Please note that the above amazon.com links are affiliate links. I purchased these books with my own money and have written an honest review.
Along with the beautiful illustrations, I really enjoyed the concept of how to create in our local communities a space and place to nurture the native butterflies and birds that make their homes there. Specific birds and butterflies are discussed along with a location map and interesting facts.
The main message of this series is how we can combat the negative effects some practices and progress can take on the habitat where the birds and butterflies need to live. For instance in A Place for Birds, there are suggestions that people put up decals on their windows so birds don’t fly into them and even provide nesting boxes for birds.
I would love to share both of these books with the young people in my life. From start to finish, I found these books to be a delight and they are now resting on my picture book shelf for any young visitors to my home to enjoy. I can imagine sitting on the sofa with a child alongside me as we page through and enjoy the words and illustrations together.
During our autumn visit to New Jersey, we had the chance to spend the afternoon at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Did you know there are over 560 national wildlife refuges? I was surprised to find one in this area of the world and so close to New York City. (26 miles to Manhattan but it’s going to take you a little over an hour to get there depending on traffic).
The literature says there are 244 species of birds that live or pass through this refuge during a typical year. We saw a handful of birds during our visit but we weren’t there very long and we were dodging raindrops when we were hiking on the trails.
We began our time at the refuge by going to the visitor center where we were greeted by enthusiastic and knowledgeable docents volunteers. They showed us the wonderful displays and answered our questions before sending us out to explore. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the day.
Once again we were on the Passaic River just like at Paterson Great Falls. It wasn’t very swampy when we visited but I could imagine the place once the rains and winter weather rolled in. The signs at the park said this is a place with mosquitoes and ticks so be prepared during the wetter seasons to wear pants and bring repellent.
I loved seeing my very first shagbark hickory treesalong the trail. We were practically the only visitors on this day and it was amazing to stand out in the forest to watch and listen for any signs of birds and animals.
The forest canopy was a blaze with color during our visit. We spotted bat boxes and birdhouses too along the trail.
Just another lovely image from our hike. Can you believe this is about an hour from New York City?
Around the nature center there was a nice area to picnic with tables and a view of some interesting bird houses. I would plan a visit with my children during the spring or summer and then hit the nature center, have a picnic, and then go exploring on the trail or by taking the auto tour.
This captured my attention too! They had a habitat for birds and butterflies around the nature center. In the summer I can only imagine how busy this area of the park is to our insect friends.
This is a wonderful place to visit for a walk on a trail or a boardwalk, to learn more about the interesting habitat, and to enjoy the opportunity to view such a variety of birds and animals in New Jersey.
Additional tips:
There is a visitor/nature center and gift shop but no place to eat so pack your lunch!
How about we do a small square study this week? Pay close attention to your square and see if you can observe some lichen or moss. If you do, use the ideas in the March 2016 newsletter to complete a nature journal entry as well as your small square study.
Look for small bits of things in your square…challenge your child to look closely and to try to identify as many objects as possible.
Here is the original Outdoor Hour Challenge for a small square nature study: Outdoor Hour Challenge #9 (from the Getting Started ebook).
This challenge is found in the Getting Started ebook which is included in every level of membership. The ebook provides the challenge as shown above as well as custom notebook pages for your follow up nature journal if desired.
I apologize in advance for the number of times I use the word “amazing” in this blog entry.
February was an excellent month for this Outdoor Mom! I had the pleasure of my daughter’s company for ten whole days and we crammed in as much California outdoor time as we could to refresh her from the New York winter. We started off locally with a hike to the river with our crazy dog who loved taking a swim even if the water was cold!
Then it was off to southern parts of California for a camping trip at San Clemente beach (between Los Angeles and San Diego). The campground is up on the bluff and you can take an easy trail down the hillside, over the railroad tracks and out onto the beach. The ice plant was in full blossom and so very pretty. The air was warm in the high 60’s and low 70’s the whole time we were there. What a joy!
There is a trail from the campground down to the San Clemente Beach Trail. This is about 2 miles in length and passes right by the pier. We walked out onto the pier and the image above shows the turquoise blue water and the pretty little beach town. We spent one morning just enjoying the beach trail, flowers and all!
The trail parallels the train tracks and it was fun to see the Amtrak Surflinercome by and the Metrolink too. The view looks right out onto the Pacific Ocean which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Another day we drove into San Diego and went straight to Balboa Park. I have been to the San Diego Zoo in the past but our family has never done any exploring in the adjoining park. Of course, we decided to visit the Botanical Building first. Well, we did actually go to the visitor center first to get a good map because this park is massive and we had no idea how to navigate the roads, paths, and shuttle system. We quickly figured it out and had fun walking and learning about this historical park.
If you are ever in San Diego, I highly recommend this park with its free shuttle and free exhibits. Check this link out: Balboa Park – San Diego.
Here are a couple of the gorgeous flowers found in the Botanical Building. It was awesome!
We also visited Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego and I will be sharing a complete entry on this park in a future entry. For now, here are a few of the highlights from our tidepooling adventure. Can you believe the size of the shell? It was the biggest intact shell I have ever found. Of course, we took photos and left it there for someone else to “discover” as well.
Look at those smiling faces! We both thought the tidepools were the highlight of our whole week…that and the sunshine.
Switching gears, we also made a drive out to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Parkduring our trip down south. My husband and I had been there before but my daughter was experiencing the desert landscape for the first time. It was hot! We had most of the trails we took to ourselves and it was fun to see the two of them rock scrambling!
I was content to be the camera person.
Here is a sampling of the wildflowers we saw on our hikes. I will of course be sharing an entry about Joshua Tree in the near future for you to get all of the details of this amazing place!
Back at home, spring came to visit. I want to share this image of my redbud in bloom…truly a miracle of color in my yard this year. Drought or no drought, this plant has survived and is flourishing.
One last image from a guest….my husband. He takes a hike just about every day and he is always sending me images of things he finds as he walks. He wanted me to share this mushroom with what he says is a “happy California cow” on the top. Do you see it?
I hope you enjoyed seeing my outdoor life over the past few weeks. I know here in California we are spoiled by incredible February weather this year. As I write this entry, I am thinking about the past four days and the over 9 inches of rain we received…totally flooded my basement room! It isn’t always so perfect here but I hope it inspires you to look for spring in your neighborhood. Don’t miss the new printables for members below!
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…
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.
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!
If you own the Discover Nature Close to Home book, you can find loads of information on pages 110-119. (Note this is an affiliate link.)
For members of the Handbook of Nature Study, you can look up the March 2013 newsletter that featured mushrooms, lichen, and moss. All levels of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study include the newsletter archives.
Here are my Great Backyard Bird Count results for 2016.
Anna’s Hummingbird – 2
Spotted Towhee – 2
California Towhee – 1
Scrub Jay – 1
House Finch – 1
Titmouse – 1
Mourning Dove – 1
White-crowned Sparrow – 2
Dark eyed Juncos – 2
American Robins – 14
Cedar Waxwings – 30
Northern flicker – 1
12 different birds with a total count of 58 birds! This year I only managed to count birds one of the mornings during the count period. This made a big difference in the results. Although, we had more birds this year than in the last 2 years, it is only because we had such a high count for the cedar waxwings. The morning I counted they just happened to be in my tree eating and roosting.
Hope you had a chance to count birds this year! Leave me a comment if you created an entry for your results and I will pop over and take a look.
Have you seen the new product over at NotebookingPages.com? If you own a Lifetime Membership over on Debra’s website, you can log into your account on NotebookingPages.com and download your set right now. If you aren’t already a member over there, you can purchase the set separately or I would highly recommend a Lifetime Membership so you can access all of the 1000’s of notebooking pages she has to offer. ($4.95 for the setor get started with your membership with $10!)
Please note I am an affiliate for NotebookingPages.com and have used the notebooking pages with my family for years!
Looking back through my photos from the past few months, I collected a few of the fungus images from our hikes that I wanted to share with you. I love a good fungus and find them truly fascinating. If only I had more time and energy to study them more in depth! The images above and below are from our trip to the East Coast…found along the trail in New Jersey.
Isn’t the color on this fungus pretty? From our study of fungus last autumn, I recognize this one as a scarlet cup of some sort. For now I will just enjoy the image…and make a note on my New Jersey nature journal page reminding me that we saw this beauty.
Here is a fungus found a little closer to home, in my backyard. It is growing on the trunk of our plum tree where we cut a limb off last year.
This one is also growing in my backyard on the stump of an old pine tree. I love the layered look of it!
Here is something we saw on a recent local hike. I am not sure if it is a fungi or a lichen…..going to need to do some research.
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.
If you are a subscriber and you haven’t received your newsletter email yet, check your SPAM inbox. Some subscribers have found the email buried in SPAM inbox.
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.
This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of March so be sure to download it before 3/31/16.
March Nature Study Planning Page with field trip ideas, nature photo ideas, and a special 15 minute challenge for parents.
Lichen Study printable notebook page which can be used as a nature journal topper as well.
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.
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!
I had a friend ask me the difference between a common mullein and a lamb’s ear. I just happen to have both growing in my yard so it didn’t take me long to pop out and take a few images. The images above are both of the mullein plant and the second year winter seed stalk. The rosette shape of the plant with its blue gray soft and fuzzy leaves grows low to the ground in the first year. Later on it will have leaves that are more upright along the stalk.
The image directly above this is of the lamb’s ear in winter. It grows in more of a clump with no marked rosette. The leaves are also a soft gray-green color and are fuzzy, perhaps not quite as thick as the mullein. In winter you can really see how different the plants are.
If you are observing these two plants in the summer or autumn, you can really tell the difference by the flower stalks. The mullein grows super tall and has yellow flowers and the lamb’s ear has a short stalk and purple flowers.
Lamb’s ear plant image from my archives…taken in the month of May.You can really see how the leaves are shaped in this image.
Here is the lamb’s ear blooming in the spring. You can see it is a low growing purple flower.
This is an image from my archives…taken in July. You can see how tall the stalk is in comparison to my window!
This is the tall yellow flowering stalk of the common mullein.
Hopefully this helps you distinguish the two plants….a lot of similarities and some really big differences too!
Use the link above to view the challenge from the archives. This is an easy and fun study for everyone and includes a free printable notebook page to record your observations.
If you own the Discover Nature Close to Home book, you will find a section talking about fungi on pages 173-187. Once you go over this information with your family, you may wish to complete the Mushroom Shapes Notebook page found in this entry: Mushroom Study.
book, you can find loads of information on pages 110-119. (Note this is an affiliate link.)
