There is nothing better than seeing the beginning of the spring season, whatever that looks like in your local area. I am currently in California and the landscape is very different than back at home in Central Oregon. Here, the California rolling hills are turning green with the first of the spring grasses. The wild mustard is making its appearance with its yellow flowers that dance in the spring breezes. I have seen lots of red-tail hawks sitting in trees and up on telephone poles. The morning has birdsong and I can pick out a few of the main players like the robins and California quail.
It will be months before these are spotted in my own neighborhood once I return home.
In the meantime, I will enjoy the spring season while I can and make mental notes that will eventually go into my nature journal.
This week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge is linked above and the suggested activities will get you started with ideas for your outdoor time. There is a free printable notebook page included in that entry.
We are eagerly anticipating the spring season here in Central Oregon. In the meantime, we will plan our spring cattail nature study and keep our eyes out for the opportunity to study them soon!
If you have a near-by park that has a pond or little stream, look for cattails along the bank. Here are a few suggestions from the original challenge linked above:
Make sure to encourage your child to sketch the cattail leaves.
Try to include a little of the habitat that your cattails are growing in during this season.
Include in your sketch any insects, birds, or animals that you observed near your cattails during your outdoor time.
If you’re a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, there’s a notebook page you can use to record your spring cattail nature study observations listed in the printables section of your membership.
Posting the spring bird challenge a few weeks ago, I knew in my heart that I would have to wait a month or even two months before I could accomplish a true spring bird nature study. But, it has put it on my on plan for future nature study experiences.
We have not spotted one spring bird. In fact, our Great Backyard Bird Count was the smallest count we have ever recorded in the many years we have been tallying birds for the project.
Great Backyard Bird Count List for 2019
La Pine, Oregon
Hairy woodpecker -2
Northern flicker -2
Mountain chickadee – 5
Pygmy nuthatch -7
House finch -1
That’s it. Hardly a spectacular count here at my location in Central Oregon. We had snow on the ground and a high temperature of 35 degrees for the Bird Count weekend. Even for us this was a fraction of the usual birds we see at our feeders on any given weekend.
As far as new birds to learn about, none so far this season. I will keep watching and hopefully just like last year I will be surprised by a new species to add to my list. (Last year it was the Wilson’s snipe!)
Now available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships:
New Notebook Pages: Spring Willow Study and Spring Cattail Study
(See the end of this post for more information on how you can become a member.)
Spring Willow Study: Use this simple notebook page to record your spring willow observations of the bud and catkin.
Spring Cattail Study: Here is a new page for you to use after you make your spring cattail observations.
Note: If you have any subjects you would like me to create nature notebook pages for, please let me know in a comment here on the blog or in an email: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Print a complete list of printables available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships by clicking the button above.
Use the discount code NATURE5 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership!
“As early in March as is practicable, have the pupils gather twigs of as many different kinds of willows as can be found; these should be put in jars of water and placed in a warm, sunny window. The catkins will soon begin to push out from the bud scales, and the whole process of flowering may be watched.”
Handbook of Nature Study
Start Here: Willow Nature Study – Handbook of Nature Study Lesson 179, suggested observations 1-7 (pages 651-655)
Pay particular attention to the Method section and the Observation suggestions #1-7 in Lesson 179 for specific spring willow study ideas. The leading questions in this lesson will help you carefully observe the pollen-bearing flowers of the willow. Record your answers to the questions in your nature journal.
If you’re just starting a year-long willow study, spring will give you lots to learn and appreciate about this interesting subject. Then, when summer rolls around, you can make some comparisons.
If you’re a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, there’s a notebook page you can use to record your spring willow nature study observations.
Both of the OHCs linked above have a printable notebook page in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships.
Prior Willow Study Activity:
If you already started this activity, make sure to take some spring observations.
If you’re just getting started with your willow study, here’s the suggested activity: Tie a string on a twig attached to your willow and then observe and record in your nature journal the twig’s changes for a few months.
There are many more spring related nature study ideas in the four ebooks shown above. You can find them in the Ultimate Naturalist membership library.
Use discount code OHC10 for $5 off any membership!
The month of February has brought with it a lot of SNOW! We haven’t thawed out completely since the beginning of the snow storms. There have been a few days of sunshine but the temperatures have been very cold; cold enough to keep the snow and ice piled up outside our door.
We’ve been trying to keep up with the birds that visit our feeders as part of Project Feederwatch and also during the Great Backyard Bird Count. From what I can observe, not only have there been fewer bird species but even the numbers of those birds has decreased. Some days I only see a handful of birds….far less than this same time period last year. Because we haven’t lived here very long, it’s hard to know if this is an unusual year or not. We’ll keep a detailed record of our observations and see how the year progresses.
I’ve kept up with my daily nature journal notes with our temperatures, snow amounts, and other interesting details from our observations. These simple notes help record just a little more thorough picture of the season.
Images from my Journal
I completed my January birds page. Now that I look at it, it needs a little more detail to make it a really good record of the month. Perhaps I’ll add the numbers of birds I observed (by looking at my Project Feederwatch data) and maybe compare this year’s January birds with last year’s list.
Here’s the page that I made to keep track of the January snow. I may just add February’s statistics to it as well since there’s room.
I used a Handbook of Nature Study newsletter printable grid to record some fun nature details in my journal. This is a super simple way to get started if you’re stumbling over a big ol’ blank page. See this entry for more information on using nature study grids: Using Printables from the Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter.
Here’s a look at my February birds page in progress. I’m keeping a running list of birds observed, left room for my Great Backyard Bird count details and thoughts, and I’m using a printable grid from the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter to encourage me to be on the lookout for birds of all colors. I will finish this one up by the end of the month.
We heard a pair of Great Horned Owls early one morning and I wanted to create a page that had all of the interesting facts about this bird in my nature journal. I find the process of looking up the information for a page helps me learn and remember things better. I’m not aiming for a fancy page but one that has meaning to me. I’m challenging myself to draw in my nature journal, not on every page but a few times a month.
One More Image
We’ve had a mountain lion roaming our neighborhood for a few weeks. Our next door neighbor snapped this image of the big cat right up in a tree in his backyard. It makes me a little nervous to have such a wild creature so near to our home, but we’re just taking precautions and being alert to any signs that he is back.
There are many, many nature journal ideas included in the archives of the Handbook of Nature Study newsletters. If you have any level of membership, make sure to download the newsletter index to make finding a topic easy.
76 issues of the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter are available in the Discovery level of membership for only $20! You also get the Getting Started with the Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook in this level which makes it a super awesome value for your $20.
“A simple spring nature study starts as soon as you start to notice the changes around you.”
In my part of the world, we’re not even close to seeing any signs of spring. But, last week I was in California and I greatly enjoyed the landscape turning green, the early spring bulbs starting to blossom, and the warm sunshine as I walked to the river.
You can complete this challenge at any time you note the first signs of spring in your neighborhood. It’s actually quite a life lesson for children to be aware of the changing of the seasons and what to look for when you’re taking your Outdoor Hour time.
Use the suggestions in the challenge linked below along with the free printables available to create a record of your family’s signs of spring.
Make sure to click the link above to read the entire Outdoor Hour Challenge with helpful links, nature study ideas, and suggested follow-up activities.
This challenge is not found in an ebook but if you’re interested in an ebook of spring related challenges, you can check out the selections on the spring page in the Handbook of Nature Study linked below.
Are you just joining the Outdoor Hour Challenge? You can find the complete plan for the rest of the year by clicking the link below.
If you are already a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, you can download a detailed schedule of nature topics and ebooks from your membership.
One of the most common stumbling blocks to creating a nature journal page is the curse of the blank page. I have felt it myself. As you open your nature journal and gather your art supplies, suddenly you face the blank page and your mind also goes blank. You can’t think of what to do or where to get started.
This is the perfect time to use a tool from the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter!
Many issues of the newsletter have a printable nature study grid that can help get you over the hump of starting with a blank page. Print the grid and cut it out, then adhere it right on the page. Choose one or more of the prompts to do while you’re outside and then come back in to record your results.
You can check the boxes off.
Make notes about what you accomplished.
Sketch something that was inspired during your outdoor time.
Use the grid in a way that makes sense to you and your family!
Additional Idea
Cut Your Grid Apart: You can use the Weather Study Big Grid in the December 2012 newsletter for this project by printing it out and then cutting the desired squares to adhere into your nature journal. This will allow you to create a completely customized nature journal page that fits your local weather and your child’s interests.
Add photos, doodles, lettering, and captions to complete your page.
Download a sample copy of the January 2014 Newsletter:
Did you know that the complete archive of 76 newsletters is available for immediate download in ALL LEVELS of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study?
That means that for just $20 you can download, save, and use as many times as you want each of the newsletters in the archive!
Here is the Amazon affiliate link to the sketchbook I use for my nature journal.
You’re going to find all kinds of helpful suggestions in this entry along with a printable notebook page, a complete coloring book, and links to learn more about identifying birds by their song.
Don’t miss this week’s nature study suggestion to take time to learn about a new spring bird in your neighborhood. If you’re really up to a challenge, your family can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count which is this weekend!!! You only need to commit to a few minutes of observation time to make this citizen science project a part of your nature study this week.
This is the perfect time to download the Learning About Birds ebook available in Ultimate and Journey level memberships. This ebook steps you through the study of birds by color and topic. Included in the ebook are notebooking pages, images, and links to help you study some of the most common birds here in North America.
Look for this ebook in your library if you’re a member or join now using the discount code below for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
We can’t get too close to our winter cattails because they’re in a pond surrounded by icy waters. But, we saw them from a distance as we took a nice winter walk along the river and then down around the bend.
In the summer the pond is lined with pretty, sheltering willows and the cattails are growing from the edge out to the middle “island”. Often we can spy mallards and Canada goose in the water but there’s no sign of those birds right now. Instead, the pond is a frozen spot with some tracks zig zagging from side to side. We’ve seen coyotes, otters, signs of a beaver, and even a mountain lion in this area so it’s hard to say who is walking around on the frozen surface.
It’s never too late to start your own year-long cattail study, even if you didn’t start it back in autumn. Pick up here and join us! Click the graphic below to go to the original winter study challenge here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Click here for the Autumn Cattail Outdoor Hour Challenge.
Although the winter season is coming to a close, you may be able to squeeze in a few of the ideas from the winter ebook. Check out the list of winter nature study ideas by clicking above.
If you’re a member here on the Handbook of Nature Study, there’s a notebook page you can use to record your spring cattail nature study observations listed in the printables section of your membership.
