“The purpose of all these lessons on the hen are: (a) To induce the child to make continued and sympathetic observations on the habits of the domestic birds. (b) To cause him involuntarily to compare the domestic with the wild birds. (c) To induce him to think for himself how the shape of the body, wings, head, beak, feet, legs, and feathers are adapted in each species to protect the bird and assist it in getting its living.” Handbook of Nature Study
Do you raise backyard chickens? Do you have friends or neighbors that have chickens? Use the ideas in this week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge to learn more about these interesting birds! The lessons in the Handbook of Nature Study can apply to all sorts of birds as well as chickens, so read through the lesson suggestions to find something to observe up close and then create a nature journal.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
The story of how I decided to create a more wildlife friendly backyard started a long time ago.
Our Backyard – 1967
I grew up in a world of manicured lawns and formal flower beds that required a lot of care and attention.
Our First Home in California – 1987
Purchasing our first home back in California, we were happy to be able to afford a plot of land that had a large yard with front yard and backyard lawns and bare ground that had potential for flowers and vegetables in the garden. But in those days, I hadn’t awakened my desire to garden for wildlife, only human needs.
Fast forward a few years, we started to homeschool and to spend lots more time in our own yard. Homeschooling introduced us to nature study and I was drawn to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of encouraging lots of outdoor time for children. While my boys played outside in our backyard, I haphazardly planted more pollinator friendly plants and trees as a way to create a space where we had some things to observe and learn about together.
Then we made more radical changes by completely removing our front yard lawn and replacing it with native plants and adding additional food and water sources for the birds and other animal visitors. We were creating a more wildlife friendly habitat.
Then we moved to Central Oregon and its harsher environment. We experienced the truly cold and snowy winter climate and the dry, dry, dry high desert climate in the summer. It was a bit of an adjustment to learn what would thrive in our new yard and what sorts of wildlife we needed to accommodate.
The process has been enjoyable and interesting. It takes patience and a little effort but creating a wildlife friendly habitat is worth all the energy.
Wildlife will come to you!
My husband says it’s a case of “if you build it, they will come”. This truly has been our experience.
There have been doubters in our circle of friends. We’ve had people question our choices from time to time, but once we explain why we plant certain things or leave certain plants/weeds to grow, they better understand that we really do have a plan.
My hope is that you will consider creating a wildlife garden of your own. I assure you that you don’t need a lot of land, a lot of money, or any special knowledge in order to be successful.
Think of the process as a way to invite nature right up to your doorstep.
Assess Your Yard and Make a Plan (make a headline)
Make an assessment of what you already have available in your yard. You can use either of the printables below to get started. Ask your children to help you make an inventory of what may already be working for wildlife.
Would you like a free printable plan for creating your own wildlife habitat? I created one for you to use as you assess your yard for the four elements you’ll need to become certified.
Brainstorm Ideas About Who You Would Like to Visit Your Yard
After you assess your yard, create a list of what you’d like to invite into your habitat. Your children may need some guidance in making a reasonable list of things that may come to visit.
Here are some ideas: butterflies, birds, ladybugs, bees, frogs and toads, squirrels.
My next post will help you create a plan to attract wildlife to your yard by planting and creating the habitat that will entice them to visit and stay awhile.
For now, print one of the suggested printables above and make it a family project to gather information about your current backyard habitat. I don’t want you to worry if you think your yard is a barren wasteland to start with. In my next post, I’ll help you to make a start and I guarantee you that anything you do to create a wildlife habitat will be rewarded if you’re patient.
If you want to look for a good book at your public library that will help stimulate interest in this project, I highly recommend this book that I have in my personal library.
Please note that the link above is an Amazon affiliate link to a book I purchased and value as a resource on this topic.
I will be continuing this series in the months to come. I hope it will help you begin to think about your own backyard space as a possible wildlife habitat that will bring some wild things right to you.
Leave me a comment or send me an email if you have any questions or comments.
Did you hear that? Rattle, tat, tat, tat! Run, look out the window, there’s a sapsucker visiting again. I hear their tap or their call and I try to sneak a peek. There is such joy in seeing this colorful woodpecker each year, a reward for the effort put into learning about him and all the other birds that come to visit.
Sapsucker in our yard this past April 2020.
Your family can learn about this interesting and beautiful woodpecker with this Outdoor Hour Challenge.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
Topics in this ebook include:
Swallows and swifts
Catfish
Jewelweed
Prickly lettuce
Cockroach
Field horsetail
Catbird
Calcite, limestone, marble
Chicken
Turkey
Hedgehog fungi
Sapsucker
Brooks
You may want to look at the Learning about Birds ebooks for additional bird study ideas using the Outdoor Hour Challenge. There are two other woodpeckers featured in this book: downy woodpecker and hairy woodpecker.
Now that autumn is rolling on in and I’m winding down my garden season, I thought it was time for an update to my July entry on what was going on in my yard’s wildside. To get you up to speed, you can read the first entry in this wildside series here: Keeping A Wildside – Oregon Style.
Mostly, autumn is a time of mowing and cleaning up what’s left and reflecting on what I might do differently next year.
The whole idea of a wildside is to keep an area of your yard “wild” to see what grows there naturally. This provides a natural habitat for your native bees and birds to use for food and shelter. Allowing the plants to go to seed will keep your wildside growing from year to year.
I left a large patch of plants growing along the fence until I knew for certain what they were. It turns out they were prickly lettuce. They aren’t an especially pretty plant and I’m thinking next year I’ll pull them up when they sprout in the spring. (There will be a prickly lettuce nature study coming soon!)
My lovely mullein has sort of taken over the one side of our berm garden. I love mullein but we had so much of it that I went ahead and pulled it up by the roots to clear a space in the garden for some more yarrow. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of mullein for our family to enjoy along with the birds and bees.
The experience of allowing a wildside allows for me to change my mind about a particular plant once I identify it. I allow something to grow until I can see if it’s a native, if it’s beneficial to birds or birds or other animals, and if it isn’t something that’s going to completely take over the area. It’s a lot more work to allow things to grow before you decide if you need to weed them out, but I learn a little more each year and I’m getting much more proficient at knowing what should stay and what should go.
We mowed most everything down once it went to seed so we’re sure there will be a new crop of dandelions, yarrow, tansy mustard, purple dead nettle, and collomia once spring comes again.
We have one thing left to do this year before the weather turns too cold and the ground too hard to dig. We’ll be transplanting some native grasses from one side of our yard to fill in a bare spot. The grasses will help create more of a “wildside” on the side of my husband’s shop. Transplanting grasses is fairly easy and as long as you get a good root ball, they take off growing like nothing ever happened.
Observations
The ground squirrels are all back in their burrows until next spring. I’ll miss them periscoping up out of their holes to scurry along the tall grasses. Their holes are all still visible but there has been no sighting of them for weeks.
Our swallows and bluebirds are all gone from their nesting boxes and we’ve cleaned the nests out for the season. I find nests so interesting. Each species of bird has their own way of going about building a nest and with our attempt at keeping a wildside, I think it helps the birds have the right kind of nesting materials they need to successfully raise a clutch of eggs. You can see how the bird artists use the grasses, leaves, and twigs gleaned from our yard.
Good night wildside. We shall see you on the other side of winter!
This week we’re going to learn about the catbird using lesson #24 in the Handbook of Nature Study. The pages and activities suggested will be a wonderful start to learning about this interesting bird. I had the opportunity to hear a catbird while on a trip to Florida many years ago and I’ve never forgotten the experience.
Don’t miss the links in the challenge where you can hear what a catbird sounds like too!
Note: The sample for the Autumn 2015 ebook includes the catbird challenge (link below). If you download it, you’ll have the notebook pages to go along with this study.
If you don’t have a membership yet, click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 26 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
Topics in this ebook include:
Swallows and swifts
Catfish
Jewelweed
Prickly lettuce
Cockroach
Field horsetail
Catbird
Calcite, limestone, marble
Chicken
Turkey
Hedgehog fungi
Sapsucker
Brooks
Included in your membership will be the Learning About Birds ebook.
I’ve been looking forward to the Western Tanager bird study (Outdoor Hour Challenge – Western Tanager) ever since we saw our very first tanager visitors to the feeder last spring. Their bright colors reminded us of the tropical flowers we see in Hawaii!
Would you like to see my nature journal page for the Western tanager? I tend to follow the same format for my bird pages, including the four key graphics from the AllAboutBirds.com website. I include a sketch and some pertinent facts. I use my field guide and the website to gather my information so it’s a super easy page to make.
I struggle with drawing and depicting birds accurately but in the end I get the basic idea onto the page even if it isn’t exactly the way I picture it in my head.
Tip: You can always add a photo instead of sketching if it makes you more comfortable.
I was just telling a friend who’s starting out with identifying the birds at her feeder that she should just take it one bird at a time. Birding is something you can do for a lifetime so if you can manage to learn about and identify just one new bird a month for the next ten years, imagine the number of birds you will be familiar with.
Nature study is just the gathering of knowledge over time.
One bird, one tree, one flower at a time.
Would you like some more ideas for nature journal pages? There is a page on my website devoted just to nature journal ideas. I invite you to click over and scroll through for something that catches your eye!
The Western Tanager Outdoor Hour Challenge is found in the Forest Fun ebook available in the Ultimate and Journey level memberships.
Use the discount code OHC10 for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.
You can also use the Learning About Birds ebook from the Ultimate and Journey level memberships to learn more about the birds in your local area. This book can be used over multiple years as you identify a bird and want to learn about it more in depth.
Nature study and making daily nature observations is a fantastic way to take a break from the craziness of the COVID-19 situation. As long as you keep your social distancing, it’s recommended that we get outside and take a walk. I’m all in favor of that advice and hope that my outdoor experiences this month inspire you to get out and take that walk!
During our outdoor time this month we went…
We’ve taken several walks to our river to look at the river’s level, the condition of the banks with their muddy edges and animal tracks, and to listen to the spring birds that have returned to our neighborhood and make their nests in the river willows.
So far, the red-winged blackbirds, the robins, and the red crossbills have been the most numerous to return. Yes, I said crossbills! This is very early for them to make a stop at our birdfeeders. So early, that when I reported their numbers on my Project Feederwatch report last week, they wanted to know if I had a photo. Of course I had a photo!
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
The green grass is peeking through the remaining brown winter grasses. I can’t tell you how hopeful that made us that we’ll soon see the return of the longer spring days. Even now as I write this entry, and the greenness is covered up with five inches of fresh snow, my mind’s eye can see it under there just waiting for the warm sun’s rays to wake it up again.
Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)…
We observed that one of the ground squirrel holes in our backyard shows signs of activity. It seems a bit early for their appearance but we are wondering if it’s like with ground hogs. Do the ground squirrels take a peek outside once in awhile to determine if it’s time to come out of hibernation? My guess is they went back to sleep!
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
I was so anxious for some spring color that I went to Home Depot and purchased a few colorful indoor plants to enjoy until we can plant our seeds. I brought home a “spring cactus” which is really a rhipsalidopsis. Two African violets also found a home in my kitchen window. What a difference it makes having just a bit of happiness in the form of a pretty flower within view most of my day!
I am dreaming about…
The bluebirds have been checking out the nesting boxes in our yard, going in and out, sitting near the entrances on sunny afternoons. It reminds me of the summer days of bluebird babies poking their heads out of the box to have their mothers bring them a meal. Such a comforting image that I look forward to seeing again soon.
I am reading…
While it’s strictly not a nature related book, I thought I would share a title that gave me a little winter escape to a place I would like to visit in real life, Avonlea and Prince Edward Island. The book is titled, Marilla of Green Gables, and is the prequel to Anne of Green Gables, telling the story of Marilla Cuthbert.
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…
Last year was the first time we ever had Western tanagers at our backyard feeders. It was thrilling to see their vibrant color after such a long stretch of winter birds. I invite you to complete this study to prepare for the possible observation of a tanager in your near future.
Please note that I won’t be posting the complete challenge here on the blog, but you will find the detailed challenge in the Forest Fun ebook that’s available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, a coloring page, and notebook pages.
We’re working through the Forest Fun ebook which is a brand new series of nature studies featuring things you might find in the forest. It’s not too late to join us by purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist or Journey level membership.
If you don’t have a membership yet, you can click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 25 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
During our outdoor time this month we went…
There have been no great trips out and about this month….spending most of my days inside, looking out at the wintery landscape. Don’t get me wrong. We have sunshine but it is COLD!
This winter I’ve been more of a hibernator than in years past.
Maybe it’s my age or the weight of the responsibility I’m under, taking care of elderly parents, but I enjoy the warmth and rejuvenating powers of sitting by a warm woodstove more than bundling up and going out in the freezing temperatures.
I don’t think I’ll always be this way; it’s just a season of something different for us here in Central Oregon.
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
I have to admit that the most inspiring and interesting thing we’ve done is to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. The juncos took the prize for the most birds of any species. But the chickadees, nuthatches, and house finches have been the most consistent visitors to our feeders this season. The most surprising visitors we had were three red-winged blackbirds! They made an appearance one morning up on the tall bird feeder…I can’t believe how early they are this year, almost a full month before I expected them to arrive. We also had a few varied thrushes to count and flickers, downy woodpeckers, and hairy woodpeckers. Under the feeder we had mourning doves and collared doves that duked it out with the gray squirrels for the seeds on the ground.
Great Backyard Bird Count 2020
Northern flicker-1
Downy woodpecker-1
Hairy woodpecker-2
Mourning dove-6
Collared dove-2
Red-breasted nuthatch-1
Pygmy nuthatch-4
House finches-6
Dark-eyed juncos-30
American robin-2
Varied thrush-2
Mountain chickadee-5
California scrub jay-4
Red-winged blackbirds-3
In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting…
It’s time for planning new garden beds to be filled with plants that will attract birds, bees, and butterflies. After our success in growing quite a few colorful and habitat friendly flowers, we’re going to expand our wildflower meadow and increase the number of sunflowers and bird/bee attractive plants.
I love Renee’s Garden seeds and each year I order some old favorites and a few new things to test out in our yard. I’ve long had a relationship with this awesome seed company and this year they are sending me the following seeds to try as part of their media partnership.
Beekeeper’s Mix – This is a mix we had last year under our sunflowers and they were so pretty!
Seeds for a Hummingbird Garden – This will be a new mix of flowers that will go in one of my garden boxes. I’m anxious to see if they flourish here in Central Oregon.
Butterfly Monarda – I’m going to add this packet to my wildflower garden to add a little height and color.
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…
California quail are usually seen scurrying along the forest floor in and around brush and shrubs. They quick step along in a group and you can often hear them before you see them. They make such a peculiar sound: Quail pit-pit-pit sound video.
I invite you to learn more about one of my favorite birds!
Choose a resource to use for the California quail. A terrific website for bird information is All About Birds: California Quail. Check your field guide for birds for range maps and images.
Please note that I will not be posting the complete challenge here on the blog but you’ll find the detailed challenge in the Forest Fun ebook that is available both in the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships. Sign into your account and download the ebook for the details, more links, a coloring page, and notebook pages.
We’re working through the Forest Fun ebook, which is a brand new series of nature studies featuring things you might find in the forest. It’s not too late to join us by purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist or Journey level membership.
Topics in this ebook include:
Rabbitbrush
Skunk Cabbage
Azalea
Common Raven
California Quail
Western Tanager
Black Bear
Moose
Porcupine
If you don’t have a membership yet, you can click the graphic above and join today for immediate access to the 24 ebooks and so much more! Remember that all levels, even the Discovery level membership, include access to all of the archived newsletters!
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