Barb, Author at Homeschool Nature Study

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Barb — 4 Comments

Bird Nature Journal Ideas and the Great Backyard Bird Count Reminder

I am getting ready to count birds now that the seasons are changing. We have so many birds at our feeders these days that it is going to be interesting to see the comparisons between last year and this year.

Here is the official video announcing and explaining the Great Backyard Bird Count!

I also found this link very helpful in learning more about feeding our backyard birds.

You may wish to make a record of the birds your family observes in your nature journal. Our family likes to look back over the years and see how our lists compare.

Here are some ideas for recordkeeping:

A simple list is a great place to start. Record the date, the bird species, the location. You could keep a list for each day of the GBBC and then insert it into your nature journal or add to your life list. (There is a link to this particular bird log at the bottom of this page.)

I also keep a running list of birds on one of the free notebook pages from my friend Tina that she made for the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

A few years ago, our family made cards for each bird we observed. The pdf for the captions can be found HERE. You can see what they looked like HERE.

We also use the coloring pages from Cornell’s Backyard Feeder Coloring Book as a way to record birds we see in our backyard. I print out the table of contents and keep it for reference and as a reminder of what birds are available in the coloring book.

Both of my bird field guides have places for you to record the birds we have observed. It is a handy place to keep your record since you will normally have your field guide on hand.

In the Peterson guide there is a checklist in the back of the book. It looks like the newest edition of this book(which I don’t have) has a life list in the back of the book.

In the Audubon guide there is an index with circles to check off as you observe a bird.

I am eager to count birds this weekend and will probably be able to participate on two of the days with my family.
Also I am highly recommending that you purchase the Bird Bundle from NotebookingPages.com as a great supplement to your study of birds using the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Note: These are affiliate links.

Use code discount5 to save $5 on any purchase $10 or more from the NotebookingPages.com Shop. (This does not include membership purchases.)

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Barb — 4 Comments

European Starling Mimics a Hawk

We were out for our afternoon walk with the dog when we thought we heard a red-tailed hawk. We stopped to listen and take a good look but what we saw were two smaller dark birds in the top of the evergreen. They were chattering and I was thinking it was a myna bird….somewhere I had heard one before and I remembered its distinctive whistles and calls.

I tried to zoom in and get a good look but they were too far away. They flew away.

We continued on the trail and then we heard the chattering again. This time I was able to get a little closer and take another photo. I cropped this one so it is a tad blurry but you can see what the basic shape is for this bird.

When we got home we pulled out the field guide and it told us that the starling and the myna are related. What was the most fascinating fact we learned is that the starling will mimic the red-tail hawk. You can hear it on AllAboutBirds.org:
European Starling (scroll down and listen)
This is exactly what we heard!

Still learning after all this time!

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Barb — 5 Comments

Fields of Mustard – Cheerful February Scene

I was driving on a back road yesterday and found this sea of yellow field mustard all in bloom! It made me smile so I had to go home and get my camera to capture the showy display of yellow. This was an orchard of apples but a few years ago they took down the trees and now it has come alive with mustard. I realize this is another of our county’s invasive species but it sure is pretty.

I am in awe of just how beautiful this scene sparkles on this February day.

We took the opportunity to take a family hike in the sunshine and it was fairly uneventful. All three of my sons accompanying my husband and I for a hike down in the canyon. Kona dog came too and she was eager to explore.

Kona was wild on this hike so she had to sit for a minute in a little doggy “time out”. She brought home some ticks a few times in the past week so I am trying to keep her in the middle of the trail and then check her when we get back to the car. She has other ideas….her nose is just so curious.

I know much of our nation is still deep into winter cold and winter weather but here in our part of the world it is sunny and warm in the afternoons. I hope my images cheer you up!

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Barb — 4 Comments

Bonus Challenge: Winter Study of Queen Anne’s Lace

Queen Anne’s Lace August 2010 Summer Study

I woke up this morning and realized that I did not schedule a winter study for our year-long Queen Anne’s Lace activity. So guess what? I will make it a bonus challenge with a free notebook page for all of you who are participating in this year-long activity.

We started way back last summer finding our own little patches of Queen Anne’s Lace to watch for a complete year. You can read about that challenge HERE.

Then in the autumn many of us returned to our patch of Queen Anne’s Lace and did some observations and nature journal entries. You can read about that challenge HERE.

Now it is the middle of winter and time to return to our Queen Anne’s Lace to make some new observations.

1. Read the section in the Handbook of Nature Study on Queen Anne’s Lace if you have not done so before. This is found starting on page 542 or it is the last subject in the “weeds” section if you have a different version that I do.
2. Return to your patch of Queen Anne’s Lace to make some wintery observations. Look at the shape of the plant, the feel of the stem, the look of the flower clusters and observe the seeds. We have some Queen Anne’s Lace plants that we want to remove so we will be pulling it up by the roots. We will take the opportunity to observe the tap root. (Please do not remove any plant by its roots unless you have permission from the property owner or it is in your own garden.)
3. Complete a nature journal entry with a sketch or watercolor of your Queen Anne’s Lace. You can also use the provided notebook page.

Queen Anne’s Lace – Winter Notebook Page

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Barb — 7 Comments

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #6 Salt Study and Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

Winter Weeds- Look for seeds, pods, or dried flowers.

This week’s combination of challenges will give you two very different subjects to consider.

Winter Series #6 Salt Study
Winter Wednesday #6 Winter Weeds

***The salt experiments are a fun way to learn about an everyday subject that all of us have in our homes. You might find the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study an interesting read as part of this challenge.

***Winter weeds are one of my favorite winter nature study subjects. If you would like to participate, here are a few suggestions from the challenge
1. Collect a variety of seeds from weeds in your local area and sketch them in your nature journal.
2. Gather a few varieties of weeds and display them in a vase.
3. Pick a weed you know you have and print out a coloring page for your nature journal.

My daughter has graciously made available her Salt Study Lapbook pdf to go along with this challenge. Please click over to her blog at Hearts and Trees to read more about it!

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Barb — 5 Comments

Pines, Evergreens, Cones, and Needles

This week has been full of nature study….the informal kind that happens as we go about our everyday life. My boys are a big part of the experience and they discover things in our world that I miss. Their eyes seem to be open to so much around them, while my head is full of schedules and tasks that need to be done. I really must make a conscious effort to clear my head more when we are outdoors.

First of all, before I get into the pines and cones, I have to share a rare visitor to our backyard. This Northern flicker was up on the tree and Mr. A spotted it and brought it to my attention. Not the first time we have ever had a flicker in the yard but it has been a long time since we observed this interesting bird. They eat bugs and insects from the grass below the tree but they are considered woodpeckers. They also have a red flash on their wings when they fly.

Our focus on cones and needles this week was highlighted by two events.

The first happened last week when we had a huge windstorm with lots of gusts. The wind brought down small branches and cones on the trail where we walk and we were able to get a good look at both. These are not from a pine but a fir tree, Douglas fir. I love what it says in our field guide about the Douglas fir cone. It says, “mouse tail bracts grow between scales”. Sure enough…there they are.

The second event was a walk on our walking trail where we were trying to notice something interesting about pines. Here is a spot on the trail where there are two different pines growing side by side.

Notice the two different colors of needles.

They both have bundles of three and are about the same length. We are pretty sure after much study of our field guides and online sources that one is a Gray pine and the other is a Ponderosa pine. We are going to take our field guide back with us later today and see if we can nail the identification down positively.

What a great week we have had looking for cones and pines! I know that many of you are experiencing cold snowy weather but here in our woods we are enjoying abundant sunshine and no precipitation.

Guess what I spotted yesterday in my garden? The first daffodil of the year is starting to bloom! Crazy, crazy weather for us too!

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Barb — 8 Comments

Acorn Woodpecker – Visitor to Our Backyard

Look at that beak! We were surprised when we looked out the window a few days ago and we saw three woodpeckers in our backyard. They were large birds and very colorful. They looked a little different than our “normal” woodpeckers so we had to look them up to identify them for sure.

We decided it is an Acorn woodpecker.

This beautiful bird is welcome in our yard at any time.

Here is a link to All About Birds for the Acorn Woodpecker.
We found a coloring page that will help us draw this bird in our nature journals.

Posted on February 6, 2011 by Barb — 7 Comments

Manzanita and Miner’s Lettuce – Adding to the Nature Journal

We decided that we wanted to do a nature journal entry for the manzanita that grows alongside the walking trail. We did a little research and found that there are 106 species of manzanita in the world. I found a page that shows manzanita for Northern California with beautiful photos and descriptions.

It will soon be blooming and the buds are all starting to form. I read in my field guide that it is one of the earliest blooming plants in our area. The flowers are a pretty shape and after they start blooming I will make another journal entry to record those. This time I drew the leaf and a very stylized version of the whole plant.

I couldn’t get the color of the bark just right….in real life they are such a smooth dark red color.

We need to record this plant as well…miner’s lettuce. The official name is Claytonia perfoliata but the nickname comes from the Gold Rush days when the gold miner’s would eat this plant to get their vitamin C. It is a great plant that makes a great addition to a salad.

During the winter season the nature study subjects are smaller in number so we thought we should take advantage of the opportunities that we do have to put something new in our journals.

Here is fun short video on Miner’s Lettuce...how to identify and harvest.

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Barb — 9 Comments

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #5 Pine Trees and Winter Wednesday #5 Evergreens


Evergreens and Aspens

Another week where the challenges match up for you!

Winter Series #5 Pine Trees in Winter
Winter Wednesday #5 Evergreens/Cones

Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity. We would all enjoy seeing your entries and even if it is at a later date, please come back to this entry and add your link.

Evergreens on the Lake’s Edge

Don’t forget to check the Winter Wednesday Squidoo page for more information for #4 and #5 challenges to go along with this week’s study.

I forgot to mention last week with the winter weather challenge that my daughter has a Weather Lapbook Kit that you can purchase if you want to spend some extra time learning about your weather. Check it out on her blog Hearts and Trees.

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Barb — 3 Comments

Weather, Weather, Weather….Nature Study in the Day to Day

We all have weather…..no doubt about it. Our family seems to notice the weather everyday and we often talk about how cold or how dry or how windy it is in comparison to last year or to the previous season. Sort of related this week, two family members came to me at separate times to tell me that the days are definitely getting longer. I had actually noticed it in the mornings and this morning in particular I realized that I did not need to turn the back lights on when I took the dog outside. The sky was just tinged with blue and the only luminary that I saw was Venus…nice and bright!

Weather Chart from the Autumn Series Ebook

We started this week keeping a daily record of our temperatures, sometimes several times a day just to see the variation. We compared this to our autumn study record that we kept in November 2010. There is virtually no difference except for perhaps we had more rain in November. We are going to keep going with our chart and see when we have a change in our weather.

Our tree silhouette study goes pretty much all winter so I had to try to come up with a new aspect to offer to the boys this week. We decided to note tree buds and to bring in some twigs from the forsythia bush to see if we can force some blooms.

Our sweet gum tree is already making some changes…the buds look like this right now.

Our birch is looking pretty much the same, it is in a shadier and cooler part of the yard.

The forsythia twigs are all gathered in a vase, sitting in the front window. I will let you know when and if they blossom.

Hope you had a great week of winter nature study and are getting outdoors a little each week to discover some interesting things in your part of the world.

Author: Barb