We took a long walk today to enjoy the last of the hot afternoons…we know they will be coming to an end soon. Here are a few things I want to share from our day.
This is a sure sign that autumn is coming quickly. The aspens are beginning to change color and the wind makes them shimmer and shake.
The Kokanee salmon are spawning and their green and red color is brilliant in the clear creek water.
The creek is very shallow and the salmon come here to lay their eggs and die. This becomes a habitat for eagles and bears and ducks this time of year. Can you guess why?
If you click this photo it will enlarge and you will see the outline of a bear at the bottom of the photo among the trees. She was on the other side of the creek sharing a salmon with her baby. We gave her a lot of space and the few of us that were there snapped a few photos and left her in peace.
The whole afternoon was picture postcard perfect.
The Pussy Paws are golden and the Rabbitbrush is golden and the pines are green and the sky is blue……where are my paints?
This was a great afternoon and I feel so refreshed.
This week’s challenge is a continuation of an annual tree study for some of you but a new challenge for many.
Our family is going to be choosing a new tree to observe and get to know from our backyard. I prefer for my boys to pick a deciduous tree so there will be lots of changes to observe, but you are welcome to choose any tree that you and your children are interested in getting to know better.
Inside Preparation Work
Read the section in the Handbook of Nature Study discussing seasonal tree work. You will find it on pages 622-626. This week the challenge includes making a seasonal observation of a tree. Lesson 172 on page 623 includes five suggestions for studying your tree during autumn. If you are just joining the challenges, pick a tree from your yard, your street, or a near-by park to observe over the course of the next year. I would suggest printing out the Seasonal Tree Notebook Page and taking it with you so you have the option to complete it during your outdoor time.
Outdoor Time
Take your 10-15 minute outdoor time to choose a tree to observe over the next year. You can take photos of your tree to put in your nature journal or you can sketch the tree in your journal. You may also choose to complete the Seasonal Tree Notebook Page during your outdoor time.
Follow-Up Activity
Allow your child a few minutes to tell you about their outdoor experience. Talk about the tree you chose to observe for you seasonal tree study. Check in the Handbook of Nature Study to see if your tree is listed there and make sure to do the reading about that particular tree over the next few weeks. There should be some suggestions for observations that you can follow. File your page away so you can compare it during your next Seasonal Tree Study.
We are hoping to take some time to go walking and find a tree to study this week. The photo above was taken a couple of years ago and it reminds me of the warm autumn day we had hiking and taking in the fall color of the aspen trees.
This is what it really is all about for our family-building memories and experiences that shape who we are and how we feel about our Creator.
This is an affiliate link to a product I have used and highly recommend.
We went on a search for cattails and we found that we have two different areas of cattails within walking distance of our house. We decided that we could cut one cattail to bring home to closely observe. I was surprised at how “into” finding the cattails the boys became once we got started.
Another place that we found cattails was along the walking trail we frequent every week. These were much taller than the others and I think this will be the spot we observe over the next year.
There was a little water in the ditch where we found our cattails but not much. It was more like a muddy puddle than anything else.
Here is a close-up of the flower spike and right now it feels like velvet. The boys were surprised at how soft and fuzzy it was to the touch. We talked about what we learned from our pre-study and how the cattail is edible. We all decided that we would like to try eating it someday……something to plan for the future.
My sons were content to complete the notebook page with photos but I was inspired as so many others are by the simple beauty of this plant that we so often don’t take the time to appreciate. I pulled out my watercolors and made a quick painting for my nature journal. I found a tutorial in a watercolor book that I have on the shelf that showed how to add stippling with a pen once the paints are dry. I love the way it adds a little detail to the cattail.
This was a perfect way to start off our Autumn Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges.
A few weeks ago I wrote about finding something extraordinary in the ordinary as far as things we see in our own backyard and in our own neighborhoods. We have done some follow-up work on our five subjects and I wanted to share a little about what we learned and didn’t learn. 🙂
Morning Glory (Handbook of Nature Study page 519 reference to twining)
We learned that it is closely related to the sweet potato. It is called a morning glory since the blossoms only last one day. It grows in just about any soil, doesn’t like too much moisture, and will thrive in full sun.
I love the way the vine curls up the poles and then into the trees.
Alligator Lizard (reference and photo of alligator lizard and fence lizard, Handbook of Nature Study, pages 210-211)
We did some research on our alligator lizard but guess what? We saw an even bigger and more glorious lizard last week.
How is that for a lizard? I love his feet!
I think he might be a Northwestern Fence Lizard which we have had in our backyard before but he also may be a Sierra Fence Lizard. He has lots of color on his back and we have always just called these guys “blue bellies”. I am not definite about who exactly he is but still enjoyed observing him with his wonderfully long toes on his feet and his inquisitive eye.
We learned from reading on different websites that lizards can have ticks! That is something we definitely did not know before and for some reason we all found it very interesting.
This is an older journal entry my son did for a lizard we had in the backyard. He incorporated a photo and a sketch. We did some additional research this week on the alligator lizard and found that there are several species that live in our area. Now we are not sure which one we have so during our next encounter we will know more in detail what to look for.
Caterpillar (Handbook of Nature Study -lots of caterpillar info. We used page 299 for a drawing in our nature journal.)
We had no luck with figuring out what kind of caterpillar we saw on the sidewalk under our Sweet Gum tree. You would think that with its bright colors and outstanding horns and markings that we could find it somewhere in our field guide or online. Nope. We will be keeping our eyes open to see if we can observe more about these creatures right outside our back door.
Hummingbirds (Handbook of Nature Study section on hummingbirds starts on page 115)
We were still not able to figure out our dark headed hummingbird from a few weeks ago. We have been watching the feeder but the regular hummers are keeping it busy. Anna’s Hummingbirds are very common at our feeders all summer long and then even over the winter. We learned that they are *not* migratory which is really interesting since it gets very cold here in the winter and we even have snow. Where do they live when the weather is bad in the winter? You can be sure we will be keeping our eyes open to answer that question.
We have been working on taking photos of the birds in sports mode and we get much better photos…a tad bit clearer.
After some research and online digging, I think we have identified our migratory black headed hummer as a Black-chinned Hummingbird. I looked at the migratory map on WhatBird.com and it looks like it is highly likely it could be just this bird. Here is more on their migration.
We read some more about this regular to the feeder, or more specifically…under the feeder. They always come in a pair. What is interesting is that the map does not show that we should have these birds but we have them year round in our yard. The other thing that is interesting is that the maps show that we should have Spotted Towhees all year but we don’t during the summer. Hmmm….don’t know what that means but it is interesting.
We also learned that California Towhees are sometimes called “car birds” since they like to run and hide under parked cars. We have actually witnessed this behavior several times and think it is quite funny. They also will sit on car mirrors and “fight” their own image. We have not seen that behavior but it wouldn’t surprise us.
Our Fabulous Five Ordinary Things
That wraps up our fabulous five ordinary things that we looked more closely at from our yard. This was a great exercise and we will be certain to do it again.
Woke up this morning feeling a little sad about the end of summer.
I am going to miss…..
Summer hikes in the National Parks……
My gigantic sunflowers and participating in the Great Sunflower Project, sitting quietly watching for bees.
Crazy games of volleyball in the park with friends…even in the rain.
Hikes with the boys looking for Big Foot in the redwoods.
Lunchtime walks at the river with our swimmer dog Kona.
I am even going to miss the hot summer afternoons and garden tending.
The Oregon Coast-camping, hiking, photographing, exploring, sitting peacefully in the sand, hiking in the trees, identifying mushrooms, observing banana slugs, and dodging rain….all of those things made such great memories this year.
Freshly cut grass and crepe myrtle blooms in the warm summer evenings….usually with accompanying bats flying overhead.
I will just need to find some things to fill me up during this autumn season. I will challenge myself to find the best parts of this season.
Outdoor Hour Challenge-Autumn Series #1
Cattail Autumn Study
Cattails are the focus of this nature study and you will either be able to complete the challenge by observing cattails this week or sometime in the future. Look at the reading of the Handbook of Nature Study as a way to prepare you for a future nature study. Be on the look out for cattails as you drive around your local area and you may be surprised to find them in places you did not notice before.
Inside Preparation Work
Read pages 500-503 in the Handbook of Nature Study. View the images of cattails and talk about where you can find them in your local area. I asked my boys and they thought of three places near-by that they remember seeing them grow.
Print out the Cattail Seasonal Nature Study notebook page and go over the suggested activities so when you have your Outdoor Hour time your children will be prepared for what to look for.
Outdoor Time
Look for Cattails: Spend your outdoor time looking for cattails and then observing them to record their appearance at this time of the year. You will be revisiting this spot in every season to record your observations and to note the changes that take place from season to season. If your child does not want to sketch the cattail, bring along a camera to have them record the appearance with a photo. Remember the things you read about in the Handbook of Nature Study and see if you can complete the Cattails Seasonal Nature Study notebook page with lots of details. Also, look for other living creatures that might make their home in the cattails or that might visit there if you are still and quiet.
Alternate Idea: Use your fifteen minutes of outdoor time to explore your own backyard. Look for something ordinary that you can learn more about during the next week. The most important part of your Outdoor Hour time is to spend a few minutes with your children outdoors, slowing down enough to observe something closely in your own backyard or neighborhood. Keep the atmosphere relaxed and let your child’s interests guide you to find something to observe. Don’t forget to use all your senses and try to include a few minutes of quiet time to experience the sounds of your own backyard.
Follow-Up Activity
Allow your child a few minutes to tell you about their outdoor experience. Help them find a few words to record in their nature journal.
Give time for a nature journal entry and remember it can be as simple as a sketch, a label, and a date. Complete the Cattails Seasonal Nature Study notebook page for the Autumn season and file it in your nature journal to compare to future cattail studies. As always, remember that the nature journal entry is a great way to record your outdoor experiences but it is not necessary every time.
Additional Resource for the Cattail Seasonal Nature Study:
There is a great book to look for at your library, Discover Nature in Water and Wetlands. This book has a whole section on studying cattails that I found very useful in preparing this challenge in addition to the Handbook of Nature Study.
Please note these are Amazon affiliate links to books I own and love.
It is very important for those of us who take our children out into the woods for nature study to be able to recognize poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.
Where we live we have an abundance of poison oak and this time of the year it is actually very pretty and easy to identify. I know in other parts of the country there is poison ivy and sumac as well.
This video does a great job of explaining everything you should know before you take a walk in the woods and potentially come into contact with poison oak, poison ivy, or sumac. Knowledge is always a good thing.
My husband says that in his job as a wildland firefighter, they use Tecnu after any exposure. We are going to get some and have it on hand for those times we think we may have come into contact with poison oak.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will try to find answers for you as best I can. I would hate for you to unknowingly expose anyone to something potentially dangerous. On the other hand, don’t get too worried either. Just remember the “leaves of three, let it be” rule and you should do a good job of avoiding contact. We have had our share of poison oak rashes in our family and I think most of our exposure comes from our family pets. Don’t miss that part of the video.
We have quite a few new participants in the Outdoor Hour Challenges so I want to give a big welcome to everyone….hope to see your nature study entries soon.
We have been enjoying fresh tomatoes from our garden for quite some time now. There just is no comparison between homegrown and store bought tomatoes. I actually don’t like the store bought ones very much. It wasn’t until I grew my own tomatoes that I learned what a tomato really should taste like.
We did a bit of research into various kinds of tomatoes. There is a farm near our home that grows a variety of heirloom tomatoes that are amazing in color and shape. We are inspired to give a few a try next year. Does anyone have any experience with a particular variety? Source for seeds?
We completed our study with a few tomatoes from the garden, closely observing the seeds and flesh of the tomato.
The notebook page was filled out and filed away in the nature notebook.
But as usual, most of our time was spent outdoors in the garden looking at the plants, blossoms, and ripening tomatoes. There are quite a few blossoms on each of our two remaining tomato plants. The weather is still pretty hot and I think we have a good chance of having tomatoes at least until the end of the month.
We noted the smell of the tomato plant when you rub it and how it makes most of us itchy after working in the garden. This year is the first time we have pruned our tomato plants as they grew and it seems to have helped in two areas. First, we seem to have larger tomatoes and secondly, the plants don’t bend and break so much.
We use a wire tomato cage around each plant to help support the branches but before trimming, the branches still try to get really long and scrawny. We trim those off as they start to stick out over the path.
Tomatoes are a great crop to grow in your garden. If you didn’t get a chance this year, make sure to plan to grow a few in your yard next spring and summer. You will not be disappointed.
So yesterday was our big day trip to Turtle Bay. The weather was perfect which was a big relief. The city of Redding is usually scorching hot this time of year but there were a few high clouds in the morning to keep the temperatures down.
We started off with the outside exhibits at the nature center just in case it warmed up and the aviary was first on the list. What a racket these birds can make! You are given a little stick with some seeds on it to attract the birds down to eye level. This was a great way to spend extended time close-up to these colorful birds.
These Rosellas preferred to sick up high and watch us instead.
This pair of cockatiels posed for me and they never did come down to snack on the seeds.
After the aviary, we visited the butterfly house. We didn’t see too many butterflies this time but this Julia on some sedum was the prettiest one that I captured in a photo.
After lunch we went outside to explore the botanical gardens. What a display of plantings that will grow in our climate! I did not realize that this place had so much information and now I need to go back when I am fresh and the sun is not so hot. We became members of the nature center so we can get in free for a whole year and this will make it easier to go back just to look at the gardens and get some ideas for my yard.
We are going to be pulling up our lawn and replanting with drought-resistant plantings and the display at this botanical garden will help us pick things that will flourish and be beautiful without so much water.
This is the famous Sundial Bridge which doesn’t look much like a bridge from this photo because I took it from the gardens. Believe me, it is a very large bridge over the Sacramento River that connects the nature center with the botanical garden. Follow the link above to see the whole thing in a photo.
The bridge really is a big sundial. I took this photo of the shadow at 12:47 and you can see on the rock that it says 1:00….what a great way to teach about the sun and telling time.
One more thing that I loved about this nature center is the way things are so open to explore. This shelf is just what I want in my living room to display all our collections and nature stuff. I might have to have my son take a look at it and see if he can design something similar to fit my space.
It was a very long day with a long drive to get there and back but all of us agreed that it was a fantastic place. We all found something to be excited about and interested in. What more can you ask for?
We often see Red-tailed Hawks in our area and they are an awesome sight as they soar high above us. If you listen carefully, their call can be heard from very far away because it is so distinct. Try clicking the photos to see them larger.
This particular hawk landed in a little stream area at the flower farm. You can’t see the little bit of creek in this photo where he is sitting at the water’s edge. He had swooped down over our heads and we thought for sure he was after his prey but he landed and sat for a few minutes which allowed us to take a few photos. My boys commented that he was a lot bigger than they thought and he was a big guy. I looked it up when we got home and our field guide says they are around 22 inches with a wingspan of 52 inches and weigh around 45 ounces.
He waddled through the tall grasses and up into the near-by parking lot and we were able to really see his red tail feathers. He turned his head and gave us his best “hawk eye” and then he flew off.
Off he goes!
For more information on these gorgeous birds, I highly recommend the AllAboutBirds.com article. This page has inspired me to try sketching the Red-tailed Hawk in my nature journal, Naturalist’s Notebook, although my sketch will be a far cry from this piece of art. 🙂
