Category: Citizen Science

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10 Fun Groundhog Day Homeschool Nature Study Activities

Whether it is Groundhog Day or you are just wanting to learn more about these mammals, enjoy these homeschool nature study activities about woodchucks, groundhogs, prairie dogs and marmots!

Enjoy these groundhog homeschool nature study activities about woodchucks, groundhogs, prairie dogs and marmots - whether it is Groundhog Day or not!

10 Groundhog Homeschool Nature Study Activities

Have fun learning about these mammals! If you don’t have groundhogs near you, enjoy the alternate nature study activities for mammals.

Read About Groundhogs in The Handbook of Nature Study

1. Read pages 229-232 in the Handbook of Nature Study. As you read, highlight or underline some facts you can share with your children. There are observation ideas on page 231 and many of these suggestions are ones that you can continue to make over the next few seasons.

More Fun Learning About Groundhogs

Have you ever seen a marmot or a groundhog? Here is a cute video to introduce you to this mammal.

Read About The Groundhog in The Burgess Animal Book for Children

Enjoy this supplemental reading in The Burgess Animal Book for Children: Read Stories 7-8. After you read each story, pause and let your child narrate back some facts they learned from the reading.

This could be as simple as looking at the illustrations on pages 48 and 54 and having them tell you a few things about the woodchuck, the marmot, or the prairie dog.

Mammals: Groundhog Homeschool Nature Study Activities

Groundhog Outdoor Hour Nature Study


Spend 10-15 minutes outdoors on a nature walk. Look for signs of mammals as you walk. Look for tracks, burrows, holes, or scat. If you are able to observe one of this challenge’s featured mammals, be sure to use some of the observation ideas from page 231. Be alert for any opportunity to observe a mammal during your outdoor time. So far we have learned about rabbits and squirrels, but be on the look out for more common mammals like dogs, cats, or horses.

Don’t have groundhogs near you? More ideas for a mammal nature study in the Ultimate Mammals Homeschool Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Enjoy founder Barb McCoy’s family study of groundhogs and a foggy day walk.

Groundhog Nature Journaling Activity

After your outdoor time, if you observed a mammal, you can look it up in the Handbook of Nature Study. For your nature journal you can sketch something you saw during your outdoor time. One additional idea is to compare two animals that we have already studied. You can compare a rabbit and a prairie dog or a squirrel and a prairie dog. Make sketches or make a list of the comparisons. You may also use any of the additional resources for your nature journal.

You ARE an ARTiST Groundhog art lesson
You ARE an ARTiST Groundhog art lesson

Additional Groundhog Resources for Your Homeschool

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

You will find a continuing series on mammals plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

Join Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!
Enjoy these groundhog homeschool nature study activities about woodchucks, groundhogs, prairie dogs and marmots - whether it is Groundhog Day or not!

Written by Outdoor Hour Challenges founder, Barb and updated by Tricia.

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Fall Bird Study For Your Homeschool

You can enjoy a simple fall bird study for your homeschool with Project Feederwatch! This is an activity that can help you learn more about your local birds in a way that is fun and useful to the community.

Enjoy a simple fall bird study for your homeschool with Project Feederwatch! This is an activity that can help you learn more about your local birds.

Fall Bird Study For Your Homeschool

You can even extend your fall bird study into winter with this fun citizen science project. You can participate as much or as little as you desire. It only takes a few minutes on two consecutive days each week to participate. If you miss a week, that’s okay too…just pick up when you can.

Enjoy a simple fall bird study for your homeschool with Project Feederwatch! This is an activity that can help you learn more about your local birds.

What Is Project Feederwatch?

“Project FeederWatch can turn your love of feeding birds into scientific discoveries!” Read an overview about the project, the app you can download, the tools you receive (a participant welcome kit) and the way the data is used in the Project FeederWatch program overview.

Project FeederWatch runs from November 1 through April 30. This is a perfect fall bird study because come February, there is the Great Backyard Bird Count to participate in as well.

Here are details on how to participate.

Who Can Participate in This Fall Bird Study?

Anyone – all ages – can participate in Project FeederWatch. The video, below, shows how this really is something everyone can participate in, even with young children.

Weaving a citizen science project like this into your lives is so rewarding. We have several feeders we can see from our windows and keeping them filled with seed is easy. Those feeders become the focal point of our bird observations because for Feederwatch you only count birds that come to eat.

Project Feederwatch is a perfect match for our lifestyle. It’s something that I can participate in that doesn’t take a huge commitment of time and I can do it right from my own home, even if I’m wearing my pajamas.

You simply:

  • Choose your site
  • Count the birds that visit
  • Enter your data online

Great Backyard Bird Count

Similar to Project FeederWatch, The Great Backyard Bird Count has you counting the birds coming to your feeder. However, it takes place over a much shorter time – and in February.

Each February, for four days, the world comes together for the love of birds. Over these four days we invite people to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and reporting them to us. These observations help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.

Birdcount.org
Enjoy a simple fall bird study for your homeschool with Project Feederwatch! This is an activity that can help you learn more about your local birds.

Top Feeder Birds

This is a great beginner’s list of birds to know and be able to identify. Use the links above to take a peek at these common birds that may be visitors to your neighborhood. Make sure to scroll down to the “similar species” section for each bird and that will give you additional birds to look for if you don’t have that particular bird in your neighborhood. Also, reading the “Backyard Tips” and “Find This Bird” sections will give you some clues and hints for actually viewing this bird in person.

  1. Northern Cardinal
  2. Mourning Dove
  3. Dark Eyed Junco
  4. Downy Woodpecker
  5. American Crow
  6. House Finch
  7. American Goldfinch
  8. Blue Jay
  9. Black Capped Chickadee
  10. Tufted Titmouse

More Bird Nature Studies for Your Homeschool

Studying birds in your Outdoor Hour Challenge time and bird watching is such a wonderful activity! You might also like these resources:

Join The Homeschool Nature Study Membership for Year Round Support

Can you believe all of these bird resources you will find in membership? You will also find a continuing series on bird nature study, bird watching and attracting birds plus all the Outdoor Hour Challenges for nature study in our Homeschool Nature Study membership. There are 25+ continuing courses with matching Outdoor Hour curriculum that will bring the Handbook of Nature Study to life in your homeschool! In addition, there is an interactive monthly calendar with daily nature study prompt – all at your fingertips!

Join Homeschool Nature Study Membership Today!

Be sure to share on social media and tag @outdoorhourchallenge on Instagram or Homeschool Nature Study on Facebook with your results too!

You can enjoy a simple fall bird study for your homeschool with Project Feederwatch! This is an activity that can help you learn more about your local birds in a way that is fun and useful to the community.

Tricia and her family fell in love with the Handbook of Nature Study and the accompanying Outdoor Hour Challenges early in their homeschooling. The simplicity and ease of the weekly outdoor hour challenges brought joy to their homeschool and opened their eyes to the world right out their own back door! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at You ARE an ARTiST and Your Best Homeschool plus her favorite curricula at The Curriculum Choice.

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Great Backyard Bird Count Results from Central Oregon

Great Backyard Bird Count

Results from Central Oregon

February 12-14, 2021

We had a fun time counting birds for the project even though we had snow two of the three days and temperatures down into the teens. We had far fewer birds than the last two years. 2021 has turned out to be a surprising year of crazy ups and downs as far as the weather here in Central Oregon. I think this influenced the bird count.

Eurasian collared dove   5

Mourning dove                 3

Downy woodpecker       1

Hairy woodpecker           1

Mountain chickadee       6

Pygmy nuthatch               3

House finch                        11

Dark-eyed junco               3

Northern flicker                1

Song sparrow                     1

Common raven                 1

Here’s a video sharing the GBBC’s results for 2021.

You can read the results and see more images at this link: Great Backyard Bird Count 2021 Results.

 Did you count birds? Anything exciting show up to be included in your count?

 

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Outdoor Hour Challenge -Looking for Spring Birds Challenge

Here’s the link to the challenge in the archives: Spring Bird Nature Study.

Outdoor Hour Challenge Spring Bird Observations @handbookofnaturestudyYou’re going to find all kinds of helpful suggestions in this entry along with a printable notebook page, a complete coloring book, and links to learn more about identifying birds by their song.

Don’t miss this week’s nature study suggestion to take time to learn about a new spring bird in your neighborhood. If you’re really up to a challenge, your family can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count which is this weekend!!!  You only need to commit to a few minutes of observation time to make this citizen science project a part of your nature study this week.

 Great Backyard Bird Count poster

Find all the details here: Great Backyard Bird Count.

 

 

Learning About Birds 3D cover

This is the perfect time to download the Learning About Birds ebook available in Ultimate and Journey level memberships. This ebook steps you through the study of birds by color and topic. Included in the ebook are notebooking pages, images, and links to help you study some of the most common birds here in North America.

Learning About Birds ebook Bird List @handbookofnaturestudy

Look for this ebook in your library if you’re a member or join now using the discount code below for $5 off an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.

Discount Code: BIRDLOVER5

 

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Our Family Winter Bird Study

Our winter bird study has included a lot of watching out the window at our feeders. They’ve been super busy with all the wintery weather, including snow that hasn’t melted and covers the landscape. I keep track of the birds in our feeders as part of Project Feederwatch and so far this season we had a good number of birds visit.

december birds on chalkboard

There are still a couple of winter migrants that haven’t made an appearance yet like the spotted towhee. We will keep our eyes open!

chickadee at the feeder

In particular, I’ve made a study of the chickadee, learning the difference between the mountain chickadee and the black-capped chickadee. There’s an easy way to distinguish them and I made a page in my nature journal to solidify the information in my brain.

Right now my interests have turned to learning more about bird migration. There’s an exhibit at the High Desert Museum in Bend, OR that features information about migration, called Animal Journeys. I have another month left on my membership there and I’m hoping my hips heal up enough that I can manage a quick visit there to take it all in.

 eagle dec 2018

Here’s an image my husband sent me of an eagle soaring over the river behind our house. What a treat!

That pretty much wraps up our winter bird study so far this season. I know we’ll be continuing to look for and learn about birds because that’s what we do here.

Bird nerds forever.

 

Looking at your winter resident birds nature study

 

 

 

Bird tab image and link

Are you interested in seeing my picks for bird related books and field guides? Click over to my bird tab on the website.

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Our Family Autumn Bird Study

 

October 2018 chalkboard bird list
Excited to have so many birds in October!

In our continuing effort to learn the bird migration patterns in our new habitat, our dining room chalkboard list of monthly birds is a valuable tool. It creates a simple record of birds that visit our feeders, our yard, and fly by our back windows. I copy the list into my nature journal at the end of the month so we’ll be able to see from year to year the birds that come and go throughout the seasons.

meadowlark nature journal page

There was a new bird this month! The western meadowlark became my autumn bird study. I was really glad it appeared before I had my hip surgery so I could go outside and try to take a photo. Even though I wasn’t successful at getting an image, I did get a good look at the meadowlark and its behavior. I used AllAboutBirds.com to research this beautiful bird along with my Peterson field guide. These two sources gave me enough information to create a good nature journal entry. I hope to someday hear this songbird singing…perhaps this spring.

 

Project Feederwatch Nature Journal
Nature journal page from 2017 Project Feederwatch

November 10, 2018 is the first day we can start counting birds that visit our feeders as part of the Project Feederwatch citizen science opportunity. Click over to read more about this important and simple activity for families: Project Feederwatch.

You can read our November 2017 entry here: Project Feederwatch November 2017.

 Project Feederwatch button

This is a perfect way to start or continue an autumn bird nature study with your family even if you don’t know the identity of all the birds that come to your yard. This project will help you learn as you go. Click the logo above for a video that explains how to participate.

 

How did your autumn bird study go this time around?

 Autumn Bird Study @handbookofnaturestudy

 

It’s not too late to do your own Autumn Bird Study!

 Outdoor Hour Challenge Bird Nature Study Index of Challenges @handbookofnaturestudy

Are you interested in seeing my picks for bird related books and field guides? Click over to my bird tab on the website.

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Outdoor Hour Challenge – Winter Bird Study 2018

First, a quick reminder that the Great Backyard Bird Count is February 16-19, 2018. This is a perfect way to learn more about your winter birds!

 

Winter+Bird+Study+@handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com.jpg

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Winter Bird Study 2018

From the Archives and the Winter Wednesday ebook

You can use the link above to look at the winter bird study activity in my archives.  Your family may be interested in learning more about feeding your own backyard birds in the winter. To help you do this, I put together a page that explains how to keep Birdfeeders in Winter.

Downy Woodpecker Bird Birdfeeder suet (3)

In winter, birds still need the basics: food, water and shelter.

Learning About Birds 3D cover

Plus you may be interested in taking a look at my Learning About Birds With the Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook for a more in-depth study of backyard birds. For the month of February, I’m offering a $5 off coupon for every level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. This ebook is in both the Ultimate and Journey levels of membership. Take a look at all of the benefits of having a membership!

Discount Code: $5 off any membership on the Handbook of Nature Study by using the code FEB5 during the month of February 2018.

Feathers+on+nature+table.jpg

If you have access to the Winter Wednesday ebook in the Ultimate Naturalist Library, there is a custom notebook page available to use as a follow up to your nature study.

Winter Wednesday ebook NOtebook pages

Join us for the Winter Wednesday series of challenges here every FRIDAY. You can find them under the winter tab on the blog or if you have an Ultimate Naturalist Library membership, you can find the ebook there for downloading.
You may be interested in following my Bird Nature Study Pinterest board for lots of bird nature study ideas.

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Project Feederwatch – November 2017

Project Feederwatch – November 2017

 

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the start of Feederwatch season here in my new habitat of Central Oregon. Our new yard has been a challenge of sorts for hanging bird feeders because of the other critters that have decided to partake of the seeds and suet. It was a mystery to me how I could fill up my rather large feeder late in the afternoon and then awake in the morning to a completely empty feeder! I didn’t realize how fast the deer could drain the feeder.

squirrel in the feeder

Then there are the squirrels that just help themselves.

My husband came to my rescue by fabricating rather tall poles for the feeders to hang on and so far this has solved my problems!

So what is our setup?

I have three different feeding stations, one in the front yard and two in the backyard.

The front yard feeder seems to attract the little birds like chickadees and nuthatches. I read somewhere that when the temperatures drop the birds like a suet feeder, so I added that when I took down our hummingbird feeder. There is still a bird bath but I’m not sure how I’m going to keep it from freezing. I saw at the Wild Bird store you can buy a little heater so if it’s within my budget, I will get one the next time I’m there.

Suet and Seed feeder

Closer to the house in the backyard, I’ve hung a new suet feeder and a new cylinder seed feeder. I haven’t observed many birds at the new style of feeder so I’m wondering about location. We may move the feeder back to the fence line closer to the trees if we don’t start to see the bird traffic to the feeder increase.

Feeders in the snow

This is where all the action happens! We see lots of birds at this feeding station, both at the feeders and under the feeders. I have mostly black sunflower seeds in the hopper feeder and I rotate the variety of suet I use in the suet feeder.

Here are our Project Feederwatch results from our first count:

Scrub Jay -2

Mourning dove -3

Chickadee -5

Junco -5

Varied thrush -2

Red breasted nuthatch -2

Hairy woodpecker -1

Spotted towhee – 1

House finches – 6

Pine Siskin -1

 

In addition, we heard and then observed a Red-tail hawk in one of the pines in back of the house and two ravens flying overhead. They don’t officially make the Project Feederwatch list since they were not in the feeder, but I made a note of their appearances in my records.

I will be posting monthly Project Feederwatch data as the season continues.

Learning About Birds 3D cover

 

Don’t forget about the Outdoor Hour Challenge – Learning About Birds ebook that is available to both Ultimate and Journey level members.

Learning About Birds ebook Bird List @handbookofnaturestudy

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Bird Migration and Feederwatch

nesting box

I am fascinated by birds that migrate. It makes me feel an awe for such creatures and the way they travel up to thousands of miles as the seasons change. When I lived in California, I was aware of birds and the way they would come and go at my feeders season by season. I could anticipate their arrival and then have a fairly good idea of who would be leaving at the turn of the weather. Project Feederwatch each year made me keenly aware that the birds at my feeders were not the same year round.

thistle feeder

I am getting ready to participate in my first year of Project Feederwatch here in my new home. I have updated my account and created a new description of the feeders and their locations and types. Watching birds is an everyday affair here from my kitchen and family room windows so Project Feederwatch is a perfect match for our lifestyle. I enjoy participating in a citizen science project that helps gather data for those involved in various bird science projects and studies. Plus, it is something that refreshes me and brings a lot of joy to my life. It is something that I can participate in that doesn’t take a huge commitment of time and I can do it right from my own home, even if I am wearing my pajamas.

snag pile for shelter

This is our first autumn and winter here in our new home so we are still experimenting with various feeder types and the placement within the yard. I had an idea to add a brush pile just outside our back fence after we trimmed some tree limbs. So far I have observed birds and squirrels investigating the jumble of limbs with their needles and cones still intact. It isn’t too far from my cluster of feeders so it will provide some shelter for birds once the snow arrives.

bluejay figurine

I started right after we moved in creating a list of bird visitors to our yard. I will be keeping that habit going right on through the next few seasons. This should give us a pretty good idea of the migrant visitors as they pass through or stay for awhile. This is a simple way to get your family started with a more in-depth bird study and I encourage you to keep track of the birds that come to your feeders.

sandhill crane bird

We recently had the experience of hearing and then seeing a group of sandhill cranes fly over our yard. It was about sunset when my son and I were out doing yardwork. I heard in the distance what at first I thought were geese coming overhead. But, it was a strange and unfamiliar sound and not geese at all. (Click over to AllAboutBirds to hear what it sounded like.) My son spoke up when he realized it was the sound of sandhill cranes. He had heard them before when we lived in California and immediately recognized the rattling loud commotion of a group of cranes flying south over our house. It was exciting to experience this for the first time and I have since done some research into the migration habits of the sandhill crane. Knowing how far they fly has given me such an awe for these large birds. I just created a page in my nature journal with this information and I will share the page next week in an entry.

The opportunity to study birds can present itself when you least expect it…look for those opportunities!

Make sure to learn about the Feederwatch program and decide if it is a good fit for your family!

 

Project Feederwatch button

Bird Sleuth button
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).

You can also follow them on Facebook .
You can download homeschooling resources here.
Of course, my favorite resource is their AllAboutBirds website which is a great tool for identifying and learning more about birds in your own neighborhood.

Learning About Birds 3D cover

I invite you to check out my Learning About Birds ebook available to Ultimate and Journey level members here on the Handbook of Nature Study.

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June 2017 Bird Observations

Bird List for May and June 2017 @handbookofnaturestudy

Moving to a new habitat has renewed my desire to learn more about birds. I now live right on a river that has a grassy meadow that leads up to my house. I also live on the edge of a pine forest and at a high altitude. In addition, I live in a place where I will see migratory birds that will only visit for brief periods of time or for a whole season.

It’s a whole new birding world here in Central Oregon.

I have been keeping track of the many birds that visit my yard or fly overhead during the past month and a half. It can be such a distraction to spot a new bird and feel the impulse to drop everything to grab my binoculars and field guide. But, this is part of the reason we moved here; to have our love of nature stimulated again with new and exciting nature experiences.

The people who lived in our house before us were birders as well so they had their binoculars and field guide at the window when we came to view the house. They also had a seed feeder and a hummingbird feeder set up in the backyard which made my heart happy. We have since added three more seed feeders (two sunflower and one nyjer seed), a suet feeder, an additional hummingbird feeder and two bird baths to the yard.

This list is in no way a list of EVERY bird we have had visit our yard. A few of the birds I am struggling with identifying and if I happen to capture a good image, I will share the photos in the hope that someone will know what they are and tell me.

May and June 2017 – First Bird List from Oregon!

  1. Black-headed grosbeak
  2. Mourning doves
  3. Canada goose
  4. Brewer’s blackbird
  5. Red-wing blackbird
  6. Tree swallow
  7. Cliff swallow
  8. Mountain chickadee
  9. American robin
  10. Mallard duck
  11. Osprey
  12. House finches
  13. Northern flicker
  14. Steller’s jay
  15. Common raven
  16. Turkey vulture
  17. Great blue heron
  18. Red-breasted sapsucker
  19. Rufous hummingbird
  20. Bull bat (common nighthawk) – heard early morning

 

You may be interested in reading this entry about keeping a bird “life list”. There are several suggestions for your family to get started with this satisfying project: Keeping a Bird Life List. It has a free printable list!

Birds of North America Notebooking Pages
If you are looking for a fantastic set of bird notebooking pages that includes all of the birds in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford-Comstock, this is THE product to have on hand.

Notebooking+in+your+nature+journal+@handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com.jpg

I have used these pages with my children and in my own nature journal over the years. Please note that I am an affiliate for NotebookingPages.com and will receive a small commission if you purchase any of their products. I highly recommend this set for your bird nature study. In fact, they go perfectly with my new Learning About Birds ebook challenges!

Learning About Birds ebook Bird List @handbookofnaturestudy