2. Research and learn about four birds. Learn the call, field marks, and create a nature journal.
Osprey
Great Blue Heron
California Towhee
3. Focus on learning my local wildflowers. Create some sort of record of each flower.
We have been keeping up with wildflower journal that I started last spring. I endeavor to list any flowers we see on each hike. I think this is a tradition I will continue next year as well.
4. Take Yosemite photos from the Yosemite photography book– September trip: There weren’t many suggestions for September except to take a late afternoon photo from Tunnel View. We were there mid-morning so we took a photo then. Note: You can see the effects of the bark beetles on the forest in Yosemite. You can learn more about it here: Drone Shows Devastation of the Bark Beetle. 5. Visit a new national park. We didn’t add any new parks to the list but we did visit Yosemite National Park during September and hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome on a bluebird sky day.
6. Visit two new state parks. I had California state parks in mind when I made this goal but I am going to list the new Oregon State Parks we visited this quarter: La Pine State Park, Silver Falls State Park, South Beach State Park, Jessie Honeyman State Park. We also went to Cape Perpetua, Hecata Head, Cape Foulweather, and Yaquina Head. 7. Identify three rocks from my original challenge. Nothing accomplished this quarter towards this goal. 8. Read 10 nature related book!10 Best of Everything National Parks.
How are your nature study goals coming along?
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!
This Outdoor Mom had a fantastic end of the summer! This post features our second Oregon trip of the year and lots of kayaking adventures. Technically, the Oregon trip was at the very end of August but after my August Outdoor Mom’s post so I want to include it here because it was a fantastic trip. I will be dedicating a complete post in October to the many Oregon State Parks we visited on this latest trip. It was a perfect trip!
We spent four days in the Bend/La Pine, Oregon area. It was a heat wave for them and most of the lakes and rivers were super busy with so many people swimming, using stand up paddleboards, rafts, and kayaks. I was really glad we had our kayak and we made the most of the time out on the water. We are in the middle of training our Labrador to ride along with us and she is quickly getting the hang of jumping in and enjoying the ride. The image above was taken in the Old Mill District of Bend, Oregon along the Deschutes River. It was a perfect night for a walk along the banks of the river and for sitting at an outdoor patio for dinner. We read in a brochure that Bend, Oregon is the most dog friendly town in the U.S. We believe it!
I think this is first photo I have shared where you can see our awesome tandem kayak (Old Town Loon 160T). We LOVE it! Both my husband and I are tall and there is enough room for our legs and the 70 pound Labrador. The image above shows us launching at Sparks Lake on the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway. It is a large shallow lake within view of many of the area’s signature mountains: Mt. Bachelor, South Sister, Broken Top.
This collage of images is from our stay in Newport, Oregon. We found an amazing spot to kayak just south of town at Beaver Creek (Brian Booth State Park). First we paddled up the creek and saw some interesting birds: Belted kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Turkey vulture, and several different ducks. Then we paddled back down the creek and all the way to the ocean! What a day!
This is the South Falls at Silver Falls State Park near Salem, Oregon. We had three days of hiking in this amazing place! There are actually TEN waterfalls that you can hike in a loop. This one was our favorite because you could actually hike behind the waterfall…look at the image carefully and you can see the trail. You can be sure I will be sharing more about this destination in my October Oregon State Parks entry.
I did fit in some nature journaling on this trip. I learned some interesting things about the heron and I actually heard the loudsound it made as we paddled too close to one and it flew off. Loud! It surprised me. I will be sharing a bit more about my nature journals in an up-coming post.
A little closer to home, my sunflowers bloomed! I looked out the window one morning and discovered this beauty. I love the sunflower time of the year and look forward to it each summer. This is one of the sunflowers from Renees Garden Seeds. So perfectly perfect.
We did some hiking closer to home when my two New Yorkers were home for a visit. We camped at Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe in California. It was perfect weather and the hiking was filled with wonderful autumn air and sunshine. This is Fallen Leaf Lake on a crisp September morning. We all took turns taking the kayak out for a spin on the water to take in the high Sierra views.
The last place on our travel list this month was to Yosemite National Park. We hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome with our children and they posed at the top for this amazing photo. It captures so much of what our family is about as we adventure in the big outdoors together. It was a day of laughter, refreshing vistas, and friendship. I tried to soak in the family time since it is hard to gather us all in one place anymore. We end up outside when we do get a chance to spend time together….habit? necessity? mutual love for God’s creation? I think it is a little of all of those things.
I hope you enjoyed my entry this month and if you want to play along, there are instructions at the bottom of this post.
If you missed my August and September nature study entries, here are the links:
Snail Observations at the Tidepools:We had a fantastic time hunting, observing, and learning about marine snails in response to the August newsletter topic. This is one of my favorite blog entries of the year!
Insect Nature Study -Potpourri: We had several opportunities to observe insect homes up close. We even identified something new to us!
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…
You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printablse which provides members with even more in-depth studies each month.
As part of this month’s newsletter nature study suggestions,we have been on the lookout for insect home related subjects to take a closer look at in person. As it usually happens, we found some interesting things to learn about….research was definitely involved.
It does amaze me that there are so many things happening around us in the natural world that go unnoticed. Take the image above. My husband was trimming some tree branches from our maple tree last weekend and as we cleaned up the mess, we both noticed this growth on a branch. What is it? A gall of some sort? We decided to submit the image to Bugguide.net for some help in identifying what insect created this home. Guess what? They told me it was a praying mantis egg sack! Cool stuff! (I found this article very interesting: Dave’s Garden Praying Mantis.)
We are prone to walking right by the ant hills on our hikes. The common ant is an amazing engineer and we don’t often take time to note his industriousness.
Ok, this insect is not in his home but rather in MY home. Do you think he wants some toast or a bagel? We safely escorted him outside after taking a few pictures.
My cat is always hiding in the bushes and as we looked for signs of insects in our year she emerged from her hiding spot covered in cobwebs and dried leaves. She knows all the good spots to hideaway in our front yard but is willing to welcome us as we walk up the steps with a friendly meow. Give her a pet on the head as you walk by if you ever visit.
We will continue to look for insect homes as the season progresses. I didn’t spy any leaf rollers this timebut I am keeping my eyes wide open for the opportunity to see these interesting creatures up close.
If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen some glimpses of our outdoor life this past month. We keep finding excuses for getting out of the house and taking advantage of the summer temperatures and sunshine to explore some familiar and new to us places. My husband has worked in wildland fire fighting for over 20 years so we never really had a “normal” summer where we could take a week’s vacation. Now that he is nearing his retirement, he is making the choice to arrange his schedule to be able to take off a day here and there and even a week for a camping trip. It is wonderful!
I realized as I wrote this post that I haven’t taken a really good photo of us in the kayak…I promise I will this month and share a little about our new water adventures using this slow and quiet means of transport. It makes for some wonderful nature watching!
In the garden….we are experiencing a lot of butterflies this year. My office window is on the second floor over the front yard garden and I see butterflies flutter by as I work. Sometimes I just can’t resist running out there with my camera to try to capture their beauty. This tiger swallowtail was a perfect subject against the bright summertime blue sky. I never get tired of watching these magnificent creations.
Not quite as majestic, but still amazing, are the fiery skippers with their huge eyes and antennae.
We had such a great time learning about the marine snails (mollusks) on our trip to Oregon. There is just so much to learn and my husband has become my most devoted nature partner. We read and explore and then research some more about whatever catches our interest. This is such a great way of learning as we self-direct the topics and ways in which we learn. If you have any doubts about this kind of learning for your children, you may want to try it yourself to see the way it reaches your heart. It is the connections we make as we learn that make the deepest impact on our life. I will never look at the lowly marine snail in the same way again.
In this image you can see the stack of books I had on my desk this morning. I have been doing a lot of reading and research and it really shows in the variety of books that have collected there on my desktop.
I have a pot of morning glories outside my back window and I can see it from my kitchen sink. Every morning there is a beautiful surprise unfolding in the early hours. I love this image of the flower puffing out and bursting open. This is the actual color of the blossom as it was opening today…amazing!
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…
You can use the free monthly newsletter along with the Handbook of Nature Study book for your nature study. Adding a membership gives you access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library’s ebooks and printablse which provides members with even more in-depth studies each month.
This month as I wrote the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter, I really didn’t think I would find any snails to observe up close. Some topics are like that and I don’t anticipate having the opportunity to see the month’s focus topic in person. But, many times I am proven wrong and all of my preparation for the study is rewarded with an awesome experience.
Here is a short YouTube video that we uploaded showing the animal that lives inside the shell:Black Turban
This is the star of our nature study…the black turban which in real life looks quite blue or purple. We discovered the reason for this doing some research once we were able to get on the internet. Take a close look at who is living on the outer shell of this black turban! Amazing since the size of the snail shell is probably a little over an inch….it just looks bigger in my close up images. (click on the photo to really see it)
They get pounded by the surf and it actually wears away the outer shell to expose the colorful layers underneath. This image shows just how plentiful they are on this part of the coast. This is only exposed at low tide so the black turban actually can capture some water inside its shell and then “plug” it up with the operculum to keep itself moist until the tide rises again and they are under water. Amazing creation!
If you look closely at the images, you may spy some limpets and barnacles on the rocks surrounding the snails and also on the snails outer shell! This was not apparent to use until we looked at the images and is quite common.
Want to learn more about the Oregon Tidepools? Here is a wonderful and helpful link: Oregon Tidepools.
Just a sidenote: I found a wonderful page on the Monterey Bay Aquarium that features many invertebrates that you might like to share with your children. So many of these don’t look like they should be invertebrates so it may spark some interest in the topic for your family. Plus, it is a beautiful page! Invertebrates – Animal Guide
Here is my very sloppy journal page for our discovery…it is more about the learning than the journal at this point in my life. I hope it inspires you to create something after your snail study!
There is still time to subscribe to the blog and receive this month’s newsletter link in your confirmation email.
July is always a busy outdoor month in our family and this year is certainly no exception. Between the garden and hiking we are outside hours and hours each week. (Here is last year’s July entry.)
Since my children are all grown up and they live so very far away, I now have my trusty canine friend to accompany me on my outdoor adventures. She is always willing to take a walk or stay close by when I am gardening. We manage to fit in a bit of ball throwing to keep her smiling.
Here is a striking image of a wildflower from a hike we did this month. My husband says it makes him happy when I find a flower to photograph because he knows it is one of my favorite things to do. We have very little rain in our part of California during the summer months so most of the grasses turn brown, contrasting with the brilliantly colored wildflowers that manage to thrive in this dry hot environment. I am pretty sure this is some sort of penstemon.
Every now and then my husband will snap a photo of me on the trial…this one was on a new hike to Floating Island Lake up in the Desolation Wilderness. If you are familiar with the Lake Tahoe area of California, you will be interested to know this is right by Fallen Leaf Lake and on the same trail that leads to the top of Mt. Tallac. We both thought this was an amazing vista as you hiked along the ridge above Fallen Leaf. This is a perfect day hike!
On an evening hike to the river, I discovered a patch of narrow leaf milkweed...something new to me but I recognized the flower pattern as some sort of milkweed right away and that got me excited. Excited because I would love to have a little milkweed patch with these growing in my backyard. I did some research and discovered that since this is growing on BLM land, I am allowed to take some seeds when the time comes to use for my personal use. I am now going to be watching to see when I can harvest a few seeds to sow in my backyard wild space. [I found this printable from BLM in Nevada and I assume it is the same in California.]
Just trying to keep myself accountable…as part of my nature goals this year I am creating some bird nature journal pages. This one is for the California towhee which is a familiar and frequent visitor to my yard. Slow and steady and maybe I will achieve my goal this year!
You can read about my goals by clicking the button above.
We have been picking blackberries for a couple weeks now and they are still coming strong. Have you ever smelled warm blackberries in the sunshine? It is one of my favorite summer time smells! We will be picking some more but there will be plenty for birds and other visitors to our front yard habitat. We actually discovered another berry patch that has grown in thickly at our back property line and the fruit there is thick and yummy!
Did you know there is a strawberry nature study in the archives? Look on the garden tab and scroll down to the crop plant challenges. Click here to go there now: Strawberry Nature Study. I have also been spending time in my dad’s garden, mostly taking photos and keeping track of anything my dad needs. He is still out in his garden every day even though he is almost 87 years old. I think it is his therapy. This swallowtail was amazing to see as it fluttered among the lantana blossoms. My dad has a whole bank covered with lantana and if you stop and watch you can spot three or four different butterflies, lizards, and hummingbirds that visit often. So pretty!
One last image for you as part of my Outdoor Mom’s Journal this month. The collage below is one I made and shared with my children on the day we sold our ski boat last month. It was a great family boat and we have many, many happy memories aboard the boat …and behind it on skis, wakeboards, and tubes. It was a part of our family for the last 28 years and now it has gone to a new family to enjoy for many more years to come. We love the water but with our family being so spread out now, we rarely took the boat out at all. Instead, we are going to take some of the money to purchase a new tandem kayak for my husband and I. Stay tuned for some new water adventures…of a slower kind.
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…
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!
We had a wonderful trip to Devils Postpile National Monument last month. It wasn’t anything like we expected but it was even better. So much to do and so many trails to hike and explore…we must make a return trip some day soon. First of all, its location is a little off the beaten path for most people but it can easily be included along with a visit to Yosemite National Park. (Distance from Yosemite National Park’s Tioga Road entrance is approximately 70 miles or 1.5 hours driving.)
There are so many opportunities to hike and camp at this national monument and with Mammoth Mountain so nearby, you could easily spend a week here just exploring the eastern Sierra.
I will focus my post on our day hike in the park and share some tips for getting the most out of what you could possibly do on a quick visit.
Our Perfect Day Hike at Devils Postpile (with a hike to Rainbow Falls too!)
We parked at Mammoth Mountain Adventure Center to catch the shuttle into Devils Postpile. It is a requirement that you use the shuttle during certain hours of the day or if you don’t have very specific conditions that apply that allow you to drive your personal vehicle. (disabled plates or placard, boats to put on the lake, you have camping reservations, etc). I highly recommend that you check the website for more information. The shuttle allows you to get off and on as many times as you want throughout your stay.
The shuttle costs $7 per person to ride and we found the bus came around the circuit quite frequently so we never waited very long.
There is a small visitor center at shuttle stop number 6 which is where we hopped off to hike to the actual postpile. There are restrooms available there at that shuttle stop. We knew we wanted to make a day hike so the option to start at shuttle stop 6, hike to the postpile, continue on to Rainbow Falls, and then loop up to shuttle stop number 10 made sense for us. It was still about 3.8 miles in total with a few steep sections but mostly easy hiking.
We enjoyed the thought that we actually were hiking on a portion of the John Muir Trail. It was an easy hike of about a half mile to the Devils Postpile and there were quite a few people on the trail with us.
We didn’t realize that the early morning light was not conducive to a good photograph of the postpile. The sun is rising up over the rock formation so you get quite a bit of glare. We managed to take a few decent photos and opted out of hiking the trail up to the top to look down from the top of the postpile.
The trail is very exposed so make sure to bring a hat or sunblock. Also, although it wasn’t even a really hot day, we went through lots of water. Maybe it is the elevation of the hike but we were thirsty! Once we passed the postpile, the crowds disappeared and we only saw a few other hikers. Solitude!
I was surprised to see we would be entering into the Ansel Adams Wilderness and I felt it required a photo of me to document our great day. We sat on a log near here and ate our lunch as we contemplated the beauty of this place. What a treasure of a day!
This waterfall was our ultimate goal! Rainbow Falls lives up to its name and there were two rainbows in the mist at the base of the falls. The trail to the bottom of the falls was closed so we weren’t able to make the last leg down to the river level but we enjoyed sitting on a rock at the top and listening to the thundering water and feeling the mist as it drifted out over the rocks.
From the falls we hiked up to shuttle stop number 10 which is at Reds Meadow Resort. There is a small store and restaurant to purchase some snacks and drinks. We had a cold drink and sat with the hikers who were on their trek to cover the John Muir Trail to Mount Whitney. There were some hikers who had packed in from Yosemite Valley too. Oh how I wish I were able to make that hike!
Additional Information:
No entrance fee if you are on the shuttle bus (fee included in shuttle ticket).
Make sure to get a map at the visitor center (shuttle stop 6) before you head out on the trail.
Lodging available at Mammoth Lake.
You can read more of my national park entries by following these links:
1. Complete 2 out of 4 Outdoor Hour Challenges each month posted on Fridays. During the second quarter I was able to post 5 entries…not quite the six planned but very close!
2. Research and learn about four birds. Learn the call, field marks, and create a nature journal. I did not complete any entries this quarter but I just added one to my planner…watch for it!
3. Focus on learning my local wildflowers. Create some sort of record of each flower. I was able to add 15 entries in my wildflower notebook…each entry has the flowers seen and identified listed. I take this journal with me everywhere!
4. Take Yosemite photos from the Yosemite photography book- On our second visit to Yosemite in May, I was able to take photos as part of this project. Amazing place!
5. Visit a new national park. We made it to TWO new national park/monuments this quarter! I visited Shenandoah National Park with my kids and Devil’s Postpile National Monument with my husband (entry soon).
6. Visit two new state parks. We visited San Clemente State Beach in February and South Yuba River State Park in April.
7. Identify three rocks from my original challenge. I am currently working on my basalt entry…look for it soon!
8. Read 10 nature related book! May- The Practical Naturalist. June – Botany in a Day.
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!
Don’t forget that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to the brand new Learning About Birds ebook!
This is the time of year that the rewards of creating a wildlife habitat are coming clear as the insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals visit our yard each day. There seems to be someone enjoying the space at all times. I hear buzzing and chirping during the day and see signs that someone has come to drink water and dig around in the leaves at night. I even have seen where some deer have been sleeping around on the side of our house. My husband saw a fox one evening and I heard an owl in our tree.
The yard is so alive and full of surprises each day.
I highly recommend the creating of a wildlife habitat that fits your local area’s wild residents.
Once you certify your garden online, you can order a flag or sign to proudly display in your yard. I ordered the classic sign and we mounted it near our front walkway. Here are all the signs available: National Wildlife Federation Sign Shop.
Would you like a free printable plan for creating your own Wildlife Habitat? I created one for you to use as you access your yard for the four elements you will need to become certified.
I wrote an entry a few years ago about the making of our own wildlife habitat. This entry mostly shows our backyard and how we planted things and arranged the yard to accommodate a variety of wildlife. Read more about the specific things you need to create a living space in your own yard: Making Your Backyard a Wildlife Habitat.You may find this entry helpful: Birdwatching 101- Attracting Birds with feeders and plants.
Here is another entry that shows the transformation of our front yard into a more wildlife friendly habitat: Frontyard Remodel. We have since added a mason bee house that you can read about in this post: Mason Bee House.Here is an entry that shows our frontyard in all four seasons: From My Window.
Now that summer is here, you may be spending more time in your yard or garden. Take a few minutes to observe any wildlife that visits! Use the printable above to make your wildlife habitat plan soon and then go over to the National Wildlife Federation website to get certified. Then, proudly display your sign and tell your neighbors about the program so they can participate too.
Have you thought about creating a wildlife habitat?
We had the chance to camp for a few days at Calaveras Big Trees State Park.We waited too long and we couldn’t get a campsite at Yosemite National Park so we decided to try Calaveras as an alternative (the parks are about 80 miles apart). If you are looking for a spot to camp and hike under the tall trees, this is a wonderful place to do it. Of course, there are no spectacular waterfalls at Calaveras but there are lots of trees, wildflowers, and a river to satisfy your nature loving spirit. Yosemite National Park has three groves of sequoia trees and Calaveras has two main groves – the North and the South groves. We hiked both groves during our visit.
I have visited many of California’s sequoia groves in my life time but the South Grove at Calaveras Big Trees is my favorite because of the quietness and wildness of its location. It takes effort to get there on a hike of around four miles round trip after a nine mile drive from the park entrance but that makes it less crowded so you can enjoy the natural beauty of a ancient sequoia grove.
Take a quick stop at the visitor center before you head down the road to the grove. I loved this visitor center because of its very well down exhibits that provide a decent background to the sequoia story, the local habitat, and the cultural information about this area.
Now you can drive down to the trailhead, perhaps stopping briefly at the view point. The hike to the South Grove starts at a large parking lot adjacent to a picnic area with restrooms. There are no sequoias here but the forest is full of tall pines and cedars and a creek. Across the creek you start the trail to the South Grove. I picked up the interpretive trail guide for fifty cents at the visitor center but there are some at the trailhead as well. Now the hike! It was a good trail that isn’t too steep…gradual incline. If you are using the interpretive guide, it will describe some of the specific things you are viewing along the way to the actual grove and then a little background and information about certain trees as you hike the loop. We encountered a handful of people during our hike and it felt as if we were there all on our own. I love that! We had a friend along with us that had never seen sequoias before and it was interesting to hear her comments about the massive size of these trees. The quiet is broken only with babbling creeks and birdsong. Imagining these trees growing for thousands of years boggles the mind. We learned a lot about the sequoia life cycle on this hike, the interconnected web of seed dispersal that includes a certain squirrel and a beetle, and the value of a good fire to the stability of this forest ecosystem. We also saw a snake! If you want to see some sequoias and are not wanting the crowds of Yosemite, this is a great alternative place to visit. There are two large campgrounds if you like to camp. We stayed at North Grove and it was very pretty. There was a creek running through the camground and there were places for kids to dip in a net to catch a minnow or a tadpole. The large meadow adjacent to the campground has a boardwalk across it so you can walk out and enjoy the plants, insects, and other sights in this habitat. Please note that the main highway runs alongside the campground and it might be smart to check the area map when you are making your reservations to see if your site backs up to the road. We could hear the cars go by from our site but it wasn’t distracting. Here is the obligatory image from atop the big stump (Discovery Stump). We enjoyed our stay at the park and highly recommend it to families who are looking for camping, hiking, and exploring in Northern California.
Additional Tips
Distances: From San Francisco – about 150 miles. From Reno, Nevada – about 125 miles. From Sacramento- 100 miles. From South Lake Tahoe- about 90 miles (gorgeous drive!)
There is a fee to get into the park for day use.
It does snow here in the winter so you will want to check the park’s website for information on road closures.
In winter, there is a warming hut for those that use the trails for snow shoes and skiing.
Towns near-by for hotels, restaurants, and gas: Arnold, CA and Murphys, CA.
You can read more of my national park entries by following these links:
