a little willy wag tail that apparently shows up at every show to scavenge for the food scraps. We also got to see the barn owl, magpies and kites. The barn owl flew from one end of the amphitheatre to the other and it’s wings made no sound at all. You can imagine how it could just creep up on mice in the middle of the night.

The other fascinating display was how the black-breasted buzzard breaks into emu eggs. It picks up rocks and flings it at the egg till it cracks. Apparently this is not learned behavior but something the buzzard innately knows.

We then sat in a talk about indigenous life, primary about the tools they used and the significance of their paintings. Thomas was picked from the audience to be part of the explanation of how people are depicted in aboriginal art. The kids also really enjoyed using the fighting implements like spears and shields.