This is a reminder that the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival is coming up soon!
All nature study type entries can be submitted, preferably entries that highlight the Outdoor Hour Challenge and Handbook of Nature Study newsletter activities.
Deadline for entries for the first carnival will be 10/26/16.
You can send in your entries to harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
You can grab one of the OHC Carnival buttons from this entry for your blog if you would like to share this event. A link back to this blog would be much appreciated. https://naturestudyhomeschool.com/
If you have any questions or comments about the plans, please feel free to email me or leave a comment here on the blog. harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
This time of year, the first birds I hear each morning are the sparrows. The have such a pretty light song that can’t help but cheer you up. This week use your local field guide to learn more about sparrows that live in your neighborhood. My suggestion is to pick one and read all about it and then go look for it. Sparrows are often in and under our birdfeeders (sunflower seeds and millet) but you may want to learn what your sparrow sounds like since they often are hidden in the shrubs or brush piles.
White-crowned Sparrow Sounds– This is the sparrow that is most often spotted in my yard here in Northern California. You can listen to its pretty song at this link.
Song Sparrow Sounds – We don’t hear these in our yard but one of our favorite Oregon campgrounds always has these song sparrows in the blackberries and other bushes.
Please feel free to choose a different bird for this week’s study if you don’t have a sparrow to observe in person. You may wish to read about creating a Bird Life List and download a free printable list to start with your family: 10 Ideas for a Bird Life List.
Note: You do not need to purchase the ebooks to participate but they are handy to have for planning and for the regular and advanced notebook pages included in each one. Click the graphic at the bottom of this post to go over to check out the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership. If you would like to see a sample of More Nature Study Autumn ebook, you can download a sample here: More Nature Study Autumn Sample.
This is an active time of year for chipmunks (and squirrels) as they busy themselves getting ready for the up-coming winter season. On our most recent hikes we have seen them scurrying around on the forest floor and crossing our trail as they gather a storehouse of food. Sometimes, they try to gather OUR food!
Use the ideas in this week’s archive post by clicking the link above for more details.
There is also a free printable Rodent Study notebooking page in this entry: Squirrel or Other Rodent.
Note: You do not need to purchase the ebooks to participate but they are handy to have for planning and for the regular and advanced notebook pages included in each one. Click the graphic at the bottom of this post to go over to check out the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership. If you would like to see a sample of this ebook, you can download a sample here: More Nature Study Autumn Sample.
Use the discount code NATURE5 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Membership!
This past August we took an awesome loop driving trip in the state of Oregon. We have slowly been exploring this beautiful state from the view of our truck and camping trailer. There are so many awesome campgrounds in Oregon and it truly is a great way to spend time as a family. In the past, we have camped on the Oregon coast with our boys. They love the ocean and that was our focus. We are no branching out into Central Oregon and Southern Oregon. In this entry I will share five of our Oregon State Park experiences.
Parks Included in this Entry:
La Pine State Park (near Bend, Oregon)
Silver Falls State Park (near Salem, Oregon)
South Beach State Park (near Newport, Oregon) + a mention of Brian Booth State Park
Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park (near Florence, Oregon)
Valley of the Rogue State Park
La Pine State Park:
This state park along Hwy 97 is situated along the Deschutes River. There is a day use area with a small sandy beach with picnic tables and a restroom. We waded in the water on a hot summer afternoon but it was cold! There were some rafters pulling their boats out here and they had floated along the swiftly moving water before ending their day at La Pine.
The campground is made up of three loops and was full the whole time we were here. The South Loop had full hookups and was packed to the gills with trailers, families, bikes, and quite a bit of noise. We were very happy we were on the North Loop where the sites were larger and farther apart (no hook ups). We enjoyed walking the trails within the park and along the river, especially in the evening. There are yurts here to rent if you don’t have all the camping gear or want an easy vacation.
This area is full of interesting things to do like the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, the town of Sisters and Sunriver, the city of Bend, the High Desert Museum, and Newberry National Volcanic Monument.
We read on the internet that Silver Falls State Park is the “crown jewel” of the Oregon Parks System. We hadn’t heard of it before so we did some research on their website and decided that a park that has hiking to ten different waterfalls was somewhere we definitely wanted to visit. It is a very busy park and we could only get two nights at the campground in August. Tip: Plan accordingly and book your campsite as far in advance as possible. The park itself is very pretty and has many tall trees alongside the creek. I highly recommend the 7.2 mile Canyon Trail to view all of the waterfalls. The park also has lots of wildflowers even in August.
There was a small cafe in this park, an off leash pet area, nature trail with a bird blind, and lots of fresh air and magnificent trees and waterfalls. The month of August is probably not the best time to see the falls at their peak but still very pretty.
On the coastal part of our loop trip, we opted to cut across to Lincoln City and then down to Newport. We had stayed at South Beach State Park before and loved it. This time the place was packed and it is a huge campground but we didn’t find it crowded or noisy. This is a pretty laid back atmosphere and with so much to do in the local area, we were happy to adventure out to see what outdoor fun we could find. I am not going to feature it in this entry but we took our kayaks for the day to Brian Booth State Parkwhich is just south of Newport. It was the perfect sunny day to spend on the water at Beaver Creek and then out to the ocean in our kayak. I highly recommend it.
Newport is a wonderful spot to have as a home base for this part of the coast and South Beach State Park has walking and biking trails as well as beach and dune access. It is very convenient to town if you need picnic items or anything else. Oh, almost forgot! The Newport Aquarium is a favorite from our trip here a few years ago with our boys. Don’t miss it!
We went every morning for a long walk along the Old Bayfront in Newport. Sipping fresh roasted coffee, we would stand and watch the sea lions who were sleeping and playing on the floating docks. What a noisy bunch but so very entertaining!
The end of every day was spent on the accessible platform as the sun was setting. Like a postcard and what a memory!
Further down the Oregon Coast, most people come to this state park to visit the dunes. The dunes provide a playground for those that love their sand sports like riding in quads and sand rails. We are much more of a people powered adventure sort and loved the fact that there are two lakes to kayak on in Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park.
We spent one of the most enjoyable days ever kayaking on this lake but many people were canoeing, fishing, and swimming there as well. What a great place to bring your family!
The campground is large and popular so you will need to make reservations for to guarantee a site. We happened to book one of the last spaces available and enjoyed our time under the tall trees. The weather wasn’t all that warm and the skies were gray but we still found plenty to do on our visit. The town of Florence is near-by and we enjoyed walking their little main street district and farmers market along the Siuslaw River.
This is our favorite overnight camping spot between our home and places we visit in Oregon. There isn’t much here to do but it is a clean and pretty park along the Rogue River. We enjoy the convenience of it being close to I5. This trip we drove into Ashland, Oregon (Home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival) for dinner at one of the many quirky little eating spots near Lithia Park.
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2. Research and learn about four birds. Learn the call, field marks, and create a nature journal.
Osprey
Great Blue Heron
California Towhee
3. Focus on learning my local wildflowers. Create some sort of record of each flower.
We have been keeping up with wildflower journal that I started last spring. I endeavor to list any flowers we see on each hike. I think this is a tradition I will continue next year as well.
4. Take Yosemite photos from the Yosemite photography book– September trip: There weren’t many suggestions for September except to take a late afternoon photo from Tunnel View. We were there mid-morning so we took a photo then. Note: You can see the effects of the bark beetles on the forest in Yosemite. You can learn more about it here: Drone Shows Devastation of the Bark Beetle. 5. Visit a new national park. We didn’t add any new parks to the list but we did visit Yosemite National Park during September and hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome on a bluebird sky day.
6. Visit two new state parks. I had California state parks in mind when I made this goal but I am going to list the new Oregon State Parks we visited this quarter: La Pine State Park, Silver Falls State Park, South Beach State Park, Jessie Honeyman State Park. We also went to Cape Perpetua, Hecata Head, Cape Foulweather, and Yaquina Head. 7. Identify three rocks from my original challenge. Nothing accomplished this quarter towards this goal. 8. Read 10 nature related book!10 Best of Everything National Parks.
How are your nature study goals coming along?
Need help getting started with your nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study? Check out the fresh “Getting Started” page here on the website!
Please read the following explanation outlining how to get this month’s newsletter.
The newsletter link is not in this email but will come separately. There may be a delay in your receiving the email so please don’t email me until the second day of the month if you haven’t received the link on the first. For some reason, some email providers take longer to receive the newsletter email.
If you don’t receive the separate email with the download link, you probably aren’t subscribed to the blog yet. This will take less than a minute to do if you follow the steps below.
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If you need to subscribe:
You will need to go to the Handbook of Nature Study, look to the top right corner for the box to type in your preferred email address, and then confirm the email that comes to your email inbox.
Once you subscribe, you will receive a thank you email from me with the download link for the current month’s newsletter.
This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of September so be sure to download it before 10/31/16.
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
Three weather and calendar related articles, two from contributors! (Shirley-Ann Vels and Lynn Seddon). My article includes a printable nature journal topper to get you started.
October planning page with this month’s Outdoor Hour Challenge links, nature journal ideas, field trip ideas, and more.
I have included an archive challenge: Outdoor Hour Challenge #10- Picnic. Use the ideas for some autumn outdoor time.
As always, some of my favorite links and some show and tell from my Instagram followers.
Resources for your Nature Library: I have started to build a nature library store on Amazon that will feature by category my favorite nature study books and resources. Take a look and see if there is anything you would like to put on your wish list for your family’s nature study library: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Library Suggestions on Amazon.com. Note this is my affiliate store to items I personally recommend and have read or seen in person.
Please note that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to members only printables each month in addition to the newsletter printables. You will need to log into your account and then go to the “Other Releases” section.
Please click over and read the step by step instructionsfor using the Handbook of Nature Study and the Outdoor Hour Challenge in your nature study plans starting in September. Let me know if you have any questions.
As a parent, it is our responsibility and privilege to introduce the natural world to our children.
This Outdoor Mom had a fantastic end of the summer! This post features our second Oregon trip of the year and lots of kayaking adventures. Technically, the Oregon trip was at the very end of August but after my August Outdoor Mom’s post so I want to include it here because it was a fantastic trip. I will be dedicating a complete post in October to the many Oregon State Parks we visited on this latest trip. It was a perfect trip!
We spent four days in the Bend/La Pine, Oregon area. It was a heat wave for them and most of the lakes and rivers were super busy with so many people swimming, using stand up paddleboards, rafts, and kayaks. I was really glad we had our kayak and we made the most of the time out on the water. We are in the middle of training our Labrador to ride along with us and she is quickly getting the hang of jumping in and enjoying the ride. The image above was taken in the Old Mill District of Bend, Oregon along the Deschutes River. It was a perfect night for a walk along the banks of the river and for sitting at an outdoor patio for dinner. We read in a brochure that Bend, Oregon is the most dog friendly town in the U.S. We believe it!
I think this is first photo I have shared where you can see our awesome tandem kayak (Old Town Loon 160T). We LOVE it! Both my husband and I are tall and there is enough room for our legs and the 70 pound Labrador. The image above shows us launching at Sparks Lake on the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway. It is a large shallow lake within view of many of the area’s signature mountains: Mt. Bachelor, South Sister, Broken Top.
This collage of images is from our stay in Newport, Oregon. We found an amazing spot to kayak just south of town at Beaver Creek (Brian Booth State Park). First we paddled up the creek and saw some interesting birds: Belted kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Turkey vulture, and several different ducks. Then we paddled back down the creek and all the way to the ocean! What a day!
This is the South Falls at Silver Falls State Park near Salem, Oregon. We had three days of hiking in this amazing place! There are actually TEN waterfalls that you can hike in a loop. This one was our favorite because you could actually hike behind the waterfall…look at the image carefully and you can see the trail. You can be sure I will be sharing more about this destination in my October Oregon State Parks entry.
I did fit in some nature journaling on this trip. I learned some interesting things about the heron and I actually heard the loudsound it made as we paddled too close to one and it flew off. Loud! It surprised me. I will be sharing a bit more about my nature journals in an up-coming post.
A little closer to home, my sunflowers bloomed! I looked out the window one morning and discovered this beauty. I love the sunflower time of the year and look forward to it each summer. This is one of the sunflowers from Renees Garden Seeds. So perfectly perfect.
We did some hiking closer to home when my two New Yorkers were home for a visit. We camped at Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe in California. It was perfect weather and the hiking was filled with wonderful autumn air and sunshine. This is Fallen Leaf Lake on a crisp September morning. We all took turns taking the kayak out for a spin on the water to take in the high Sierra views.
The last place on our travel list this month was to Yosemite National Park. We hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome with our children and they posed at the top for this amazing photo. It captures so much of what our family is about as we adventure in the big outdoors together. It was a day of laughter, refreshing vistas, and friendship. I tried to soak in the family time since it is hard to gather us all in one place anymore. We end up outside when we do get a chance to spend time together….habit? necessity? mutual love for God’s creation? I think it is a little of all of those things.
I hope you enjoyed my entry this month and if you want to play along, there are instructions at the bottom of this post.
If you missed my August and September nature study entries, here are the links:
Snail Observations at the Tidepools:We had a fantastic time hunting, observing, and learning about marine snails in response to the August newsletter topic. This is one of my favorite blog entries of the year!
Insect Nature Study -Potpourri: We had several opportunities to observe insect homes up close. We even identified something new to us!
Outdoor Mom’s Journal
Whether your family spends a few minutes a week outside or hours at a time, share what is going on in your world.
How Do You Join?
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 week 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….
I am reading…
I am dreaming about…
A photo I would like to share…
You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printablse which provides members with even more in-depth studies each month.
I love milkweed. Not only is it a beautiful flower but it is the host plant for one of my favorite insects, the monarch butterfly! During the autumn we can observe the milkweed plant turning dry and brown and the seed pods bursting open to disperse their seeds. The fluffy seeds fly away to hopefully create a new milkweed patch. This would be a great time of year to also research the many traditional uses of the milkweed fibers.
It is important to note there are many different kinds of milkweed….this I learned as part of our milkweed nature study. We have showy milkweed, purple milkweed, and narrow leaf milkweed in my part of the world. The flowers look very different and the seed pods look different. Use a local field guide to discover what kind of milkweed you have to observe in your neighborhood. If you need some suggestions for field guides, here is my Amazon.com affiliate link for my favorites: Wildflowers.
Here in California autumn is seed time for milkweed. The flowers are long past prime and the plant will be drying out. You may wish to start a year long study of milkweed and watch it over the next four seasons.
How about a free printable notebook page? This one is good for all four seasons.
Note: You do not need to purchase the ebooks to participate but just so you know, the More Nature Study Autumn ebook contains 3 custom milkweed notebooking pages (including an advanced version) and 2 coloring pages. Click the graphic at the bottom of this post to go over to check out the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
I have updated and added to the autumn seasonal nature study list above. Scan through and pick one to start with this month. Then in the seasons to come, revisit the topic and make some comparisons. Our family gained a sense of time and cycles by following one particular topic through a complete year noting the changes and the way life is a series of changes that make new growth possible. I highly recommend this way of learning to all of the Outdoor Hour Challenge families.
Enjoy your autumn and put some ideas on your plan for the autumn season. If you complete a seasonal study and create a blog entry, make sure to send in the link for the OHC Blog Carnival coming up in November. Send your entries to: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Autumn usually means a trip to the apple orchard but sometimes it includes some pears as well. We happen to have a pear tree in our backyard so it has been super easy over the years to watch the tree as it cycles through its many pretty stages, blossom to fruit harvest. Even if you can only manage to take a trip to a local farmers market or even to the supermarket to get some pears, this is an interesting and delicious nature study for the whole family. Use the ideas in the archive challenge above to get started. This is a challenge that is not from the Handbook of Nature Study but you will find online resources to get the interest going. Above all, enjoy some time outdoors this week!
You may be interested in viewing our family’s entry from the original study: Our Pear Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge. The notebook pages shown in this entry are from the More Nature Study – Autumn ebook and are the advanced pages that I included for high school or more advanced students. Of course, there is a notebook page for younger students as well available in the ebook.
Note: You do not need to purchase the ebooks to participate but they are handy to have for planning and for the regular and advanced notebook pages included in each one. Click the graphic at the bottom of this post to go over to check out the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
This is a reminder that the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival is coming up soon!
