This week we kick off the autumn series of Outdoor Hour Challenges with a bird study! Use the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock (Lesson 28) to learn more about these beautiful flyers.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
Now available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships:
1. First Day of Autumn Grid Study and Nature Journal Toppers printable: I think we are all ready for a little change in the season! Using these printables in your nature journal will help jump start your nature journaling year.
2. Full Moon Planner 2020 notebook page: I have so enjoyed gazing at the full moons this summer. But, I seem to lack enthusiasm as soon as the evenings turn chilly. I wanted a way to remind myself to get outside and look at the moon in all the seasons so I created the planner page to help encourage our family to take note of each of the full moons over the next year. Please join me and I hope the helps you create a record of your moon observations.
(See the end of this post for more information on how you can become a member.)
Full Corn Moon is September 2, 2020!
Print a complete list of printables available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by clicking the button above.
Members also have access to the Nature Planner pages in their library.
Print out this month’s page and use it to stimulate your weekly nature study time.
This has been a month for insect watching! It’s been a long time since I picked a “focus” nature topic for the month and it’s reminded me of the value of being alert to seeing things I might otherwise miss.
Dragon flies were the star for several of our outings on the water. I have a fun memory of floating on the river with blue dragonflies landing on my arms and hat. Then there were the larger black and white dragonflies that look like small hummingbirds. They were spotted high up on tops of reeds and sticks, hanging out over the water where they sat waiting for a meal.
The wildflower garden has been abuzz with all kinds of insects. It makes me happy to sit nearby and listen and watch as they hop on, hover over, and dip into the colorful flowers.
We decided the meadow out behind the house should be called “grasshopper acres” this month because of the abundance of hopping and leaping that happens as you walk through the grasses. They are everywhere.
I’m keeping myself accountable this month with an insect page in my nature journal. It’s nothing fancy but it will remind me of a few of the insects I encountered during this month of looking for insects.
Our bird list this month has some surprise entries. The most inspiring addition was the Common Nighthawk. I wish I could post a video of the flying acrobatics of this amazing flyer! We noted the pointy wings, the white patches under the wings, and watched it on several late afternoons and evenings over the river.
Then there was the exciting visit of five Great Egrets. We observed them flying down at the river with their long thin necks, stick-like legs, and long yellow beaks. This is the first time we’ve seen a group of egrets here in our Oregon neighborhood.
But, the most compelling visitor we had this month is the Cooper’s hawk. He’s been hunting at my bird feeder. Twice I watched him dive at the feeder as the little birds flew off in every direction. Afterwards, both times, he sat in the tree over the feeder, unsuccessful in capturing anyone. I was able to get a good look at him as he actually posed for a few photos. A rather large and handsome hawk, he sat and patiently waited for a long time before flying off.
It’s hard to capture them in a photo.
On another bird related note, I installed some window decals that are designed to alert birds and prevent bird strikes. Our living room has a HUGE picture window and it has been the scene of many bird strikes and deaths in the past. I purchased the Window Alert window decals in the hope of reducing the number of birds who run smack into our window glass. They were easy to adhere to the exterior of the window. I was worried that they would annoy me as I look out the window but I’m happy to say that I don’t even really notice them anymore.
Do they work? I can’t say they have eliminated ALL of the bird strikes from happening, but I have noted that the very few that still hit the window must see the decals and slow down enough that it isn’t a fatal collision. We haven’t had a single bird death since putting the Window Alert decals up.
I call that pretty successful. I purchased them at our local Wild Birds Unlimited store for $6.95. The package says to replace the decals every four months since the UV coating will eventually fade and not be as effective. I guess I’ll get another set next spring.
Here are a few more fun things we did outdoors this month.
We took a new hike at Sahalie and Koosah Falls. What a magnificent place to take a 3-mile hike alongside the McKenzie River. I think this is my top pick for a day hike here in Oregon.
My daughter and I had an awesome time cutting lavender at the Hood River Lavender Farm. What great memories we made that day! It was a hot day and the scent of lavender was thick in the air. We tasted lavender lemonade for the first time and loved its refreshing flavor.
Are you following me on Instagram? I post regularly about my garden, the Central Oregon habitat, and our adventures. If you add the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge to your Instagram posts, I’ll come visit your images!
Want to join in the Outdoor Mom post?
Answer all or just one of the prompts in a blog entry on your own blog or right here on my blog in a comment. If you answer on your blog, make sure to leave me a link in a comment so that I can pop over and read your responses.
During our outdoor time this month we went…
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
I added nature journal pages about…
One last image…
All members here on the Handbook of Nature Study have access to the 2020-2021 nature plan for the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Look for it in your library.
I raised my four children in California. Poison oak was always a part of our outdoor time together. Whether it was hiking a favorite trail, or just visiting grandparents, poison oak was just a part of the landscape. It was very important to me that my children could spot poison oak and avoid any contact as much as possible.
Here is something you can teach your children:
Leaves of three… let it be!
Use this week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge to prepare your family for a possible encounter with poison oak in your future.
Gather some facts about poison oak:
Read about poison oak in your field guide or online here: Poison Oak.
Here’s a printable information sheet about poison oak: USDA Poison Oak.
Make sure to look at the images so you can easily identify this poisonous plant during your outdoor time. As an alternate study, you could learn about poison ivy instead.
See the Creepy things ebook for more poison oak nature study ideas, videos, and printables!
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog. You’ll find the detailed challenge in the Creepy Things ebook that’s available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, and notebook pages.
We will soon be finishing up this Creepy Things series of nature studies and starting the Autumn Nature Study (2015 edition) ebook. It hardly seems possible that it’s time for the new school year to begin. But, I’m anxious to welcome all of the new families that will be joining us on September 4th.
It’s not too late to purchase a membership and become a part of the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
As the new school year starts for many families, the Outdoor Hour Challenge is getting started too! Starting September 2, 2020, we’ll be working our way through the Autumn Nature Study (2015) ebook.
In September the topics are:
Swallows and Swifts
“The swallows are very graceful birds and are exceedingly swift fliers….The chimney swift is not a swallow; it is more nearly related to the hummingbird than to the swallow.”
Catbirds
“The catbird has a beautiful song as well as the harsh “miou”, and can imitate other birds, although not as well as the mockingbird.”
Cockroaches
“The American species live in fields and woods and under stones and sticks and only occasionally venture into dwellings.”
Field Horsetail
“The horsetail is a plant that develops spores instead of seeds, and has green stems instead of leaves.”
Here’s a sample nature study from this ebook that features the catbird:
Join us this year for a fantastic lineup of Outdoor Hour Challenges; many of them are brand new to the website. You can see the ebooks and topics by clicking over to the plan page. Members have access to all of the ebooks necessary for the complete year.
If you still need a membership, please click over and join us now as we start the new school year. It isn’t too late to get started!
Discount Code GETSTARTED for $10 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
Offer expires 9/19/2020.
The Outdoor Hour Challenge is proud to have been voted the top elementary science program by homeschoolers. I’m so appreciative to be able to help so many families get outdoors and enjoy the amazing things found right outside their own back doors….and beyond.
This has been a year filled with personal challenges. My routine has been turned upside down and along with that my habit of creating pages in my nature journal has become erratic and lower on the priority list.
This last month I’ve made an effort to get back into the habit of journaling weekly. I went back and planned out some pages to “catch up” on, so 2020 isn’t light on nature notes and observations. I brought out the nature journal supplies, sharpened the pencils and organized the markers. I plan on making myself more accountable for putting down my thoughts and observations as I go along for the rest of the year.
Stay tuned to see how I do in this endeavor.
Wish List: Creating nature goals for the year is a form of a “wish list” of things I hope to accomplish. Your family can adapt this idea to fit your needs, including any of the suggestions in the wish list entry linked here.
Recap Your Month: Creating a monthly recap page is a simple way to gather lots of details into one place. I enjoy creating a “highlights” recap and your family may like to pool ideas to make a recap page in your nature journal.
Make a List: There’s usually a list of one sort of another each month in my nature journal. It may not be very exciting but it does create a record that I look at from year to year. Comparing lists is something I do all the time.
Sketch Outdoors: I took my journaling supplies along on a recent outing to the Crooked River. We stopped along the river and I realized I had the perfect view and an opportunity to sketch a juniper tree for my nature journal. What an enjoyable afternoon!
The positive news is that I faithfully complete my daily nature observations in my Nature Observer book for 2020.Keeping up on this pre-printed journal will help me reconstruct some of the months I missed in my regular nature journal.
Each month has a blank calendar to fill in with short observations, a bullet grid page for my own customized observation reminders, and a weekly spread for writing more in detail anything of note.
For July, I not only used the bullet grid for daily temperatures and other nature activities, but included a list of the wildflowers and birds observed both in my yard and down at the river. This format can easily be adapted to any bullet style journal page you are using.
The links to Amazon in this entry are my affiliate entries. I have purchased this book with my own money and I am sharing my enthusiasm for this product after using it for 2 years!
Need some more specific nature journal ideas?
I’ve created a page on the website that gathers an abundance of nature journal ideas, suggestions, examples, and links. I invite you to jump over there and find your inspiration.
Are you familiar with the book/system Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes? This incremental, child-friendly, learning to draw plan is a valuable part of an art skills program for many homeschoolers. I loved it so much that when my children were younger I adapted the plans to incorporate nature related topics and our nature journals. I’ve gathered those plans into one file for you to download and use for free.
This time of year as the weather cools off, many of us head for the woods and trails of our neighborhoods. A favorite child friendly activity is to look under things like fallen leaves and rocks. You may be rewarded with finding some interesting and unique creatures dwelling in these hidden spots.
The millipede may be one of those things you could discover on an autumn’s day hike. Be prepared for this occurrence by using the information in the Outdoor Hour Challenge for millipedes.
Would you like to learn about the millipede?
The millipede is a wormlike invertebrate with an exoskeleton, segmented body, and jointed legs. Each body segment has two pairs of legs. The body is cylindrical or flattened and they have short antennae.
See the Creepy things ebook for more millipede nature study ideas, videos, and printables!
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog. You’ll find the detailed challenge in the Creepy Things ebook that’s available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, and notebook pages.
Members here on the Handbook of Nature Study have access to these printables in their Library to supplement this week’s millipede study: Under a Rock Notebook Page and Under the Fallen Leaves Notebook Page.
Our spring was spent building a new section of garden that would be attractive to birds, bees, and butterflies. Renee’s Garden seeds played a big part in filling our new garden beds with color, variety, and beautiful flowers. (See our start to the garden in this entry: Renee’s Garden 2020.)
Because of our harsh climate zone, we’ve struggled with finding garden plants that will survive through the cold, long winter we have in Central Oregon. Our solution is to plant both a mix of annual and perennial flowers, as well as native wildflowers and shrubs. This strategy has worked in our front yard and now we’re continuing that mix in our back garden.
Earlier this year, we rototilled and cleared about 1,200 square feet of scruffy grass and then proceeded to build two long, narrow garden boxes. Our aim was to make it not only more beautiful, but to have a more attractive garden space for bees, birds, and butterflies. A bonus side benefit is that we now have a peaceful spot to sit in the garden to enjoy all of the creatures that visit. The birds love the bird bath for drinking and bathing and they will often come even with us sitting close by.
Here are some of the Renee’s Garden seeds we chose:
Rainbow of California Poppies: This variety of poppies is now my absolute favorite! I love the pastel colors that are in this mix and I go out every day to see which ones are blooming. They are thriving in our climate which is surprising but very much appreciated. I will be planting more of these in years to come.
Early Blooming Beekeeper’s Mix: We enjoyed this mix so much last year that we added it to the list again this year. The sweetly colored flowers are hardy enough to last through our very cool summer nights.
Seeds for a Butterfly Garden: I think I planted too many seeds in our box but the sunflowers and cosmos don’t seem to mind. The zinnias are growing up under the cosmos and need to lean way out to reach for the sun. If I did this combination again, I would plant far fewer cosmos. Still, I’m anxious to see how the sunflowers do once they start blooming.
Chocolate Cherry Sunflowers: LOVE this sunflower! It’s an all time favorite of ours that we grew in California and it thrives here in Central Oregon as well.
Van Gogh Sunflowers: This sunflower with the quintessential shape and color is attracting bees and various other insects to the new garden. The finches are stopping by to nibble on the leaves too!
Heirloom Blue Delphiniums: These seeds have sprouted and are growing….slowly. I’m not sure what to think and I will have to update you later in the season as to whether they actually bloom or not.
Heirloom Pepperbox Poppies: This is our second year growing these magnificent poppies in our back yard. There are a variety of colors and shapes in the packet, producing gorgeous blooms that the bees buzz around all summer long. I highly recommend these poppies.
Please note that I receive some of the seeds as a promotional thank you from Renee’s Garden. I’ve purchased and used her seeds for many years now and I’m never disappointed.
Click over to my garden resources and see if you find some inspiration to get you going.
I post lots of images of the garden on my Instagram account. Click over and follow if you’re on Instagram. Also, if you tag your photos with #outdoorhourchallenge, I’ll stop by and see what you are up to in your nature study.
I am reposting the information about the upcoming school year’s plan for the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
I’m getting excited to start a new school year of nature study alongside all of you! The plan this year is packed with a variety of awesome topics that will appeal to a wide range of children and those who live around the world. My friends are all geared up to start on September 4, 2020 with the Autumn Nature Study ebook. I, on the other hand, am having trouble imagining I’ll be ready for “autumn” nature study in just a few weeks from now. But, I’m sure that by the time it arrives, September is going to be a rich month of nature time before the weather turns too cold or wet.
Join us if you have a membership by reading the instructions below and then getting your nature journals ready. Don’t forget to print out the nature planner pages for the autumn season for even more ideas in addition to the Outdoor Hour Challenge topics.
There’s something for everyone in an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership!
Here are the five ebooks that will be planned out from September 2020 to August 2021.
Autumn – Final Ebook: swallows and swifts, catbirds, cockroaches, field horsetail, sapsucker, brook study, catfish, jewelweed, prickly lettuce, hedgehog fungi, calcite, limestone, marble, chickens, and turkeys.
Winter Nature Study Continues Ebook: cattle, deer, feldspar, Orion star study, crystals, flickers, scarlet saucer, bloodroot, hepatica, violets, bleeding hearts, Dutchman’s breeches, and squirrel corn.
Bird Set #1 Ebook: pelican, swan, snipe, egret, sandhill crane, American dipper, horned lark, magpie, and Clark’s nutcracker.
Wildflowers Ebook #3: fireweed, salsify, paintbrush, forget-me-nots, and silverweed.
Herbs Ebook: cilantro, basil, bee balm, oregano, dill, thyme, sage, and mint. This ebook will be added to the Ultimate and Journey level memberships in June 2020.
Outdoor Hour Challenge September 2020 – August 2021 for Members
Get the Year Plan in a PDF: Subscribe to the Ultimate Naturalist Library, Journey, or Discovery level membership: Your membership will give you access to a detailed schedule for the entire year. You will have a printable plan that shows dates and specific topics that will be considered every Friday. This makes your planning super easy!
As there were last year, I’ve created monthly planning pages with lots of additional nature study ideas that you can use to enrich your nature study. These are similar to the planning pages I created for the newsletters in the past. If you’re a member at any level, you’ll receive all 12 months of planning pages in one pdf to download and print!
Do You Want to Join Us? Here’s what you need to do!
Purchase a membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Remember that if you want access to all the ebooks, you’ll need an Ultimate Naturalist or Journey Level Membership. If you purchase a membership now, you’ll have access to all of the new ebooks as they become available. A membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study starts the date of purchase and is valid for one year.
Download the ebooks as they become available.
Download the September 2020 through August 2021 plan.
Subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study blog for reminders each Friday.
If you can’t purchase a membership at this time, you can still follow along by subscribing to the blog and each week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge will come right to your email inbox.
Click Below to Get Started!
Use the discount code NEWSTART for $10 off your Ultimate Naturalist Library membership. Code expires 9/1/2020.
The first time I saw a sphinx moth, I thought it was a hummingbird! It flew into my house and started flying around a vase of flowers we had on the kitchen table. It took a minute before I realized that it wasn’t a hummingbird but a very big flying insect. I have since seen several more while at the garden nursery and even in my own yard a few times when we lived in California.
I no longer think of these large flying insects as creepy but I include them in the Creepy Things series of Outdoor Hour Challenges so you can learn to appreciate their beauty too!
Don’t know what a sphinx moth is? Use these ideas to learn more:
Use an insect field guide to gather facts about the sphinx moth.
Read lesson 75 in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock.
See the Creepy Things ebook for more sphinx moth nature study ideas, videos, and printables!
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog. You’ll find the detailed challenge in the Creepy Things ebook that’s available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, and notebook pages.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
For July, I not only used the bullet grid for daily temperatures and other nature activities, but included a list of the wildflowers and birds observed both in my yard and down at the river. This format can easily be adapted to any bullet style journal page you are using.
View a sample planning page above. These pages will be added to the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by the end of July 2020. Print the sample:
