Taking a walk without technology can free up your eyes, ears, and hands for a more careful and engaged time outdoors with your family.
I have to admit I rarely am without my iPhone these days so going without it on a hike feels sort of like I’m naked. But, the few times I have done it lately and gone completely unplugged, it was very enjoyable. I have challenged my family to do this more often and see what fresh observations come to light when we go without our modern technology.
Afterwards, talk as a family about the experience. Were there some positive aspects to being free of technology? Can you make this a regular feature of one of your nature walks each month?
This new ebook will be loaded into the Ultimate Naturalist and Journey level memberships soon!
If you aren’t a member yet, you still have time to join and have immediate access as soon as it publishes.
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1. Spring Walk Notebook Page – This is an easy page to complete after a spring walk. Use the prompts to help you record all of the special things you observe.
2. Rock Photo Hunt – As part of your March 2017 newsletter activities, you can print this list of rock related photo ideas to help inspire some enthusiasm for a rock hunt.
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. You can download a complete list of printables available to members here:
My February entry is a little early this month because I am anticipating a week with my daughter where we will be going unplugged for the most part. I will share my early February activities and thoughts in the hope that it will inspire you to get out and have your own Outdoor Mom time. Don’t miss the prompts at the bottom of the post for some ideas to get you started if you want to write up your own journal or share something in a comment here at the end of this entry.
During our outdoor time this month we went….
We have made time for only one formal hike because of the weather. It has been all over the place as far as rain, snow, ice, and wind. What a ride! My husband takes a daily hike and he invited me to accompany him early one morning last week during the middle of our wettest week in a very long time. We actually had over 17 inches of rain in less than a week. He loaned me some rain gear and it kept me dry as we hiked down a familiar trail to the river. It is usually a loop trail but on this day about a third of the trail was under almost flood stage water. The power of water always impresses me and this day was no different. The photo above shows my husband on the trail’s end. I captured the event in my nature journal.
The most inspiring thing we experienced was…
We had one snow even where we received about an inch and a half overnight. The snow stuck around all morning and it happened to be a Project Feederwatch day so I was periodically looking out at our feeders.
About 9 AM I noticed a small hawk resting on the block wall to the side of our feeder area. He had his back to us so I tried to use the binoculars to spy his features. I didn’t want to spook him so I stayed fairly still as I observed. I was able to snap a few images that helped me identify him as a sharp-shinned hawk. It was an awesome sight and very rare to see a hawk in our yard.
I added nature journal pages about….
In living up to my goal to create a nature journal page each week, I have been working diligently on my journal.
>>>Winter Backyard Study (from the January 2017 newsletter), Nature Goals 2017 – made an official record of my goals, focused mainly on my journal, Sharp-shinned Hawk sighting, Rain Day at the American River<<<<
I am dreaming about…
An up-coming trip where I will put my feet in warm sand.
A photo I would like to share…
We have had a downy woodpecker visit our suet feeder just about every day this week. He is a welcome visitor!
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 printables which provides members with even more in-depth studies each month.
Look for me on Instagram if you want to follow my outdoor experiences in photos. Use the hashtag #outdoorhourchallenge or #OHCnaturejournal and I will stop by and see what you are up to on your Instagram account.
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!
One of my goals each month is to take few of the nature photo suggestions from the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter. This month’s suggestions centered on insects but I can’t resist sharing some of my favorite (so far) images of flowers. I have been sort of addicted to the color orange in all its shades this month and these daylilies are perfect. The photo above was from our local daylily farm. We visited during their “Daylily Days”this weekend and the farm is a mass of blooms of all colors.
If you are a local, this is a great day trip and I suggest bringing a picnic and perhaps stopping at one of the neighboring vineyards to pick up a bottle of wine. Perfect day trip!
Here is one of the photo suggestions from the newsletter. I captured this bee with his pollen baskets as he buzzed around my front yard sage.
I think this is a bush katydid sitting on my rose bush. It looks as if he has devoured some of the leaves. The prompt in the newsletter says “insect antennae” and the katydid’s antennae were definitely one of his most prominent features. My field guide says they can be three times longer than his body. Amazing!
I suggested on Facebook that if you had trouble looking at insects and their wings that the ladybug might be a good first insect to study. They are very low on the “icky” scale and most of us can even pick them up without getting squeamish. This ladybug looks as if he is sleeping in the mum plant.
This year my garden is so alive with plants that were dormant through the drought. The sweet pea in the front yard greets me at the mailbox everyday with its beautiful pink blossoms. We have studied these interesting flowers in the past and you can find an Outdoor Hour Challenge for them if you look up on the garden tab on the website.
Welcome to my back deck flower garden! These are all in pots on my deck and provide brilliant color for me and the insects that visit. Flowers are from top to bottom, left to right: Chocolate Daisy (Rene’s Garden Seeds), Calla Lily, Blanket Flower, Oriental poppy, Coreopsis, Bee Balm, and a Dahlia.
If you enjoy my photos and are on Instagram, I invite you to follow my new Outdoor Hour Challenge Instagram account! You can follow the account for nature study inspiration and reminders. Or if you would rather, tag your photos with #outdoorhourchallenge and I will stop by and take a look at your photos! I would love to “regram” your images too! I would love for this Instagram account to become a large community of like-minded nature lovers.
We took the most amazing hike last weekend! It actually started off as a fairly rainy day but about noon the clouds started to thin out and we decided to take a chance and head out on a hike.
It is one of our favorite local hikes and we haven’t been down to the river at this spot since last summer. We were rewarded with an amazing display of colorful flowers which just happened to go along with last week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge – Pick a Color.
How about all these purple flowers? Top left is Purple Chinese Houses. Top right is lupine. Bottom left is larkspur. Bottom right is heartleaf millkweed.
Then there are the white and yellow flowers.
Last but not least, the red and pink flowers. Top left is checkermallow. Top right is Twining Brodiaea. The bottom left pink flower is new to us! Purple monkeyflower! Bottom right is a variety of Indian Paintbrush.
What an awesome wildflower day!
In addition we saw:
Chinese Lanterns
Pretty Faces
Mustang Clover
Indian Pinks
Miniature lupine
Yarrow
Goldfields
Wild Cucumber
Buckbrush
Elegant Clarkia
Vetch
It ended up raining on us right when we got down to the river so we had to head back up right away. It was still a terrific hike and we were rewarded for our efforts with a showy display of color.
The printable Wildflower Color Hunt is available during the month of May 2016 in the free newsletter. If you don’t already subscribe to the Handbook of Nature Study, you can do so during the month of May and receive the newsletter download link in your subscription thank you email. All newsletters are available as part of every level of membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. See the Join Us pagefor more information on how you can gain access to the Ultimate Naturalist Library of ebooks, newsletters, and exclusive printables.
Note these are affiliate links to products I love!
Printable Activity: Wildflower Photo Hunt Use the printable list for your photo hunt…plus use the ideas on the page to create a nature journal with the photos when you are finished. If at all possible, let your child take the images!
Use the ideas in the archive link above to go on a spring green photo hunt. Find as many shades of green as you can during your outdoor time and take photos.
If you want to purchase the Spring Nature Study Continues ebook, you can join the Ultimate or Journey Membership Levels. See the Join Us page for complete information. Also, you can view the Spring Nature Study Continues – New Ebookannouncement page for more details.
Join us for nature study challenges every week here on the Handbook of Nature Study.
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.
I am sharing our family’s nature photos for the month of December after enjoying the November entry so much. With my grown children so far away and all of our busy lives, this is a simple way we can connect and share our love for the outdoors in a simple way despite the distance. I hope you enjoy the McCoy family December nature photos!
This is my husband’s entry for the month. He really enjoyed the refreshing trip to the ocean and taking a really long walk on the sand.
My daughter Amanda shared this photo on Instagram earlier this month with the hashtag, “I am my mother’s daughter.” Yes indeed. She has a new feeder outside her window and she is enjoying the birds that are visiting. In fact, she says the feeder can be emptied in one day they love it so much! Guess I better send her a gift card for some birdseed.
This is one of my favorite images from the month. I took this through the window of the squirrel eating under my birdfeeder. He was posing so nicely and looking right at my camera. Don’t you just love his little paws?
One last image from my son in New York. They have had unusually warm weather this month…quite the opposite of last year. I love the misty morning view from his street.
Hope you enjoyed a wonderful December and created some of your own family memories too!
I have been attempting to take a photo of my front yard from my office window each month for comparing. This was an idea that came from Alex over at Life on a Canadian Island when she shared her photos each month with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. I looked back through my images and I found that I have been fairly successful in capturing an image each month. I thought today would be a great day to share a few of the pictures with you because they show the autumn colors we have finally experienced.
This is from March 2015 back when everything looked so neat a tidy. You can see the daffodils and the forsythia are the stars of the show.
This one is from August 2015. The butterfly bushes and the sage have taken over and are created shelter for the birds, bees, and butterflies.
This was from the beginning of November 2015. The dogwood tree, the redbud, and the butterfly bushes are all starting to take on their autumn colors.
This is the view out the other window in my office…looking out into the Chinese pistache trees. I love having these trees in our yard because there are many birds that are attracted to them at this time of the year. I get to see flickers, robins, starlings, and bluebirds as they hover and perch around the nutlets that are crimson red on this tree.
Now this week we have had hail twice and it has changed the look of the view out my living room window. I spend lots of time observing the birdfeeders from this particular window and since we trimmed a few of the butterfly bushes and the lavender and the yarrow I have a clearer view of who is visiting.
If you would like to read more about starting a window study or any year long nature study, members can look at the July 2014 edition of the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter. There are quite a few ideas and suggestions in that issue. Or, you can start a year-long tree study by using the ideas in this entry: Four Seasons Tree Study Photo Project.
You might also like these nature color ideas:
Color Cards– These printable cards are perfect for younger students.
