Here is your great big reminder that the Great Backyard Bird Count starts this Friday, February 17, 2012! I am anxious to count birds with my family and to compare our results with last year. I am wondering if our unusual winter weather will effect our numbers and species.
We spend a lot of time observing feeder birds as part of Project Feederwatch so this week’s focus on winter feeder birds is a perfect way to dig a little deeper. We have developed quite a list of backyard birds as part of this project. You can see our list here: Handbook of Nature Study – December Bird List. We have never seen a chickadee at our feeder but we still did the research as part of this Winter Bird Study Challenge.
We stared our nature study time focused on Chickadees as suggested in the More Nature Study Book 2 challenge. We pulled out the field guides and looked up to see what kind of chickadees we may see in our area.
My son also used Cornell’s All About Birds site to read more on the Mountain Chickadee which appears to be the only chickadee we may possibly observe. He completed the advanced notebook page from the ebook using information from the website.
We have heard the Mountain Chickadee on hikes up the mountain but have never actually seen one that I can remember. You can be sure we will keep our ears and eyes alert when we are out in that area again.
Since we didn’t get to observe a chickadee this week, I gave them the option to choose one of our feeder birds to learn a little more about and complete a notebook page recording their findings.
I chose the Mourning Dove which is a regular visitor to our front and backyard feeders. If I see one dove, I always look for the mate. They travel in pairs and seem to look out for each other as they bob along eating seed that has fallen from the platform feeders. I used a coloring page from Cornell’s Feeder Bird coloring book. I always feel so clumsy when I try to sketch a bird so having the simple outline to work from makes my journaling more enjoyable.
My son did my Project Feederwatch bird count with me today as part of this challenge. He looked up three additional birds in the field guide to complete his winter bird study.
December Bird List – Our Family’s On-Going Record of Our Bird Sighting A Life Project
We have had a busy and full month watching birds in our yard and as part of our December travels. Project Feederwatch has become a natural part of our weekly routine and helps us take a few minutes two days a week to count birds that come to our feeders. First a few interesting photos and then this month’s bird list!
First off, our sweet and fabulous White-breasted nuthatch resident…or at least one of the three that entertain us everyday with their acrobatics on our backyard tree trunks. Ups and downs and lots of pecking are observed as we watch out the window. They also have a very distinct bird sound that they make and we are alerted to look up when we are outside and they are present. If you click the link above and click the Pacific song, you will hear what our nuthatch sounds like (there is an Eastern song as well).
I had to zoom this one in and crop it to show you this cute little guy and his expression.
Our beloved California Towhee in the feeder….usually he scratches around under the feeder but today he showed up for pictures. Isn’t he interesting with his pink-orange rump and pink-orange around the eye? There is always a pair in the yard and they don’t ever stray very far from each other. We learned that the colored patch under the tail is called the “crissum”.
Here is the other half of the pair….up on the branch, waiting for a turn in the feeder. (Males and females look alike.)
Since we started participating in Project Feederwatch, we have seen three of these Spotted Towhees in the yard. They are strikingly beautiful birds and since they are not year-round residents we try to enjoy them while they are here.
I love the way this bird friend is clinging to the twig and posing. You can see the dried up blackberries on the vine that we left from the summer garden. The birds are seen frequently stopping by for a purple snack.
The Western bluebird enjoys a little bath this time in our front yard. I still get excited when he comes to visit. They usually come in a small bunch and then leave all at the same time. Lovely.
Here is the very best shot of the Anna’s Hummingbird at our feeder that I could capture to share. The flash accidentally went off but that really shows his beautiful ruby/pink/iridescent color. We have one or two at a time in the feeder these days, usually a male and a female. There might be more than two since the feeder is emptied frequently even at this time of the year.
In Our Yard – mostly at the feeders
Spotted towhee
Dark-eyed junco
House sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Mourning dove
Western bluebird
Mockingbird
Western scrub jay
American robin
White-breasted nuthatch
California towhee
House finches
Lesser goldfinches
Anna’s hummingbird
Oak titmouse
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Acorn woodpecker
Out and About:
American crow
Northern flicker
California quail
Steller’s jay
Wild turkeys
Brewer’s blackbird
Pigeons
White-tailed kite ***New to our life list
Red-tail hawk
Barn swallow
Bewick’s wren ***New to our life list
Downy woodpecker – hanging on a tall weed (more on that later)
There is a wealth of birding information on the internet but I have not found a more homeschool-friendly site than the ones sponsored by Cornell University. I would love to encourage you all to subscribe to their homeschool blog (click the logo above to pop over there now).
I would love for other families to join ours in watching your feeder birds. It is super easy and you just need to devote a few minutes a week to getting to know your feeder birds one bird at a time. Email me with any questions you have about the program.
So which bird photo did you like the most? I think I like the California towhee in the feeder the best since it is one that I have been trying to snap for awhile now.
Our front yard feeder has been busy, busy, busy the last few weeks. The colder nights and mornings seem to draw the birds out to our feeders and it is a joy to watch each day from our front window. I joined Project Feederwatch this year for the very first time and I am thoroughly enjoying counting birds two days a week…just a few minutes a day.
We have had some wonderful bird visitors to enjoy and it makes me happy to see them spending time in our yard plantings and feeders.
Here is our beautiful Western bluebird in the Pistache tree. We don’t see these regularly so it is a treat when they flock into the trees to snack and then sun themselves.
Our most exciting new friend is the Ruby-crowned kinglet. We have nicknamed him Rudy the Ruby. He looks much like a little goldfinch but there is a bright orange patch on the top of his head…the feathers sort of ruffle up to show the color. These images are taken through our living room window when Rudy was sitting in the bushes looking into the house right at me. He came four days in a row and landed on the same branch….I loved being able to get a really good look at him up close. Thanks Rudy.
Here he is with his feathers down. Interesting huh?
This is the first year we placed a birdbath in the frontyard and I am always amazed at how many birds each day come to bathe and drink from this water source. I highly recommend putting out a birdbath to attract bird visitors. We found that if we put a few rocks in the middle of the birdbath, making the water a little more shallow, more birds actually bathe. Don’t they look like they are having fun?
Now for our November Bird List:
Yard and Feeders
California Towhee
American Robin
Western scrub jay
House sparrows
House finches – really pink right now
Lesser goldfinches
Anna’s hummingbird – still several birds that come everyday to the feeder
White-breasted nuthatch
Spotted towhee
Oak titmouse
Dark-eyed juncos
White-crowned sparrows
European starlings
Western bluebirds
Great horned owl – hooting 5 AM
Mourning doves – sweet pair
Ruby-crowned kinglet – new to our life list!
Travels around town and to the Sierra
American Crow
Canada geese
Brewer’s blackbirds
Steller’s jay
Pigeons
Turkey vulture
Snowy egret – flying
Red-tail hawk
California quail
Bald eagle!
Mallards
White-headed woodpecker
California gulls
Osprey
Common raven
This was the best birding month in a very long time. My field guide has been busy and our bird list is always handy.
There is a wealth of birding information on the internet but I have not found a more homeschool-friendly site than the ones sponsored by Cornell University. I would love to encourage you all to subscribe to their homeschool blog (click the logo above to pop over there now).
American Robin. Isn’t he magnificent? What a great image with all the colors!
We had a flock of robins, starlings, and another bird I never could identify fly through our neighborhood yesterday. They were all perching in the pistache tree and eating the fruits/nuts. What a noise they made!
Our Dark-eyed Juncos were at the feeder yesterday for the first time in a very long time. There are also about 25 House sparrows and White-crowned sparrows at a time that eat at the front birdfeeder each day.
I am really loving this time of year and the return of so many birds to our area.
As part of our House Sparrow study, we kept track of the tally of birds who have visited our feeders. We have a regular contingency of sparrows but this month the numbers have greatly increased. We saw two kinds of sparrows this month.
Using the More Nature Study Challenge for House sparrows, we did some research to see what other kinds of sparrows there are in our neighborhood. We did this by going to the Great Backyard Bird Count website, clicking the Explore the Results button at the top, and then entering our town name. This brings up all the statistics from the latest Bird Count – Bird species, number of birds, number of people reporting observations of a particular bird. I found this very helpful. According to the lists, in February there are lark sparrows, song sparrows, house sparrows, and golden-crowned sparrows seen in our town.
Advanced follow-up notebook page from the More Nature Study with the OHC ebook.
We decided to look those particular sparrows up in our field guide and note their field marks just in case we happen to see these three other species sometime in our area. The trouble is that the females all look very similar. We found the What’s That Sparrow? page on the Cornell website very helpful.
Here is the list of other October birds…we were not as diligent this month at recording our birds but I am going to try to keep it as a daily task for Mr. B the whole month of November. 🙂
October 2011
California towhee
Spotted towhee – first ones we have seen since spring at our feeder
White-crowned sparrows – increase in numbers
House sparrows – increase in numbers
White-breasted nuthatch
Oak titmouse
House finches
Turkey vultures – soaring overhead
Mourning doves
Western scrub jays
Lesser goldfinches
American robin
American crow
Anna’s hummingbirds – still coming in numbers to the feeders
Heard our Great horned owl and California quail
Along the road we saw Wild turkeys, Brewer’s blackbirds, pigeons, Canada geese, and a Snowy egret.
There were also several Red-tail hawks and a Cooper’s hawk on a drive to town.
Do any of you participate in the Project FeederWatch Program? It starts the second Saturday in November and I think our family is going to join in this year since we have made a habit of keeping track of our feeder birds anyway. Do you want to join up too? Click over and read all about it! Or watch a video.
We also are submitting this post to Heather’s Tweet and See link-up.
More Nature Study #7 House Sparrow (English Sparrow in the Handbook of Nature Study)
Inside Preparation Work:
1. Read pages 83-85 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 20 English Sparrow). Highlight some points you can share about the house sparrow with your children.
2. If you have a bird field guide, use the index to look up the House sparrow and any other sparrows you may have in your area.
3. Let your children see an image of the House sparrow and have them describe what they see. (You may use the information in the Additional Links section below.)
4. Younger Children: Read the Burgess Bird Book chapter on the English(House) Sparrow online. Listen to an MP3 recording of the chapter.
Outdoor Hour Time:
1. Seize the opportunity to observe a House sparrow during your week. This may need to be done from a window at first but outdoors is always better if you can keep still and quiet as you observe. If you have a pair of binoculars, take them along with you so you can view the sparrow’s features. Try to observe their color, size, beak, tail shape, and behavior. Look for House sparrows in your yard in bushes or hedges, in parks, or even around buildings in urban areas.
2. If you don’t have a House sparrow to observe, choose another bird and have your child describe its features. (It is always good to compare size, shape, beak, and tail.)
Follow-Up Activity:
1. After your Outdoor Hour time, take a few minutes to follow-up your bird observation time. Pull out your field guide and learn a little bit more about any birds you were able to view.
2. Allow the opportunity for a nature journal entry, a notebook page, or time to color the accompanying coloring page.
3. Advanced follow-up: Compare the House sparrow with another sparrow in your neighborhood. You can use the accompanying notebook page for your notes (ebook users only).
4. Advanced follow-up: Watch for the House sparrow in all four seasons. Keep a record of what months you see them in your yard or neighborhood.
Please note these are affiliate links to products I love and highly recommend.
This challenge is part of the More Nature Study – Autumn series. All of the challenges are gathered into one ebook with notebooking pages (regular and for advanced students) and additional resources. You can gain access to this ebook by purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. See the Join Uspage by clicking the link at the top of the website for more information about what comes with your Ultimate membership.
House Finches
Lesser Goldfinches- in the sunflowers and birch trees
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Oak Titmouse
Mourning Doves
California Towhee
American Robins
Steller’s Jay
Western Scrub Jay
Acorn Woodpecker
Great Horned Owl
Anna’s Hummingbird
House Sparrows
Canada Goose
American Crow
Turkey Vultures
Red-tail Hawk
Black-headed Grosbeak
California Quail
American Ravens – what huge birds with big pointy beaks!
Mallard ducks at the lake
Osprey – heard it but did not see it (Yosemite)
Snowy egret – out and about
Our list is pretty much the same as it was last month…summer birds. I am guessing that this month we will begin to see a change in the birds we have visiting our feeders. I think this is the most interesting aspect of keeping a monthly list…it brings into focus the cycle of birds and they rhythm of the seasons.
Now our exciting bird story!
We were able to observe a Lesser goldfinch sitting on a nest in the bushes at my dad’s house. Mama was sitting on the eggs but when I came a little too close with the camera she flew away to a near-by branch. My dad says that there were two little birds that hatched. He has a whole flock of goldfinches in his garden so it doesn’t surprise me that he had a nest this year.
We spent quite a bit of time away from home in July so I will attempt to break the list down by location.
Backyard/Local
European Starlings
House Finches
Lesser Goldfinches – they sound like they are laughing
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Oak Titmouse
American Robins
Mourning Doves – our constant companions, everyday under the feeders, always a pair
California Towhee
Steller’s Jay
Western Scrub Jay
Acorn Woodpecker
Great Horned Owl – early morning
Anna’s Hummingbird – males chasing each other, not so many in the feeders but in the flower garden
House Sparrows
Canada Goose
American Crow
Turkey Vultures
Red-tail Hawk
Mountain Chickadee
Black-headed Grosbeak
California Quail
Brewer’s blackbirds
Santa Cruz
Brown Pelicans
California Gulls
Grand Tetons/Utah Trip
Osprey-Wyoming
Trumpeter Swans
American White Pelicans
Lots of gulls – not sure what kind
Killdeer
Barn Swallows
Red-winged blackbirds
Western meadowlark
If I ever go back to Yellowstone, I will print this bird list.
You can share your link with Tweet and See…click the button above to learn more about the monthly meme. This exercise of keeping a list of birds has opened my eyes to a whole world. I highly recommend this activity for all families, no matter where you live.
We have been working on our July Newsletter Nighttime Critter Challenge all month. I wanted to post a little of what we are observing and learning to give you an idea of how you can pick a few things from your area to study in the evening hours. I will update our list after the end of the month with any new finds.
Our most predominant nighttime critters of interest are the Brown bats that come every single night to fly in our backyard. I wrote about them back in May as part of mammal study. For the July newsletter challenge for Nighttime Critters, I decided to share a few of our other nighttime visitors of interest. This study was sort of on-going because when the weather is hot, we tend to drag sleeping bags out to the back deck to sleep in the cool night air. We all lay awake and listen and watch as the nighttime settles in around us.
Shooting stars, satellites zipping across the sky, the moon, the swaying trees in the breeze, and the night sounds all entertain us as we wait for sleep to come.
Fill In The Circle and Fill In With Color Example – Poor owl sketch…he has such a crooked beak.
One of the things that we have discovered sleeping outside on hot summer nights is that we have quite a few great horned owls in our neighborhood. We can hear them calling back and forth right after the sun goes down and then again at around 5 AM. Here is a link to AllAboutBirds.org and if you click the sound button, you will hear the two types of sounds we hear from our owls: Great Horned Owls. We have yet to actually see them but they are out there…no doubt about it.
We also are serenaded by crickets when the temperatures get just right. It is amazing how you don’t hear any crickets and then all of a sudden it is as if someone turned on a cricket soundtrack and they all chirp at the same time. The lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study gives a great illustration showing the parts of the cricket and an excellent explanation of how he “sings”. (Lesson 82)
“The wing covers are much shorter than the abdomen and beneath them are vestiges of wings, which are never used. The male has larger wing covers than the female, and they are veined in a peculiar scroll pattern. This veining seems to be a framework for the purpose of making a sounding board of the wing membrane, by stretching it out as a drumhead is stretched.” Handbook of Nature Study.
Turn in your copy of the Handbook of Nature Study to read much more in the lesson explaining this interesting creature.There is such a simple explanation of the mechanics of the crickets chirping that it is perfect for sharing with younger children. The crickets and the frogs compete in our neighborhood for the winner of the “background” noise. It seems as if one or the other is singing their little hearts out.
We smell skunks quite a few nights a week. Sleeping outside we hear rustling in the garden and I think it is the skunk. I know they dig around the base of the birdfeeder outside our window but over the years I have decided that if he leaves me alone, I will leave him alone. Here is another entry where I talk about our nighttime visitors.
List from the July Newsletter. I cut it out and taped it inside my nature journal.
One last nighttime critter we have had around the neighborhood is the raccoon. Our neighbor has been sharing how they keep forgetting to bring in the dog’s food dish at night and the raccoon has decided that it makes a easy snack taken just outside their patio door. We have had our share of raccoons in the yard over the years but we haven’t seen any lately. Here is an entry sharing one raccoon experience: Raccoon Visitor.
Well that gives you a taste of what we have around here in the evenings. I just thought of something else I need to put on my list….moths.
I look forward to reading about your nighttime critters. Don’t forget to post your entry and then submit it to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival before 7/30/11 for a chance in the July Newsletter giveaway!
