insects Archives

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Winter Insect Hunt

Outdoor Hour Challenge

Winter Insect Hunt

From the Archives and the Winter Wednesday ebook

The first time we completed this challenge we lived in California where there was no snow, ice, or frozen ground. Now, in our new Central Oregon habitat it will be interesting to see what we discover using the ideas in the challenge linked above for an insect study in the middle of winter.

Use the ideas from the challenge if possible, but always take your fifteen minutes outside to be refreshed and look for something to observe whether it’s the topic of the week or not! If all else fails, get your insect field guide out and enjoy paging through to find an insect to learn more about in anticipation of a future sighting. You can find all of the insect nature study challenges on this page: Outdoor Hour Challenges – Insects.

If you’re interested in seeing how our family completed this challenge way back in time, here’s a blog entry from the archives: Our Winter Insect Study.

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

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.

For the month of February, I am offering a $5 off coupon for every level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. 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.

Join us in our weekly nature study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge: October 2017 through August 2018 Plans.

Posted on November 8, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Weeds, Seeds, and Myrmecochory

Harvester Ants Myrmecochory — Photo credit: Bob Forester

Myrmecochory -Here’s a link to learn more!

In a nutshell, it means seed dispersal by ants.

Ants harvesting seeds — Photo Credit: gailhampshire

I came across the interesting term while doing some research on seed dispersal. It always amazes me to learn about things going on right under my nose that I never noticed.

You can do your own research and use the printable in the member’s library to record your interesting facts.

Are you familiar with the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership? If not, you can read about it on this page: Membership Information.

The Ultimate and Journey level memberships include access to the growing list of printable notebooking pages and activities. I add new things each month!

Click above to see a current list of printables available in addition to the 20 ebooks already included in the Ultimate Membership.

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

November Planning Page and Printables

November 2017 Nature Planning Page-Print out your own copy here!

Now that there is no longer a newsletter with a planning page, I decided that I am creating a printable page for you to use instead. Keep track of the month’s Outdoor Hour Challenge topics, be inspired to create a nature journal page, jot down notes for future study, and use the list of archived suggestions to go deeper into a particular topic.

Download your copy here: November 2017 Nature study Planner Page

New printables are now posted in the Member’s library!

Members have two new printables to use this autumn.

Autumn Insect Study Notebook Page: Use this page to record any autumn insects you discover during your outdoor time.
Myrmecochory: Research the term myrmecochory and then write a summary of what you learned for your nature notebook. (Look for a blog entry that talks about this interesting topic soon!)

Print a complete list of printables available to Members for easy reference: Printables for Members

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Mom – July Part 2 Wildlife Viewings

Outdoor Mom July: Part 2 – Wildlife Viewings

This is Part 2 of my Outdoor Mom entry. You can read Part 1 here: Outdoor Mom Part 1 – My Own Backyard

I saw my first ever badger in real life! I was driving and it was crossing the road in front of me. At first my mind was trying to figure out what it was; too big to be a possum and not quite like a raccoon. As I approached, I saw the face and realized it was indeed a badger! Here is a link to what he looked like: American badger.

We have seen two adult raccoons in our yard (and trees) plus two adorable and entertaining young raccoons.

One evening they were playing in our front yard and were just as curious about us as we were about them.

My husband has been telling me about the river otters that live right near our house but I didn’t see them until this past week. They are really good swimmers so I didn’t get to see them for very long because they swam upstream from where we were kayaking.

We regularly have deer and fawns in our yard. There was a mama and two little ones that made an appearance at my birdfeeders. I’m sure they’re the ones that keep tipping the seed out.

Or, it may be one of the many squirrels that scurry around from tree to tree. We have several kinds of squirrels here but the most prominent one is the gray squirrel.

We have lots and lots of little frogs in our yard! Every time I go out to water I have to be careful not to squish them when walking in the grass.

The most interesting insect sighting has been the hundreds of California tortoiseshell butterflies that made an appearance all at once in our area. They’ve been seen flying in mass over the roads. We felt bad as we ran into so many of them on our way to a hike. Then, the next few days they were all over our yard. I definitely need to do more research into their lifecycle.

This nature loving mama is having a fantastic summer of wildlife viewing right in my own yard and then my neighborhood.

You may be interested in reading the other parts in this series:

Part 1 – My Own Backyard

Part 3 – Travels

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Gall Insects

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Winter Gall Study

From the Archives or from the Winter Ebook

This is one of the most interesting topics that you are ever going to study. I am pretty sure you have noticed galls before during a nature walk but never knew what they were or where they came from. I was the same way when I first started taking a deeper look at things right around where we lived. We have oaks in our habitat and they are a host for so many different kinds of galls. I suggest you look at a local field guide to see if you have any galls in your area to scout out starting now in the winter and then on into the spring and summer.

You may wish to take a quick look at this page for more introductory information: Plant Galls.

Gall Insect Nature Study @handbookofnaturestudy — Gall Dwelling Insect notebook page found in the winter ebook referenced below

If you are interested in purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist Membership at this time, you will gain access to the custom notebooking pages that go along with each of the challenges in the ebook.

Note: You do not need to purchase the ebook to participate but they are handy to have for planning and for the regular and advanced notebook pages included in each one. Click the graphic at above to go over to check out the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.

Spring Plans!

We will be working through a new series of wildflower challenges starting in April using a new ebook that will publish sometime in March. The new wildflower ebook will also be added to the Ultimate Naturalist Library so if you purchase a membership now, you will have the new ebook as soon as it is available. I will posting details about the new ebook soon.

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Posted on September 13, 2016 by Barb — 1 Comment

Insect Nature Study – Potpourri

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 time but I am keeping my eyes wide open for the opportunity to see these interesting creatures up close.

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Posted on September 9, 2016 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Insect Leaf Miners and Rollers

Leaf Miner and Leaf Roller Challenge from the Archives:Outdoor Hour Challenge – Leaf Miners and Rollers

and the More Nature Study – Autumn ebook.

We are going to start off our autumn nature study with one that will require some careful observations. The first time we did this challenge I was pleasantly surprised at how many subjects we found to look at as part of the leaf miner and leaf roller nature study ideas. There are videos in the archived challenge for you to view that will help you get started and know what you are looking for. Make sure to read the pages in the Handbook of Nature Study!

You may be interested in viewing our family’s entry from the original study: Searching for Leaf Miners and Leaf Rollers. You can see that we used a magnifying lens to get a good look at the leaf damage so you may want to do the same thing. Don’t forget that this month’s newsletter has ideas for studying insect homes: Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter September 2016.

Note: You do not need to purchase the ebooks to participate but they are handy to have for planning and for the regular and advanced notebook pages included in each one. Click the graphic at the bottom of this post to go over to check out the Ultimate Naturalist Library membership.

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Barb — 2 Comments

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter – September 2016 Insect Homes

Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter

September 2016 – Insect Study: Insect Homes

Please read the following explanation outlining how to get this month’s newsletter.

The newsletter link is not in this email but will come separately. There may be a delay in your receiving the email so please don’t email me until the second day of the month if you haven’t received the link on the first. For some reason, some email providers take longer to receive the newsletter email.

If you don’t receive the separate email with the download link, you probably aren’t subscribed to the blog yet. This will take less than a minute to do if you follow the steps below.

If you are a subscriber and you haven’t received your newsletter email yet, check your SPAM inbox. Some subscribers have found the email buried in SPAM inbox.

If you need to subscribe:

You will need to go to the Handbook of Nature Study, look to the top right corner for the box to type in your preferred email address, and then confirm the email that comes to your email inbox.
Once you subscribe, you will receive a thank you email from me with the download link for the current month’s newsletter.

This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of September so be sure to download it before 9/30/16.

Remember! All of the archived and current newsletters are available as part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library…every level!

Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:

This edition of the newsletter will focus mainly on insects and their homes. This is a more difficult topic but please don’t be intimidated. Read the newsletter for a variety of insect-related nature study ideas and lots of free printables.
This month I have reprinted from the More Nature Study Autumn ebook the Gall Dwellers Outdoor Hour Challenge. This will give you a real look at what a challenge in an ebook is like…please enjoy this freebie with your family when the opportunity arises.
September Nature Study Planning Page that gathers lots of ideas for this month’s nature study (including links to the four Friday OHC studies that will be coming up in September).
I wrote an article for this edition that includes the Insect Home Nature Journal Topper for you to use with your family.
Plus as a bonus, I am including the Insect Study Grid and Bookmark printable page from the archives.
Especially for younger students, I have included a coloring page for your insect study in this edition of the newsletter.

As you can see from the list above, I am back to a more full edition of the newsletter. I missed the freedom that having more pages allowed me to include a little of this and that to round out your nature study. Please let me know if there are things you would like to see in up-coming editions of the newsletter!

Resources for your Nature Library: I have started to build a nature library store on Amazon that will feature by category my favorite nature study books and resources. Take a look and see if there is anything you would like to put on your wish list for your family’s nature study library: Handbook of Nature Study Nature Library Suggestions on Amazon.com. Note this is my affiliate store to items I personally recommend and have read or seen in person.

Please note that Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level members have access to members only printables each month in addition to the newsletter printables. You will need to log into your account and then go to the “Other Releases” section.

Please click over and read the step by step instructions for using the Handbook of Nature Study and the Outdoor Hour Challenge in your nature study plans starting in September. Let me know if you have any questions.

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Barb — 3 Comments

Outdoor Mom’s Journal – Summertime

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.

Read more about it!

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Barb — 1 Comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Ant Insect Study

Summer Ant Study – from the archives

Ant Study

This is a topic that never gets boring…ants are everywhere and once your children start hunting they will find more to observe than you ever imagined. Use the options below to complete a nature notebook page for ants. If you don’t find ants, look for any insect of interest!

Printable Notebook Page:
There are two versions of the generic insect notebook page for you to download and use with any of the insect challenges.

Insect Study – record your field guide notes and a sketch
Insect Notes – simple page with wider lines for younger students

For Members:

This challenge was originally published in the Spring Nature Study ebook. If you have this in your Ultimate Membership library, you may wish to print out the custom notebook page that goes along with the nature study ideas.

Category: insects