About the Junior Bushcare program
Our Whites Hill - Pine Mountain Community Group was awarded a grant to initiate a Junior Naturalist & Bushcare program. We took enrolments from youths aged 8 to 11 who wanted to attend a series of sessions at Whites Hill Reserve and learn about our local nature and how to care for it. Between January & September we’ll run six (6) events at Whites Hill to show participants how to identify the birds, animals, plants and habitats in the Reserve and the Bushcare skills needed to care for them.
Each session will be about two hours long, involving a teaching part but most of the time will be spent on active, hands-on learning. Learning materials & tools provided, plus mid-session snack & drink.
If this sounds like something you and your child(ren) would be interested in email Gary at gary.is.king56@gmail.com with your name and contact details
Session Plan 2026
23/1/26 Discovery walk
29/3/26 Animal habitats
17/4/26 Planting
31/5/26 Plants & Water stations
6/7/26 Build a "Frog Sauna"
12/8/26
27/9/26 Wrap up.
All about Frog Saunas
For our 5th session of Junior Bushcare at Whites Hill we plan to install a "Frog Sauna" down by the pond.
Why would frogs need a Sauna?? you might ask. Well it has been recently discovered that a fungus called chytrid is sweeping across the globe, killing amphibians. In Australia, the fungus has driven some frog species to extinction, and is a major threat to the few remaining populations of many other frog species.
But the fungus can’t tolerate high temperatures, so if we give frogs a place they can stay warm – even for a few hours a day – they can survive and recover.
Scientists designed a Frog Sauna for this purpose. It’s a brick-filled greenhouse that is warmed by sunlight.
