Another day, a few more wildflowers. This time of year we take walks just about every day and with the weather warming up, all the flowers are blooming in succession.
The Blue dicks or Wild Hyacinth are really blooming in our area. This hillside near our walking trail is just covered in them.
Here is a close-up look at these lavender colored flowers….my favorite color. The stems are a reddish color and even though they look sort of flimsy, they are rather rigid and hold the flowers up high.
I have been thinking this is fennel but now looking in our field guide, I’m not so sure. It must be a member of the parsley or carrot family: Patterns of the Parsley Family.
We also noticed the Miniature lupine is blooming all along the path.
Here is a little bit closer up look at the Miniature lupine.
It is such an exciting time of year to be outdoors! The birds, the flowers, and the sky are all so wonderful to experience. It is out there waiting for us if we put out the effort.
Birds we observed:
Soaring turkey vultures
California towhees
Western scrub jay
White-crowned sparrows
Birds we heard:
Downy woodpecker
Mourning doves
Finches-don’t know what kind
Steller’s jay
We had a chance to enjoy another perfect spring afternoon hiking on our favorite trail. We were amazed that in the last week so many wildflowers have burst out in bloom.
As part of the Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges, we completed our Spring Weather Challenge. It was warm at 69 degrees (per our car thermometer). There were some breezes moving but not much.
Sunrise 6:34 AM
Sunset 7:35 PM
13 hours and 1 minute of daylight
Official high temperature: 68.8 degrees F
Official low temperature: 40.8 degrees F
Breezes coming from the South.
Our weather forecast is for rain the next two days and then back up into the 50’s the rest of the week.
The chamise is blooming all up and down the foothills right now and with its sweet fragrance it fills the spring sunshine. The clouds were whispy and moving very fast.
More cirrus clouds were to be found around the bend. My son has been studying the weather for his aviation course so he is teaching me lots of things about clouds and weather predicting.
This is a new flower to us and we came home to look it up in our field guide. We think it is Blue eyed grass.
Our state flower, the California poppy, is blooming all around town. This is on the hillside next to our walking trail.
Here is our winter weather entry if you want to compare our differences: Winter Weather.
Outdoor Hour Challenge
Spring Series #2 Spring Weather Observation
Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 851-854 in the Handbook of Nature Study. This section is not exactly about weather, but it ties in nicely with some springtime observations of the sun and its path. You might like to construct the Shadow Stick (page 852 #13) and make observations over the next few weeks and months with your children. At the very least, look up your sunrise and sunset times to calculate how much daylight you have now that it is spring in your area.
If you have the older edition of the Handbook of Nature Study, you need to look in the section “The Relations of the Sun to the Earth” for this week’s reading.
Your Outdoor Hour time this week can be spent making observations about the weather. Enjoy whatever spring weather you are currently experiencing and spend 15 minutes outside looking at the sky, clouds, wind in the trees, dew on the grass, mud puddles after a rain, or whatever else you can experience in your part of the world.
Suggested Observations
Have your children describe any clouds they see in the sky.
Notice how hard the wind is blowing by how things are moving: leaves rustling, trees bending, etc.
Notice the wind’s direction. Where is it coming from?
Describe the temperature of the air and/or look it up on a thermometer.
Notice any precipitation that you may have this week: sprinkles, rain, mist, sleet, snow, fog, hail.
If you made a Shadow Stick, make sure you spend one day marking the board every half hour from 9 AM to 3 PM. This experiment will need to be repeated again in June, September, and December if possible. (see page 852 #13)
Follow-Up Activity:
Be sure to complete your Seasonal Weather notebook page from the Misc Tab or from the Spring Series ebook. If you completed previous weather notebook pages, pull those out and compare the scenes you recorded in Autumn and/or Winter. Note that your days should be getting longer and any other differences you can find between the observations made in the past and now.
Extra Information on Clouds
If you observed any clouds, you might like to download this lesson plan and cloud identifier activity for your children: CloudKey.pdf. This is a handy tool to use in our cloud identification.
We were able to get out and enjoy our spring temperatures this afternoon, completing a tree study of our Tulip tree as part of our on-going year-long tree study for the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
Our Observations
Leaves are showing on many of the branches but there is still lots of growing that needs to happen.
The seeds from last fall are still visible on many of the branches. Hard to believe it still has that many.
We did not see any insects or birds this afternoon but this tree is a favorite of our early morning robin, the Western scrub jays, and the white-breasted nuthatch. We see them in this tree daily now.
The leaves were all very small but we did compare a few and they are the same shape.
There are lots of changes in the leaves and colors since the fall and winter. The shape of the tree is different as well because all of our freak winter snow broke off many of the branches in this tree…a few ending up on the roof of our house.
We discovered that we will not be able to use the activity on page 626 to measure the height of our tree. The tree’s shadow lands squarely on the roof of our house in the morning. I am going to ask my husband if he can help us figure out how to accomplish the task.
We came back inside with one of the leaves and my son and I both sketched it into our nature journals.
His is very simple while I took a little more time and played with my watercolor pencils and my Prismacolor pens.
We found this interesting website on our tree: Yellow poplar or Tulip Tree. This tree is not native to California, but many choose it to grow as a shade tree. We like the shade as well as the leaf shape and the flowers later in the spring.
Here are our autumn and winter blog entries for this tree.
It is not too late to get outdoors and start observing a tree. You can even start this season and continue over the next year. The best way to observe your tree is to go outside and quietly sit and look at your tree. You may be surprised and see some visitors as you sit. I am anxious to see how your family’s tree has changed since the last time you reported in.
We were visited by a migrating flock of Cedar waxwings this morning. We had a break in our rainstorm long enough for these beautiful birds to take a rest in the tree outside our window.
They were busy soaking in the sunshine and fluffing their wings and feathers.
Can you see the yellow tips to their tails?
Their bellies are a softer yellow and they have lovely crests of feathers on their heads.
But my favorite parts of all are their black masks and beaks.
These birds are not discussed in the Handbook of Nature Study, but we read over the section on beaks (Lesson 5) and migration (between Lesson 3 and 4) Then we looked Cedar waxwings up at AllAboutBirds.com and in our field guide.
After looking at the migratory map in the back of our Peterson Field Guide, we realize that these little birds travel all the way back up to Canada to breed. Truly amazing when you think about it for a minute.
What a great gift this morning to have these visitors to observe and enjoy.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
In case you are wondering, I took these photos with my old point and shoot through the window….how about that? I was really happy with how great they turned out. 🙂
We are holding off on the exact identification until it totally leafs out. We think it may be a silver maple which is not native to our area, but we know that we did purchase it from a nursery over a decade ago. The whole situation with this tree makes me wonder if I will ever know my own backyard.
It humbles me.
We always enjoy the tree no matter what its exact species is anyway and my husband reminded me of how much I enjoy this particular tree with its beautifully shaped limbs and its pretty leaves. It also gives us much needed shade on the back of our house when summer comes.
I already shared a photo of the helicopter seeds but here is another one for this study. We did learn from our research that these are officially called samaras.
My son and I went out and really truly looked at this tree one afternoon this past week. We observed a few new things. First of all, it is ready to leaf out and the sweet gums are still in buds. Next, the samaras are not on every branch. We have looked in our field guide and then online, finding no information about why that is so.
We remember now that the leaf buds on this tree are bright red and the sweet gums are light green. My son also reminded me that this tree has a time of year that it drops sap lightly on the rocks below it. The leaves and the rocks below get all sparkly with a sticky substance.
After discussing it as a family, we decided that all these years we just thought we had two different varieties of sweet gum trees. It never occurred to us that it could be a totally different tree.
This should make all of you feel better knowing that I am just like you. I am learning every week as our family slows down to study and learn about all we have living in our backyard. The other lesson that we learned over the last week is that we actually learn more when we are wrong about something. It takes real determination to research and compare in order to dig down to the bottom of a mystery. We now know more about maples and sweet gum trees than ever before. I am positive there is still a lot more to learn on this topic.
What is the saying? The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. I think that is how it goes. It perfectly illustrates how I feel right now.
We have been trying to spend some time outdoors every day, but we are told to expect more snow tonight. It has been a crazy spring so far!
Outdoor Hour Challenge
Spring Series #1
Spring Tree Observation
“Like a friend is a tree, in that it needs to be known season after season and year after year in order to be truly appreciated. A person who has not had an intimate, friendly acquaintance with some special tree has missed something from life.”
Anna Botsford Comstock, A Study of a Tree
Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 625-626 in the Handbook of Nature Study: Spring Work. This part of Lesson 172 should give you lots of things to think about as you prepare for your spring tree study observations. If the tree you chose to study has a section in the Handbook of Nature Study (check the table of contents), you might want to read the lesson for your particular tree in preparation for your Outdoor Hour time as well.
The Handbook of Nature Study suggests measuring the height of your tree using a stick 3½ feet long and a measuring tape. See page 626 Lesson 172 #4 for details.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Now that spring has come, it is time to check on your tree from your Year-Long Tree Study. If you are just starting out with a tree study, pick a tree from your yard that you can watch through all four seasons. Spend 10-15 minutes of your outdoor time using the ideas from the Handbook of Nature Study to do some focused observations of your tree.
Simple Suggestions for Spring Tree Study:
Pick a tree in your yard or on your street and look for its new leaves and blossoms if appropriate.
Is it just beginning to show leaves? Can you tell if your tree has all of its leaves yet?
Can you see any insects or birds in your tree?
Collect a few leaves to use for leaf rubbings in your nature journal. You could also make a leaf bouquet.
Compare two leaves from the same tree. Are they exactly alike?
Use your nature journal to record a sketch of the leaf and any blossoms.
How has the tree changed since autumn? Winter?
Follow-Up Activity:
After your outdoor time, complete a nature journal entry using the notebook page I provided for the Spring Series, a general notebook page from my freebies page, the original notebook page, or your own blank journal. Photos of your tree are a good record in your nature journal as well.
If you would like to make some leaf prints with your spring leaves, please see my blog entry with instructions: Making Leaf Prints
Drawing your tree can be easy if you follow the instructions found in this file: Guide to Sketching Trees
If you would like all the Spring Series Challenges in one book, I have an ebook gathered for you to purchase for your convenience. The ebook also contains art and music appreciation plans for the winter months as well. Please see this entry for more details: Spring Nature Study with Art and Music Appreciation
It is that time again! Time for the latest edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival with lots of entries from the month of March. Everyone has kept busy with their outdoor time and now that spring is here we will really get into gear. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the carnival and I hope to see your entry next time!
Don’t forget that we start the Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges on Friday, April 2nd. If you have your ebook you can prepare a little ahead of time for this week’s challenge. Don’t forget to give the art and music appreciation a try each month as well. If you would like to share how that goes in an entry on your blog, please feel free to submit the entry to the OHC Blog Carnival as well. I think it might inspire more families to give it a try.
Outdoor Hour Challenge #2
Kimberly shares their second Outdoor Hour Challenge on her blog: Savino Stories. This is an excellent example of how nature study can look with very little ones.
Amy and her family completed Challenge #2 this time as well, Australia style! Check out their blog entry at Marigold Cottage. They incorporated a lot of great ideas into their nature study time and to the follow-up.
Winter Series #6 Salt Study
Amy from Together for a Reason shares their family’s very thorough study of salt and salt crystals. Read more about their week here: Salt Study
Sparklee shares their family study of salt in this very thorough and interesting blog post on her blog Karmamatopoeia. Excellent job on this activity!
Jennifer the Fairy Mum, shares their study of salt as part of this Outdoor Hour Challenge. They really enjoyed this simple activity with great results.
Winter Series #7 Winter Birds
Andi has had to be creative in their family’s nature study since her daughter broke her hip. I love the way she is still including nature study in their week and their winter bird entry is such a great example. Don’t miss seeing her photos at The Learning Pomegranate.
Amy shares their new love for birds in their winter bird entry. Who knew hanging a birdfeeder would create such enthusiasm. Read all about it on her blog Together for a Reason.
Quinn is busy with baby chicks and this entry shows how they are using the Handbook of Nature Study to observe and learn about chickens as well as birds in general. Check out their entry on Inside the White Picket Fence. Don’t miss her entry on parts of a bird too!
Winter Series #8: One Small Square
Angie (Pebblekeeper) shares their family’s small square study on her blog Petra School. There are some wonderful photos of their finds and a idea for a list as well.
Tricia and her family completed the one small square activity and completed a great journal entry to follow up. See how it went on her blog HodgePodge-Homeschool Highlights. (She even made the activity a Workbox activity!)
Kellie at the Blue House Academy finished their one small square activity in the snow! I think they did an excellent job with this Outdoor Hour Challenge.
Kelsey and her children completed three small square studies and found some great stuff. Check out her blog entry on her blog Mud Puddles.
Alex from Serendipity Home School shares their one small square study…just a little snow around the edges. They are inpsired to complete their square study in other seasons to compare. Great idea!
Dawn shares their small square activity and a special nature walk as well. Check out her entry on her blog My4Sweetums.
Winter Series #9 Mammals in Winter
Sarah on her blog Sunshine Daydream writes about their family’s Outdoor Hour going on a “mammal hunt”. They found quite a few signs of mammals to share.
Angie and her boys spent a morning focusing on this challenge with great results. She shares their mammal study on their blog TheOneThing: Creation Walk and Mammals.
Kelsey and her kids found lots of mammal signs for this challenge. She writes and shares some wonderful photos on her blog Mud Puddles.
This mammal study done by Alex is a must read for families that have not completed this challenge yet. You are going to inspired by her entry at Serendipity Home School. I love the photos she took of her dog and cat!
Winter Series #10 Early Spring Flowers
Tricia’s family also completed a study of their spring flowers. They have been keeping track of exactly when each kind of flower started blooming. This sounds like an excellent activity! Read more about it here: HodgePodge Homeschool Highlights.
More spring bulbs at Melissa’s house for this challenge….love her boys in the photo at her blog Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys. Her boys were even inspired to draw and write about their experiences this time!
Michelle at the Urban Cottage Homeschool writes about their Outdoor Hour Challenge time which included a hike and a study of some potted bulbs. Don’t miss seeing their journals as well.
Sparklee at Karmamatopoeia had a chance to observe some spring flowers with her children. They found and journaled about some beautiful crocus.
Signs of Spring Bonus Challenge
Samantha shares their signs of spring from a trip to a near-by nature center. Visit her blog To Be Busy At Home to read all about it.
More signs of spring from Tricia and her family in their blog entry at HodgePodge Homeschool Highlights. Her daughter even decorated a t-shirt for their outdoor time. Love it!
Gabriele shares the signs of spring in her entry on their blog The Work of Childhood. Check out her spring list.
Dandelions were the focus of Angie’s family nature study this week. Pop over to her blog at Petra School to read about their dandelions and see their journals.
Isn’t that a great list of entries this time? I love all the variety of styles and ways that different families make the challenges their own. You all inspire me. Please consider submitting your Outdoor Hour Challenge entries and your Spring Series entries to the next carnival. Deadline for submissions will be April 30th and all entries from April are eligible. Here is the link for submissions: LINK.
Last night my boys were going down after dark to put our cats in their basement room for the night. They have to walk right past our bird feeder along the way and this night they saw some kind of creature inside the feeder eating.
They ran back up and had me go outside to see and by the time I got out there the creature was climbing up the supporting rope and up into the tree. I got just a glimpse and I actually saw two critters climbing up. The boys were sure it was something like a possum or rat but I didn’t think so from what I had seen.
We pulled out our mammal field guide and started paging through. What was the tail like? How was the head shaped? How big was it? What color was it? We went through all the pages and decided it had to be some kind of rodent.
I crept back to the door with the flashlight and quietly tiptoed out to the deck rail. I flipped on the switch and there in the feeder were the biggest mice I have ever seen. They looked straight at me a few seconds and then made a leap from the feeder to the tree, out onto a branch, and then hopped over to another tree and out of sight.
As long as they stay outdoors I can live with a few mice in my feeders.
This morning we woke up to snow on the ground and more coming down as daylight broke. I was so glad that I had gone out yesterday and cut a lot of my tulips and daffodils to bring inside. The ones left outdoors look so sad.
Our dog thinks this is perfect weather to be outdoors. It brings out the Labrador in her.
We are off to enjoy our very snowy day….I think hot cocoa is in order since this will more than likely be the last of our snow for the season.
Maybe it is in anticipation of starting the Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges, but I am very much alert to the signs of spring around us. Mr. A and I were in the backyard doing some clean up and we noticed the winged parts of the sweet gum tree for the very first time ever. How could we have this tree in our yard for over a decade and not notice them before?
Does anyone know what these actually are?
Edit to add 3/31/10: After a few comments and some investigation on my part, I have come to the conclusion that this is not a sweet gum as we thought but a maple. I would like to thank those of you who commented about it being a maple this morning and helping me.
Here is what I wrote to Amy in an email:
I guess what has stumped me about this particular tree is that my husband is dead set that he planted a row of four sweet gums. I was thinking that this tree had the sticky balls on it but after going outside this morning, I might have been wrong. The other three in the row still have remnants of the sticky balls but this one doesn’t. This one is the only one with the helicopter seeds on it and the other three still have buds and no leaves. I still never noticed the helicopter seeds before so it just shows how we really don’t “see” until we stop and take the time to really “see”.
My most favorite things in the garden right now are my blueberry bushes. We planted three bushes last fall and they are bursting out with blossoms right now. I have never had blueberries growing in our yard and it is something that I have wanted to try for a very long time.
The tulips are in full bloom right now as well with their pretty colors all in a row. These are definitely going into my nature journal again this year.
Aren’t they pretty? We started this tulip garden last year with ten bulbs and I added ten more this last fall. There is a row of pansies behind it and when the tulips die back the pansies fill in for the summer.
This is a volunteer plant from seeds blown in from another part of the yard. We call it Money Plant but it is actually called Annual Honesty. It is really easy to grow and it has wonderful pods at the end of the season.
One more photo that is not from our yard but still really fun.
This turtle was on the loose at the flower nursery last week. My hubby and I were getting some garden inspiration by browsing the aisles of plants and this guy was walking down one side. There is a pond at the nursery and somehow he had taken a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong place. One of the nursery workers picked him up and carried him safely back to his pond and friends.
Tomorrow the weather man has predicted some light snow. I can hardly believe it. I am hoping he is wrong and we just get some much needed rain to water our garden flowers. I didn’t get a photo of my climbing rose that is just beginning to bloom so I will make another post as soon as I can get back outdoors to capture it. Oh, I forgot to take a photo of our strawberries blossoming too. So much going on outdoors right now in our little yard. I suppose that will give me something to post about tomorrow.
