I’m really looking forward to the nature challenge this week! I’ve spent a lot of time this winter following and photographing animal tracks in the mud and snow, and now I want to slow down and really try to identify who is making these tracks.
You’ll find a fantastic online resource in the archive link to a website to use along with your field guide. I would love to hear which animals you’ve found tracks for this winter.
Another resource that I love and use all the time is the North American Wildlife book from Reader’s Digest. I wrote a review of this book in 2015 that shows how beneficial it is as a supplement to the Handbook of Nature Study.
It’s another month of nature book fun here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Last month we were learning about birds using the fantastic resource, Backyard Birds. This month I’m again joining with the same group of bloggers for another fun nature topic: small mammals! We’ll all share a book and activities that go along with that theme. You can use the links at the bottom of this post to see all of our books/activities.
Tracks, Scats, and Signs: So many people have this book on their shelf but have never actually used it for their nature study. (It’s part of the Fun With Nature Take Along Guide as well!) I’m hoping to help you use the fantastic information in this book to get outside and look for some signs of animals in your yard and neighborhood. Look for the book at your local library!
(Note there are affiliate links in this post)
Simple Idea for Using Tracks, Scats and Signs for Your Nature Study
Read the book Tracks, Scats and Signs with your family before you go on a nature walk. Keep it light and enjoy the words and illustrations, noting any animals you may have in your local area. Each topic in this book shows an illustration of the tracks and the scat that each animal makes so you know what to look for during your outdoor time. You will need to explain the word “scat” to younger children; expect giggles as they realize it’s just a fancy word for animal poop. Along with each selection, there’s a short description of where to look for each animal and a little bit about their behavior.
Take a nature walk looking for tracks, scat, and signs. We were always excited when we found animal tracks in the snow, mud, or ice! Take photos of any animal tracks you find as you explore. You may wish to bring along a ruler to measure the size of the animal tracks you find for future reference. Take a few minutes to use your imagination about who made the tracks and what they were doing.
When you get back home, make a nature journal entry recording any observations you have from your nature walk. I have used the illustrations in the Tracks, Scats, and Signs book to help me draw the tracks and scat into my own nature journal.
I’ve written a few Outdoor Hour Challenges that you could use along with the Tracks, Scats and Signs book.
Winter Mammal Tracks: Use the idea during the winter months to learn more about the animal tracks you observe during your outdoor time.
Signs of Mammals: We’ve found in our family that many times we don’t actually see small mammals but we observe signs of them during our outdoor time. This challenge helps you do some research about signs you find and then make a nature journal entry.
I’m hoping you will consider using my Winter Nature Study ebook with your family in the future. There are many more winter nature study ideas for you to include with your outdoor time each week during the cold winter months.
NOTE: There are ebooks for each season here on the Handbook of Nature Study. You can find a complete list of the ebooks in my library here: Join Us! Right now I’m offering a $5 discount for every level of membership. Use the discount code OHC10 at checkout.
Make sure to subscribe to my blog to follow along with those mammal-related nature study activities.
You can use the link above to look at the winter bird study activity in my archives. Your family may be interested in learning more about feeding your own backyard birds in the winter. To help you do this, I put together a page that explains how to keep Birdfeeders in Winter.
In winter, birds still need the basics: food, water and shelter.
Plus you may be interested in taking a look at my Learning About Birds With the Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook for a more in-depth study of backyard birds. For the month of February, I’m offering a $5 off coupon for every level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. This ebook is in both the Ultimate and Journey levels of membership. Take a look at all of the benefits of having a membership!
Discount Code: $5 off any membership on the Handbook of Nature Study by using the code FEB5 during the month of February 2018.
If you have access to the Winter Wednesday ebook in the Ultimate Naturalist Library, there is a custom notebook page available to use as a follow up to your nature study.
Join us for the Winter Wednesday series of challenges here every FRIDAY. You can find them under the winter tab on the blog or if you have an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, you can find the ebook there for downloading.
You may be interested in following my Bird Nature Study Pinterest board for lots of bird nature study ideas.
It’s been unusually warm here in Central Oregon; some days the thermometer rises up to temperatures that are to be expected in spring. Well, you know that just makes me want to be outside and continue exploring!
During our outdoor time this month we went….looking at tree silhouettes.
We don’t have a huge variety of trees in our area, mostly pines and a few aspens. I absolutely love the aspens and the big gorgeous ponderosa pines. The Outdoor Hour Challenge for winter trees helped us get to know our new habitat better.
Side note: It’s hard to take a good tree silhouette photo.
I’m dreaming about….the green grasses and plants of summer.
The Outdoor Hour Challenge for winter weeds focused our attention on the plants we see during our river walks. Mostly dried and packed down by the winter snow, the winter weeds we observed are pretty much done for the season. But, on closer inspection, we can see new green growth starting to sprout underneath….that is exciting.
Our outdoor time made us ask….who made the trails in the weeds?
I noticed last month there appear to be “trails” under the weeds where small animals are moving around beneath the matted grasses. Some of the trails lead to holes and have fresh dirt at the openings. Could these be the subnivean zone trails of our local rodents?
I even found a spot that has a pile of scat, small little droppings sort of like mouse scat but much lighter in color. Fascinating!
The most inspiring thing we experienced…seeing beaver bank dens.
The ongoing hunt to actually see our beavers down at the river continued this month as we took to our kayaks and floated over to the opposite side of the river to check out some activity we could see going on over there.
On this warm afternoon, we spotted lots of signs of beaver activity like gnawed willow branches, beaver “slides” where they enter and exit the water, and trees that the beavers cut down.
We spent an hour or so traipsing around the willows and trees and along the river bank trying to see where they are living. We found a spot on the bank that looked like it was a possibility so we got back into the kayaks and checked it out from the water side.
Could this be it? When we got back home, we researched bank dens of beavers and discovered this is exactly the kind of place they create for shelter. We’ve been looking for the typical beaver lodge with its big mound of branches and a dam. But, we have learned that they will create hollows in the river bank to make a series of dens for living space.
Now we need to get out there at a time they’re active which is typically an hour before darkness or at sunrise. I have a friend who lives down river from us and he says he has seen the beavers out in the late afternoon and he’s heard their tails slapping on the water so that gives me a glimmer of hope that we may see our beavers if we’re persistent.
One more image….our elk!
Finally, the elk have returned to our neighborhood. We had visitors from California that were keen to see them and we spotted them not too far from the house. Then the next week, we had four elk right behind our fence in the early morning hours. It was barely light enough to spot them but they stuck around for a little while and I was able to get an image. They are such beautiful animals, much larger than expected, and so agile as they move along. I’m looking forward to observing them until the late spring when they return to the mountains.
Follow me here:Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge.If you would like me to take a look at one of your images on Instagram, use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge
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’m celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Outdoor Hour Challenge this month! It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade of sharing nature study with all of you here on my blog and getting to know so many families from around the world. It started off as a small community of nature-loving families who encouraged me to put my ideas into an easy to use ebook and look at where this has taken us!
Why not celebrate this milestone with a new edition of the original Getting Started ebook!
I’ve just finished updating and improving the original Getting Started with the Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook! The tried and true first ten challenges are all there but with updated links and some fresh resources for you to use with your family.
Here’s what you’ll get with the second edition of the Getting Started with the Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook:
The 10 original Outdoor Hour Challenges with custom notebook pages to use in your follow-up time.
6 additional notebook pages that can be used with nature study topics and activities.
Tips for nature study, tips for using the Handbook of Nature Study, and nature journal ideas.
My “3 Steps to Better Nature Study” resource and printable, including information for more advanced nature study students.
My nature table resource explaining what a nature table is and its benefits.
Plus, seasonal nature walk printable notebook pages that you can use year after year.
I’m adding this new ebook to every level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study!
This means that if you would like the new ebook and have a membership you can go directly to your account and it’s there for you to download and use right now!
If you need to purchase a membership, I’m offering a $5 discount for EVERY level!
Use the code: OHC10
Amazing Deal >>>>>>> This means if you just want the new ebook,
and receive the ebook and all 76 issues of the newsletter too for only $15!
Thank you to everyone who has made the last ten years a fun adventure learning about so many things in nature using the Handbook of Nature Study. I really hope this new edition of the ebook will help your family get outside and discover your local habitat with renewed interest!
The first time we completed this challenge we lived in California where there was no snow, ice, or frozen ground. Now, in our new Central Oregon habitat it will be interesting to see what we discover using the ideas in the challenge linked above for an insect study in the middle of winter.
Use the ideas from the challenge if possible, but always take your fifteen minutes outside to be refreshed and look for something to observe whether it’s the topic of the week or not! If all else fails, get your insect field guide out and enjoy paging through to find an insect to learn more about in anticipation of a future sighting. You can find all of the insect nature study challenges on this page: Outdoor Hour Challenges – Insects.
If you’re interested in seeing how our family completed this challenge way back in time, here’s a blog entry from the archives: Our Winter Insect Study.
If you have access to the Winter Wednesday ebook in the Ultimate Naturalist Library, there’s a custom notebook page available to use as a follow up to your nature study.
Join us for the Winter Wednesday series of challenges here every FRIDAY. You can find them under the winter tab on the blog or if you have an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, you can find the ebook there for downloading.
For the month of February, I am offering a $5 off coupon for every level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Take a look at all of the benefits of having a membership!
Discount Code: $5 off any membership on the Handbook of Nature Study by using the code FEB5 during the month of February 2018.
My assignment: Take time to note the patterns and textures found in nature during the winter.
This was a nature prompt from my new Nature Observer journal, the one I’m working in every day as part of my nature goals for 2018 (see more here). The prompt is for the whole month of January and much like the Outdoor Hour Challenges, it creates the focus for your time outdoors. I have woven it into my river walks and even when we are just out and about in the neighborhood.
Examples of Patterns and Textures from January 2018
Ice: Here in Central Oregon the ice comes in different varieties. A few times we have experienced hoar frost and freezing fog which create ice on everything in spikes and crystals. Sometimes, even the air sparkles with ice if conditions are just right…magical.
Bark: Bark patterns make it possible to identify a tree even without leaves. Our evergreens all have different bark colors, textures, and patterns of growth. My favorite bark “pattern” is the aspen and paper birch. The quintessential winter scene for me is the snowy landscape with white aspen trunks and leafless limbs.
Cones: Can you identify which tree a cone comes from by looking at the pattern and texture? Yes! This is quite amazing when you think about how each tree has a unique cone size, color, and shape. You would never confuse a ponderosa pinecone with a lodge pole pinecone because they are completely different.
These are just a few of the patterns and textures that I’ve observed during my walks in January.
Activity Idea:
Look for patterns and textures in your yard and neighborhood. Take a photo or make a sketch for your nature journal page. Take time to reflect on the beauty of patterns in nature.
This page on National Geographic has some amazing images of patterns in nature: Patterns in Nature
We’re in the winter weed season here in Central Oregon. We walk pretty much every day to the river behind our house and the weeds are all in various stages of decline. Some are flat to the ground from the rain and snow but there are surprisingly quite a few “weeds” or grasses still upright. I even noticed some still have their seeds clinging on even in the wintry weather.
Take a walk in your neighborhood and use the link to the archive challenge above for lots of specific ideas for a winter weed study this week with your family. Enjoy a few minutes outside and then create a nature journal of your experiences.
If you have access to the Winter Wednesday ebook in the Ultimate Naturalist Library, there’s a custom notebook page available to use as a follow-up to your nature study.
Join us for the Winter Wednesday series of challenges here every FRIDAY. You can find them under the winter tab on the blog or if you have an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, you can find the ebook there for downloading.
For the month of February, I’m offering a $5 off coupon for every level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. Take a look at all of the benefits of having a membership!
Discount Code: $5 off any membership on the Handbook of Nature Study by using the code FEB5 during the month of February 2018.
It’s already time for a new planning page! I am excited for another full month of winter nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenges. There are some simple ideas in each challenge that you can try with your family or if you have access to the newsletter archives, there are additional resources and ideas to use for your February nature study time.
New printables are now posted in the Member’s library!
Members have access to several brand new printable notebook pages.
1. Tick Nature Study (set of 2 pages): If you want to study a common insect during your winter insect nature study time, use the 2 notebook pages in this set to record your facts and sketches.
2. Mayfly Nature Study (set of 2 pages): Another interesting insect to study is the mayfly. Use these pages to add the information to your nature journal.
3. Mammal Notebook Pages Set #2 – (set of 3 animals): Use these pages to make a study of the North American Porcupine, the river otter, and the bobcat. Each animal has a set of three pages to use for various ages.
Print a complete list of printables available to Members for easy reference:Printables for Members
Don’t you love it when you establish a habit? You know it’s part of your routine when you don’t even think about it anymore and it just happens. After last year’s goal to create a nature journal page a week, I find myself now looking forward to sitting down to focus on something for the journal. Not every page is a masterpiece but each one is a memory or a new thing I have learned.
Keeping a journal stretches me to notice the beauty and wonder
in the things found in my everyday life.
Isn’t that what we hope our children will find in their lives? I know I do even with my grown children. I never want them to get so busy that they forget to note the amazing natural world all around them.
Need inspiration for your nature journals? Here is a link to my Nature Journal page on the Handbook of Nature Study.
I relish counting birds as part of Project Feederwatch each week and see how noting the species and number of birds that visit makes me hyper-aware of any changes or newcomers. This month we identified a new bird visitor, the pygmy nuthatch. What a little, round ball of feathers with lots of energy! I knew it had to be recorded in my nature journal as soon as we discovered it.
This pretty holly-like bush is blushing with color in the January landscape. I notice it as we hike along the river trails in Sunriver and I’m hoping to add it to my backyard as part of the native plants garden we are planning. In the meantime, I will enjoy its pretty shaped and colored leaves in this winter season.
I started on January 1, 2018 with the Nature Observer journal. It has a series of pages for each month that help me keep track of things in my natural world. The page above is a weekly spread where I can note things I observed or I may even at some point sketch on these pages.
Along with a monthly calendar and weekly notes pages, there are unique page prompts for each month. For the month of January, one of the prompts was to note either in words or sketches some of the patterns noted in nature. Each day, I can note any patterns I have observed during my outdoor time. It is a simple suggestion that has definitely opened my eyes to looking for and then observing patterns in nature.
Don’t forget that I’m sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here:Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge.And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal.
We are continuing to work in the Winter Wednesday series until the end of February 2018. If you would like to follow along, make sure you have subscribed to my blog to receive the Outdoor Hour Challenges in your inbox each Friday.
If you have an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, you’ll find the Winter Wednesday ebook in your library. The ebook contains all of the custom notebooking pages for each challenge.
Don’t forget that I’m sharing a nature journal page each week on my Instagram account if you want to see the pages as they unfold. Follow me here:Instagram – outdoorhourchallenge.And, if you want to create a page and share it on your Instagram for me to see, use the hashtag #OHCnaturejournal
