I want to thank my sponsor for the month of February for their wonderful products that encourage families to learn more about the awesome world around us! These DVD’s are such a gift to all of us with the amazing images and information that children love.
I encourage you to support this family business and share their work with your friends and family.
This is our fifth year of participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count in our Northern California home. It is the highlight of our February nature study and has led to our becoming better birders every year.
Things We Learn With The Great Backyard Bird Count
Learning to identify our backyard birds-an obvious skill that comes directly from recording our observations.
Refining our skills as observers-knowing the difference between male and female specimens, subtle differences between species like the House finch and the Pine siskin.
Careful record keeping-counting and tallying each bird for the best data to share with the GBBC
Better at understanding changes over time-comparing numbers of birds from year to year, anticipating migratory birds, knowing a new bird
Learning to use our binoculars better and to take better bird photos
Becoming part of an online birding community-reading other family’s experiences and lists, seeing their photos
Value of contributing to a citizen science project- realizing our small part in this really important big project as a partner with Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Our2013 List of Birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count
Western Scrub Jay 2
Oak Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Spotted Towhee1
White-crowned Sparrow 4
Dark Eyed Junco 6
House Finch 15
House Sparrow 4
California Towhee 1
American Robin 20
Anna’s Hummingbird 2
Mourning Dove 4
Lesser Goldfinches 2
Northern mockingbird 1
Steller’s Jay 1
Pine Siskin 4
Not the impressive numbers we usually have and a few of our old favorites are missing like the woodpeckers and flickers and Cedar waxwings. We did have two new birds this year which was a thrill. The Steller’s jay and the Pine siskin are newcomers to our GBBC list.
I of course spent lots of time running from window to window to try to capture some of our backyard bird visitors….this is normal behavior from me at all times but especially during the GBBC. But this time I didn’t get an really super images so I will indulge you with my Mourning dove and California towhee….some of our regular year-round residents.
Did you count birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count?
Feel free to share your GBBC entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival this month or you can leave a comment here in this entry with the most exciting or interesting bird you saw during the GBBC.
Don’t forget that everyone who enters the OHC Carnival this month is entered to win a DVD from Crowe’s Nest Media – either the Monarch Butterfly or the Backyard Bird DVD! They are both wonderful resources for your nature study that your children will want to watch over and over again.
Our February Blog Sponsor….Thanks to the Crowe Family for providing such wonderful DVD’s and study guides for our science and nature study!
Outdoor Hour Challenge: For this challenge, I encourage you to start a life list of birds. A bird life list is a cumulative list of birds that a birder sees and identifies.There are a variety of ways to do a life list including a handwritten list in your nature journal, using a pre-made book, checking off birds and noting the dates in your field guide or from a checklist, keeping an online list at eBird, or using an app on your phone.
Don’t get stuck on picking the “perfect” way to keep your list. Review the choices and then get started. My only regret is that I did not start my personal life list sooner.
I have found that I like to keep multiple lists including one for our yard and neighborhood (by month), by location when you travel (like my Oregon and Yosemite lists), and perhaps even lists by the month or season. You can see my entry on Nature Journal Organization for more information.
You can also start a bird “wish list” and keep track of birds you would like to see in the future. This is especially helpful if you are traveling and can do some preparation before you leave noting the birds you may encounter.
Special Activity:Life List Printable
Bird Life List Printable
I have attempted to create a Life List Printable that will be flexible for you to use in your nature notebook. I am in the process of testing it out in my everyday bird sightings.
Your list can be as detailed as you wish.
Things to include: Date and Time of Day. Location. Gender. Weather. Bird Sounds. Number of birds seen.
Additional resources: Printable Checklists by Country or Region (updated the link with one that should get you started) Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #5.I love the quotes in this challenge from Charlotte Mason. Remind yourself that you are the key to a successful outing and follow your child’s lead as much as possible. After your outdoor time, start or add to your running list of birds you see in your backyard. You can use the notebook page from the ebook for further information.
It all started last year with our visit to Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology…a desire to be a better birder. I have known that my listening skills are not as sharp as they could be and I made it a goal to learn more of my local bird’s songs and calls, one bird at a time.
We have been at it for about ten months and I have found that just paging through The Backyard Birdsong Guideand listening to the songs has greatly helped me learn to distinguish between a House sparrow and a House finch, a Titmous and a Nuthatch. I think it is like learning a whole new language and as you work on it your ears get accustomed to hearing subtle differences.
This page on All About Birds has some wonderful tips for learning to recognize bird songs: Songs and Calls. I highly recommend it for anyone who is trying to learn this skill. My boys pick up on it faster than I do so don’t hesitate to share the tips with your children.
Last summer I was able to identify a Hermit thrush during our Oregon camping trip by listening and repeating in my head the song he cried out in the forest. I followed the advice to put the bird song into words that I could remember. I now can immediately identify it with no question.
The Steller’s jay that has moved into my neighborhood in the last few months can be heard easily and distinguished from the Western scrub jay with ease.
It feels good. You can do it too by taking one bird at a time and making your own memory or aid to remembering.
During my recent trip to Florida, I used my camera video to capture some bird calls for later identifying.
Do I think it is worth the effort to learn the various bird songs of my neighborhood birds? Yes! It has given our family so much more enjoyment in our birding and has helped us to be more skilled at listening. You can use the ideas in last week’s challenge to help you get started: Birding by Ear.
Outdoor Hour Challenge: This will be a great week to get outside and look and listen for birds. Hopefully you have started a list of your feeder birds and now you can take a few minutes to look up on the All About Birds website what your local birds sound like.You can do this by typing in your bird in the search box and then clicking the “sounds” tab a little ways down on the page.Birding by ear is such a great skill for little ones since they many times will hear a bird before they see it. What a great way to work on our listening skills together…outside in the fresh air and exploring our own yards and neighborhoods!
Split your Outdoor Hour Challenge timethis week between preparing for identifying birds by their call using the All about Birds website and then putting your skills to work. The additional activities this week will give you some more information about just how birds sing. The second video is for all the adults to be inspired by as we endeavor to share the many bird’s songs with our children…be encouraged!
Additional Activity: Videos, a Quiz, and Inspiration
Test your knowledge of your local bird calls: eNature Birdcall Quiz (online listening).
Now something special….the power of nature and being outdoors! Want to be inspired? Watch this video Birding by Ear (Blind birdwatchers in Texas!)
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #2.This is one of my favorite challenges….to listen and then use simple words to describe your outdoor time. Use the ideas in this challenge to help your child listen carefully during your time outdoors…even if it is just for a few minutes. Record your words in your nature journal or on the notebook page in the ebook.
What? The Great Backyard Bird Count When? February 15-18, 2013 Who? Anyone around the world…for the first time ever! How? Count birds in your yard and at your feeders. Report the data to the Great Backyard Bird Count
Our family is getting ready for the big count this weekend. The weather is going to be warm and sunny so we will be able to get out and count those birds! I invite you to join us either formally or informally….How about some tweets with the hashtag #GBBC? How about some Instagram images with #GBBC?
Get out those Bird Grids from the February Newsletter and get started looking for birds with your family.
Watching birds is a daily activity that all in our family enjoy. Mondays and Tuesdays are Project Feederwatch days so we tally birds and keep official lists on those days and then share our data online. It is a simple routine that we look forward to each week. Since we have been participating in Project Feederwatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count for many years now, there are rarely birds we can’t identify but we did not start off with that level of knowledge. One bird at a time, we added to our life list.
Now that we can tell a Purple finch from a House finch and a House sparrow from a White-Crowned sparrow, that counting goes much faster. We have our clipboard, binoculars, and field guide right in the front window where we can view our bird feeding station and bird bath.
This month’s Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter has several smaller grids for you to use while observing birds in your yard. Each of these grids will help train your eyes to see different aspects of the birds and keep a simple record of what you see. Being able to name the colors and to describe the various bird parts is a first step to learning to use that information to identify your backyard birds with a field guide. The two grids in the newsletter are perfect for beginners or younger children and the other tally boxes will give your older students something to use with their nature journals.
I encourage you to print this page out of the newsletter and keep it with your bird watching resources. There is also a notebook page for your nature journal to record your feeder bird activity.
I was inspired by The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden to include a poem and perhaps a sketch a bird’s egg in my nature journal. If you have the book, pull it out and add it to your nature table, open to one of the March pages which feature birds.
I am excited to share my recent Florida adventure with you. I was able to add quite a few birds to my life list while visiting Sanibel and Captiva Islands as well as visiting the Corkscrew Swamp Sactuary and Clam Pass Beach Park in Naples.
It was a trip of a lifetime and I thoroughly enjoyed my birding…wished I had taken my better camera but I still have quite a few interesting things to share. I hope to have the entry done by next week.
So have you gotten started with your bird grid studies?
We are staring a month long focus on birds using the Handbook of Nature Study and other resources found here on my blog and in each Friday’s post. Make sure you have subscribed to this blog so you will receive the monthly newsletter download link for additional bird study encouragement and special discounts on ebooks and other products.
Outdoor Hour Challenge:
For our first bird related challenge, let’s all print out our Bird Study Grids from the newsletter. This month they are a little different than in previous months. I have given you two simple grids that you all can use wherever you live and at whatever time of year you want to study birds. There are also two smaller tally sheets you can print out for your nature journal to record bird colors and bird parts you observe. Print and cut any or all of the grids this month and have some fun while taking your Outdoor Hour Challenge time either outdoors looking for birds or from you window if you need to.
Printable Activity: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Table Ideas Birds
Use the suggestions on this free printable to build or add to your nature table. There are many suggestions that have hyperlinks so make sure to check those out for additional ideas and resources. Send me a photo of your nature table and it may be included in the next newsletter!
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, completeOutdoor Hour Challenge #4.Use your outdoor time to talk about your new focus for the month on birds and all the different ways you can learn about birds. Spend a few minutes listening for birds, looking for signs of birds, and then completing the accompanying notebook page in the ebook or an entry in your own nature journal.
Winter gardening for wildlife allows our family to help sustain our local animal community during the long cold winter months when they are looking for their basic needs of food, water, and shelter. In my last Winter Garden For Wildlife post, I shared how we have structured our garden to help encourage wildlife to visit all year long. One of the vital components of a winter garden for wildlife is to create sheltering spots.This often means leaving a little “messiness” in your winter garden. With just a little effort and planning, you can be rewarded with daily visits from the birds and other animals who enjoy your winter garden.
Here are some ideas for you to use in your own winter garden oasis for sheltering spots —–
bushes, rocks, trees, arbor, leaf piles.
Spreading fallen leaves over your flower beds makes a place for birds to forage and other creatures to over-winter.I have observed the towhees and the juncos picking through the leaves looking for something to eat. We even add in a few of the smaller fallen branches to the pile which give additional spots for birds to perch and land under the feeder. If you have access to a few logs, making a log pile would be another option for a variety of creatures to use as shelter.
Our rock patches are the perfect place for overwintering creatures to hide in and under.I know there are insects of some kind living in these rocks….I have seen beetles. I also have observed that the Western scrub jays and robins poke around in these rocks which leads me to believe there are some tasty morsels in the rocks for them to enjoy.
Larger rocks allow for creatures to shelter from the winter temperatures and conditions. They seem to find all the nooks and crannies to squeeze into and to use as protection. I have even seen a few lizards out here on the big rocks…not my favorite creatures but still very awesome to see.
Although we do prune back the trumpet vines and climbing rose twice a year, we leave it to grow over the winter to allow the birds to perch and shelter. Our main backyard bird feeder is just to the left of the edge of this photo and the birds will use these vines as landing spots on their way to and from the feeder. I have also seen the birds huddled inside the vines when the wind is howling away…they seem all snug tucked up inside. The littler birds escape the larger birds by getting up inside the vines…many layers of shelter going on in this spot of the yard.
Leaving dry plant stems in the garden leaves a place for insects and spiders to shelter. I read somewhere that there are insects that will crawl into the hollow stems for shelter through the winter. I have not seen this yet but my eyes are on the alert!
The shrubs and bushes in our yard provide the best protection from the rain and snow. I often will see birds tucked up inside the limbs of the bushes in our yard even in the hardest downpours. There are several spots in the lavender bushes that look like the image above where the birds have created a little hiding spot.
Planning ahead when you are finishing your autumn garden clean-up gives your winter garden a chance to provide the shelter your neighborhood creatures need to survive the cold and wet conditions of the season. Shelter from the wind, rain, snow, ice, and predators is a vital part of any winter garden plan.
Do you have any additional ideas for winter garden shelter for wildlife?
Bird watching year after year, you begin to have favorite birds that visit your feeders. You know the comings and goings of the common feeder birds as they stop by to eat each day; sparrows early in the day, scrub jays perched on top, the titmouse speeding in and out.
But sometimes you have birds that bless you with a rare visit…not even to the feeder but still close to your yard and within binocular range of your front window. We have had several hawk visitors over the years that we have observed in this way. This week there was a bird on the telephone wire across the street from our house. I spotted it from the window and then grabbed my binoculars. I grabbed my “big” camera with the really good zoom lens and stepped outside and across the street to see if I could capture him in an image.
It was as if he was posing for me. The look on his face was cautiously curious. I snapped away and here are a couple of frames that really give you a feel for this beautiful hawk.
I think he is a Red-shouldered hawk, both from the description in my field guide, looking at AllAboutBirds, and listening to him as he later soared up in the sky.
Isn’t this a magnificent bird? Look at all those colorful feathers and the patterns are amazing. All hawks are beauties but this one is especially beautiful…I am in awe.
Here is what AllAboutBirds.com says about the call of the Red-shouldered hawk:
“A Red-shouldered Hawk’s most common call is a plaintive, rising whistle that sounds like kee-ahh. The call tends to be repeated 5–12 times, with each note lasting about half a second. Hawks use it to claim their territory and when alarmed.”
So now that I can listen for the two syllable call (kee-aah) of the Red-shouldered hawk, I will easily be able to identify it when I hear it while on hikes. There are several other hawks I hear from time to time and they are much different: Sharp-shinned hawk – which says kik-kik-kik. Red-tailed hawk – which says keee-eeeek-aar (like a scream) Cooper’s hawk – which says cak-cak-cak-cak-cak
Do you have hawks in your neighborhood? Can you identify them by their call?
According to the Cornell website, many hawks are now stalking backyard birdfeeders and finding a meal of smaller birds to be much easier than hunting in the wild. I thought that was interesting.
and listening to the songs has greatly helped me learn to distinguish between a House sparrow and a House finch, a Titmous and a Nuthatch. I think it is like learning a whole new language and as you work on it your ears get accustomed to hearing subtle differences.
