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Posted on December 6, 2013 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – December Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Extraordinary in the Ordinary – December Edition

Find the Extraordinary in the Ordinary I challenge you to find five ordinary things in your backyard or in your everyday life that you can study and learn something more about. Find something extraordinary in something you have come to think of as ordinary and usual, so usual that you may not even notice it anymore.

You may remember that we have done this challenge in the past two times. Please be inspired by both of these entries to complete your own extraordinary nature walk this month with your children.

Additional Printable Notebook Page

Notebook Page: Extraordinary in the Ordinary – December

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #8. Take along a magnifying lens on your Extraordinary in the Ordinary walk. Find something to examine more closely…even ice, frost, water from a puddle, the bark of a tree, or snow. Find something to be amazed by and then complete the notebooking page in the ebook.

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Barb — Leave a comment

California Shrub: Toyon or California Christmas Berry

Toyon or California Christmas Berry

Rose Family
Evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 6 or 8 feet high.
Leaves are 2 to 4 inches long and dark green and fine toothed.
Small white flowers appear in June or July.
Red berries appear by December….favorite food of robins, mockingbirds, and cedar waxwings!

This is a common shrub in our area and right now it is brilliant with red berries. I love seeing it along our walking trail and I realized this week that my dad has a whole patch of it on his hill. I am planning on going over there to take some photos later in the week which I will add to this entry.

I enjoyed this paragraph in my California Forests and Woodlands book:

“The wildlife of Foothill Woodland is often richest in the woods where the pines and oaks intermingle with California Buckeyes, a shrubby undergrowth of Buckbrush, California Coffeeberry, Toyon, and tangled vines of Wild Grape, Pipestems, and Western Poison Oak.”

This describes our habitat perfectly! I love learning about the interdependence of plants and animals…so very interesting. I need to add Coffeeberry and Wild Grape to my list of plants to study in the next year so look for entries in the future.

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival – November Edition

We had a great month! November was particularly mild which meant we could spend lots of time enjoying the outdoors together. Thank you to all the participants for this edition of the blog carnival. I know you will enjoy reading the entries as much as I did.

Our family’s entries from this month’s study (in case you missed one):

Be inspired. Be encouraged. Get outdoors!

Woodpecker/November Birds
Nelleke from Education is a Life shares her entry Birds of November with carnival readers.She writes about their bird focus for the month and some great images as well.

November World
Annie from Annie’s Place has submitted their November Weather Study entry for the carnival. She shares how they used the Outdoor Hour Challenge and a Hearts and Trees Weather Lapbook. So many great things in this entry!

Shirley Ann from Under An English Sky has shared their wonderful November World entry with the carnival. What a lovely glimpse into their November nature walks.

Alex from Life on a Canadian Island has submitted her next installment in her series of Window Nature Study – Autumn November. What a fun idea and I am thoroughly enjoying seeing into their continuing study.

Kris from On The 8th Day has written this entry for you to enjoy: Our November Neighborhood. Oh what an insightful entry! She shares how nature study has helped her gain some insight to how her children think…love it!

Barbara from The Schoolhouse on the Prairie shares her November World entry. I loved seeing their cottonwood tree and their nature riddles.

Mushrooms
Angie from Petra School has submitted her entry: Cascade Head Reserve, A Morning Walk. In this entry she has some glorious mushrooms for you to see. I love it!

Eva Varga shares her Fascinating Fungi entry with carnival readers for this edition. Her run through the forest was interrupted by some beautiful fungi. Thanks Eva for sharing!

Potpourri
Taunya from Taunya’s Place shares their Nature Study-The Cattail entry with the carnival. They used the Handbook of Nature Study and had some fun too!

Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in December are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 12/30/13 and you can send them directly to me: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com or submit them at the blog carnival site (link on the sidebar of my blog).

Join us for the 2013-2013 Outdoor Hour Challenges.

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Field Notebook Nature Journal

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Making a Field Notebook

Use the ideas below to start your own field notebook:

Field Notebook (2009) with free notebook page
Nature Journals (2010)

You may also find this post helpful:
How To Organize Your Nature Journal Pages

Additional Activity:
Hearts and Trees Digital Camera Fall Scavenger Hunt

Download and complete this fun and easy digital camera scavenger hunt to include in your nature journal. Hearts and Trees (my daughter Amanda) has put together a fun outdoor activity that would make a great family project this week.

You may be interested in reading this post:
Nature Study and Digital Photography

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #6. Use your time outdoors this week to collect a few things to put on your nature shelf. Start a collection of anything that interests your children. Use the accompanying notebook page to record your collection ideas. You may also want to check out the ideas in this entry: Start a Rock Collection.

You are welcome to submit any of you blog Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Barb — 2 Comments

Backyard Birds: November 2013

I love watching and counting our backyard birds. As part of Project Feederwatch I am observing two days a week, a few minutes per day. Participating in this citizen science project has brought such focus to our birdwatching. We constantly are reminded that if we didn’t put in the effort, we would miss out on so many learning opportunities.

We saw a House Finch last week that has eye disease. This led to a bit of research on the All About Birds website. We learned the causes and the action we need to take when we see a House Finch with an eye disorder. You can read more on Cornell’s Website.

Today we saw a bunch of Juncos…one even posed on the back deck railing. Look at those feet. It spurred me on to pull out the bird feet activity from a few weeks ago to try to discover what kind of feet the Junco has.

It was quite an exciting afternoon when we spotted two Ruby Crowned Kinglets in our front yard. If you look closely in the center of this photo you will spy a little bird with red feathers on his head. He is fast so I wasn’t able to get a very clear photo of him but there he is! He is so light that he can land on branches of the butterfly bushes and they don’t even sag. He can sort of hover over the branch as well…amazing. I was able a few years ago to get a good photo in this entry: November Birds.

Here is our November 2013 List of Birds:
House Finch
White Crowned Sparrow
Dark Eyed Junco
Oak Titmouse
Anna’s Hummingbird
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Spotted Towhee
Western Bluebird
White Breasted Nuthatch
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Western Scrubjay
Bewick’s Wren – new to our life list
Northern Mockingbird
Ruby Crowned Kinglet

I am so looking forward to December bird watching!

Join us for the 2013-2014 Outdoor Hour Challenges!

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Autumn Mushroom Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Mushroom Study

You can use these ideas from the archives to complete a mushroom nature study:
Mushrooms (2009) – with free printable notebook page
Mushrooms (2012)
Extraordinary in the Ordinary – Mushrooms – with free printable notebook page

You can use these notebook page:
Mushroom Cap Shapes Notebook Page
Parts of a Mushroom Notebook Page

Additional Activity: Mushroom Shapes
Use clay to form different mushroom shapes. If you need some ideas to get you started, here is a link to different kinds of mushrooms:
Mushroom Chart

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #3. This week you can try to draw some mushrooms in your nature journal or use the notebook page from the ebook to keep a record of your outdoor time.

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Barb — 1 Comment

Project Feederwatch and Autumn Birds

Time for Project Feederwatch to begin for the season! I am ready to go this year and have me days planned for observing our feeders. It only takes a few minutes on two consecutive days each week to participate. If you miss a week, that is okay too…just pick up when you can.

Watch a video on how to get started.

I love weaving a citizen science project like this into our lives. 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 Project Feederwatch you only count birds that come to eat.

We have participated for the last two years and it is interesting to compare our numbers from year to year.

We are already seeing some of our winter residents arriving from their summer migration areas.

What are you seeing at your feeders this month? Are you anticipating the return of any birds to your feeders?

Here is what we had at our feeders this week:
Dark eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
House Finches
Anna’s Hummingbirds
Spotted Towhee
Western Scrub Jays
Titmouse
Starlings (in the trees, not the feeder though)
Goldfinches
White-breasted nuthatches

Plus a NEW BIRD!!!

This is the first time ever I spotted a Bewick’s Wren in my backyard! I was out trying to capture my Spotted towhee when this little guy caught my eye. He was flitting around in the shrubs and he ended up on the lilac branches in my butterfly garden. I wasn’t sure if I could get him because he was fast! But, there he is and the image is clear enough that I was able to go in and identify him using WhatBird? and AllAboutBirds.com. He is new on my life list and he will be going into my nature journal soon.

I will be sharing my bird lists each month and if you do the same you can drop me a comment and I will come and take a look.

You may be interested in following my Nature Study-Birds Pinterest board!

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – November World Nature Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge November World Observations

Outdoor Hour Challenge
November World Nature Observations

November is a transitional season month in our part of the world…not exactly autumn and not quite winter yet. Use this week’s outdoor time to create an impression of your November World…create word pictures and enjoy the time outside with your children.

You may want to use some of the ideas in these challenges:
November World 2010 – Familiar Spot
Signs of Autumn – Challenge and Notebook Page

November World Notebook Page
(from the November 2011 Newsletter)

Have some fun completing this challenge and then record your November World observations using this simple notebook page.

November World – Know Your Own Backyard Notebook Page

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #2-Using Your Words. Create some lovely word pictures after your outdoor time for this challenge. Use the accompanying notebook page to record your words or use a blank journal page.

Note: This nature study challenge can be found in the Autumn 2010 ebook.

If you would like to own this ebook, it is part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library for members. You can find more details on how to get your own membership here: Join Us!

Ultimate Ebook Library @handbookofnaturestudy

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Barb — 1 Comment

November Weather Grid Observations

Have you started your November Weather Grid observations? We have continued to have warm, sunny days – last week with the afternoon temperatures in the 70’s and this week in the 60’s. It is not our typical November weather at all.

My rain gauge has not had a drop of rain in it all month.

There were only a few clouds to observe this week and we made a point to get out and watch for awhile. I remembered to think of some words to describe them: thin, grey, fast-moving, swirly, like cotton, friendly.

The birds are returning to my feeders a little at a time and I spend some time each day looking out the window at the trees in the backyard for some bird visitors. Mr. B pointed out two Northern Flickers a few days ago…he says, “Hey Mom, there are two really colorful big birds outside my window!”

I found parts of two different butterflies in the yard when we were raking up some leaves. Have you ever tried picking up a butterfly wing? It is so very delicate and when you set it down it blows away in the slightest breeze. Amazing to look at with the magnifying lens.

One day I collected some autumn twigs, branches, and dried flowers from the garden for a “bouquet” that sits on the nature table. Nothing fancy but it makes me happy.

We have still been walking outdoors just about every day, sometimes in our neighborhood and sometimes we take the local walking trail. The trail is dry and covered in fallen leaves…so very dry. I know the rest of November may be cooler and wetter but for now the word to describe our weather is DRY or maybe WARM.

The Kona dog doesn’t mind the weather and takes advantage of the opportunity at our river walks to jump in and swim. The river is low right now so she paddles around or fetches a ball if we have one to throw in for her. The water is too cold for me but for our Labrador it is heaven.

Look for a weather related challenge this week and I look forward to seeing some of your November World observations in the up-coming Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.

Outdoor Hour Challenges for families since 2008!