We have been on the lookout for hawks or any birds that might come our way to study as part of our Outdoor Hour Challenge – Hawks assignment.
We had the opportunity to travel to Monterey, California last week for a wedding. While we were there we drove the 17 Mile Drive from Pebble Beachalong the coast. This is a fantastic drive and winds through cypress groves, along the Pacific Ocean, and allows for many scenic stops at beaches and rocky outcroppings. The image above is the Lone Cypress stop along the drive.
Now that the season is finally changing around here we will see more visitors to our birdfeeders. Coming up fast, Project Feederwatch will be here before we know it!
What birds did you see this week?
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There is something about autumn that makes me want to create a nature journal, capturing the last bits of warm weather left, the few colorful weeds still left blooming, the trees, the change of birds.
Using the grid from this month’s newsletter, I did a simple page that will be filled by the end of the month. It is a simple record of some of the changes and interesting events observed this month.
There was also some time during our visit to Yosemite to create a page for the thistles that were growing and blooming right behind our campsite. Nothing fancy but meaningful to me as I enjoyed an autumn afternoon sitting on a log and sketching a few thistles.
Have you created any journals this month yet? There is still time left to do one or two pages!
Advanced Study: Read these online articles for more in-depth information about the Witch Hazel: Witch Hazel and Witch Hazel.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Use your outdoor time this week to look at fall trees, looking in particular for the yellow strap-like flowers and nuts of the Witch Hazel. It might be fun to also include a Fall Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt using this printable from Hearts and Trees.
Take along your nature journals to sketch the Witch Hazel flower into your nature journal.
Advanced students: Make sure to look for the Witch Hazel nuts and find the seeds if possible. If possible, collect a few of the nuts to take home to discover just how far the seeds will fly once the nut opens up.
Follow-Up Activity:
Create a nature journal entry all about the Witch Hazel. Here are some things to include (or you can use the notebook page in the ebook:
Color and texture of the bark
Leaves, if any are present, noting the color.
Flower (see page 688 in the Handbook of Nature Study for a nice diagram of the flower)
Date of your observations and the location
Draw the Witch Hazel nut. Write how you think the seeds are thrown so far from the tree.
Advanced Study: Complete the notebooking page in the ebook using a field guide or the internet resources above.
Join us for this series of challenges every week here on the Handbook of Nature Study. If you want to purchase the Autumn Nature Study Continues ebook so you can follow along with all the notebooking pages, coloring pages, and subject images, you can join the Ultimate or Journey Membership Levels. See the Join Us page for complete information. Also, you can view the Autumn Nature Study Continues content list on the announcement page.
You can also submit any Outdoor Hour Challenge blog entry from October to the next edition of the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival by sending the link directly to me by 10/29/14. Harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com
Our recent trip to Yosemite National Park put us into the autumn mood. It is a quiet place in autumn with far fewer visitors and very little water in the waterfalls. In fact, Yosemite Falls and Bridalveil Fall are both dry, dry, dry. The story of Yosemite in autumn is more about the trees and peaceful landscapes.
Hiking in the big Sequoia trees at the Mariposa Grove gives you a chance to experience these trees up close. You don’t have to hike too far to find magnificent specimens with their wide trunks reaching up into the sky.
There is no real way to capture the whole tree from the trail but these images help you visualize the towering trees a little better.
I hiked with two of my men on this day…the other two were off climbing Half Dome. I am going to share some of their experiences in another entry later in the week.
I found a copy of this book Yosemite Photographer’s Guide; Official Camera Walk Handbookand decided that it would be a fun long term project to take photos from every single location listed in this guide (like a need another project!). There are 32 locations mentioned in this book that we can look forward to experiencing through the lens of a camera (or iPhone in my case on this particular trip since I forgot the charger to my digital camera). NOTE: This is an older book that you can’t purchase new…there are a few used expensive copies on Amazon. I may switch over to a newer book like this one:The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite.I will let you know how I like this book when I get it in hand.
We started the project with a few locations that were suggested for the fall season.
This is location #17 – Cook’s Meadow. There is a short boardwalk from the road out to the river where you can view many of the park’s landmarks.
This is from the same location, looking across the meadow to Sentinel Rock.
We stopped at Location #13 – Cathedral Beach. At this time of the year, there is very little water in the river and you can walk a long way up along the side of the water. I stopped to enjoy a little bit of fall color in the late afternoon sunshine. We didn’t experience a lot of color during this visit but the oaks, maples, and dogwoods were scattered with color throughout the valley.
From the same location at Cathedral Beach, you can clearly see the Cathedral Rocks. This is a prominent rock formation along the south side of the valley.
Here are the Three Brothers taken from Location #14. What a great spot to stop and enjoy the peaceful surroundings of a Yosemite autumn day!
Hello Mr. Deer! This guy wasn’t happy with me taking a picture of him from a distance and as I was standing there just came nibbling closer and closer. I finally had to move because I really think he was going to just push me over to get to his destination. So tame and accustomed to humans….great for viewing up close!
There weren’t many wildflowers at this time of year…mostly brown grasses and lots of weeds with seeds. These thistles were so pretty on closer examination…so much so that I created a nature journal page featuring them in my personal journal. These were up where we were camping at Crane Flat.
Some color!
One afternoon as we drove back up to our campsite, we noticed smoke in the valley. As we drove up the highway, we spotted a wildfire. It had just started and we could see from the pull out that it was just on the other side of the ridge. It was the Dog Rock fire and it continued to burn all through the night and next day…well, even longer than that but we came home before it was completely out. You can see the fire tanker flying over the blaze if you look closely in the photo.
It was such a great family trip and we enjoyed our last morning just wandering around, taking photos and sitting in the sunshine.
We ended up at the Ahwahnee Hotel for coffee and chatting. This is an amazing place for sitting and taking in the historical atmosphere of a Yosemite experience.
It is always sad to come home from this unique place on the earth but I look forward to visiting again soon.
We have seen lots of lizards since the OHC – Lizard Study posted but they are very hard to capture with a camera.
They are quick and really don’t want you to get too close.
But yesterday, a friend of mine pulled up and I spied a lizard on the back of her car! She had apparently brought the lizard all the way from her house, giving the lizard the ride of his life.
My husband also found a shed lizard skin in our front yard when we were trimming up our lavender. What an fabulous find! I was interested to see this up close and to realize that it was pretty much all intact.
I am excited to share some information about a national park that you don’t hear too much about. Petrified Forest National Park is located in Arizona and we visited in May 2014 as part of our cross-country road trip.
It is a park that you can visit as a day trip. There are no hotels or campgrounds at this national park so you will need to find accommodations outside the park. We stayed in Flagstaff, Arizona which is less than a two hour drive.
We entered the park at the southern entrance. As we entered, we were told of the strict rules regarding collection of petrified wood. You cannot take any petrified wood from the park and you must declare any in your possession as you enter so if you are stopped in the park, you will have a record of your purchases made outside the park’s boundaries.
This is a national park that you drive through, stopping at the many viewpoints to see the petrified logs and to learn more about how they were formed. The visitor center helps explain the process that made the petrified wood and then how it ended up in the middle of the desert of Arizona.
We stopped and walked through the Giant Logs trail near the Rainbow Forest Museum. It was a great way to learn more as you saw different pieces of petrified wood.
Isn’t it beautiful with all its colors?
We so enjoyed driving through and seeing the various land formations along the road. Once you stop your car and get out, you realize that there are living things even in this stark harsh place. It is a different kind of beauty that you find in the deserts of the southwest. The sky is so blue and seems to be wider and never ending.
Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 658-661 (Lesson #181). The lesson suggests starting an ash tree study in the fall and continuing it in the spring. Choose a few activities from the lesson to complete when you identify your ash tree.
Use your outdoor time this week to take a closer look at tree bark. If you have an ash tree in your yard or local area, make sure to notice the particular look of the bark.
You can also look at the ash tree’s seeds using the suggested observations from the lesson (#3).
Take a rubbing of a tree’s bark or sketch it in your nature journal.
Advanced study: Compare the bark of three trees. Use your senses: sight, touch, smell.
Follow-Up Activity:
Discuss the role of the tree’s bark as a means of protection. Afterwards, create a journal entry for one of the trees you observed during your outdoor time. You can use either one of the notebook pages in the ebook if you wish. Younger children can use the Mountain ash coloring page or the White ash coloring page (included in the ebook).
There is also an advanced notebook page for older students to use (in the ebook).
Join us for this series of challenges every week here on the Handbook of Nature Study. If you want to purchase the Autumn Nature Study Continues ebook so you can follow along with all the notebooking pages, coloring pages, and subject images, you can join the Ultimate or Journey Membership Levels. See the Join Us page for complete information. Also, you can view the Autumn Nature Study Continues content list on the announcement page.
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Please read the following explanation outlining how to get this month’s newsletter.
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This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of October so be sure to download it before 10/31/14.
Remember! All of the archived and current newsletters are available as part of the Ultimate Naturalist Library…every level!You may wish to download and use the October 2012 newsletter with additional autumn tree ideas and printables for your family.
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
3 fall tree related articles with loads of practical ideas
Tree book review
Nature journal idea tutorial
Nature Study Grid and Nature Journal Topper printable ideas
Coloring pages!
Spotlight Family – The Kordishes
Preschool nature table ideas and printables
Mom’s Planning Page: Use this printable page to plan your month’s 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.
September for our family was spent trying to avoid the wildfire smoke and closed roads in our area. It was a unusual month for us with very little outdoor time. I didn’t like it! We are determined to be back in our regular routine in October and even have a few day trips planned to make up for September’s craziness. Thank you to all of the blog carnival participants, making this a lovely gathering of nature study from all parts of the world.
Our family’s September entries from this month’s study (in case you missed one):
Angie from Petra School is back with the carnival this month sharing their entry, Outdoor Hour Challenge – Salvia. This is such a great example of how to conduct nature study with older kids, helping them to make connections.
Photo Credit: Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky
Teasel Study or Other Wildflower
Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky shares their entry: OHC – The Teasel for you to enjoy. Oh, this is such a wonderful entry…I love seeing their teasel and then their nature journals too!
Photo Credit: Barbara from Schoolhouse on the Prairie
Barbara from The Schoolhouse on the Prairie submits a glorious entry with their thistle study, monarch study, and leaf miners too: September Adventures. This makes me wish I lived in their neighborhood so I could tag along with their nature study. They also have some wonderful nature journal pages to share.
Anne from Harvest Moon by Hand has shared their Milkweed and Monarch Butterflies entry with the carnival. This entry is full of amazing images and loads of information.
Kerry from Keeping Up With The Kordishes would love for you to see their entry: Thistles.
Desiree from Out Homeschool Notebook has submitted their Queen Anne’s Lace Nature Studyentry for you to enjoy. They found a wonderful patch of flowers to observe up close and then sketch for their nature journals.
Anne from Harvest Moon by Hand has submitted their entry, Blue Jay – Outdoor Hour Challenge for carnival readers to read. This is a nature study rich entry, two of my favorite things are the milkweed seeds and the horses running. Check out their nature journals too!
Anne from Harvest Moon by Hand also would love to share their Ants – Outdoor Hour Challenge entrywith you in this edition of the carnival. Make sure to see images of the giant puffballs.
Anne from Harvest Moon by Hand would love for you to view their entry: Goldenrod Outdoor Hour Challenge. They did a very nice study of this plant they have on their property. (Love the grasshopper image too!)
Cara from Brooketopia has written this entry for you to enjoy: Vera Scarth-Johnson Wildflower Reserve. In this entry she is letting us glimpse into your Australian landscape….beautiful! She would also love for you to read and enjoy her entry: Rainbow Lorikeets. This amazing birds are in your backyard! One last entry for you to view – Nature Walk at Sharon Gorge. Gorgeous!
Janet from Pursuing Joy in the Journey has submitted their entry for carnival readers: Foraging, Spiders and Webs. They took a closer look at some webs they found this month. She has some really nice images to share.
Carol from Journey and Destination shares their entry with the carnival: Nature Study in the Kitchen Garden. They are growing and identifying so many interesting things in their world. Enjoy a glimpse!
Don’t forget to share your blog entries with the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. All entries done in October are eligible for the next edition. The deadline for entries is 10/28/14 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).
Silhouette: That is the sun behind a very smoky sky. We have had a week of wildfire in our area and the mornings are dense with smoke…smells like a campfire burning even with the doors and windows shut. King Fire.
Furry: My cat on the roof….we were sitting outside after dark and with the moon so bright behind her we could see her little cat silhouette.
I have had some trouble this month getting photos for my remaining topics left on my list.
Here’s what I have left….decided to make a list to carry in the notes section of my phone for easy reference.
Crystals, berries, fish, cold, refreshing, simplicity, energy, , bridge, bubbly, sparkle, feather, reflection, self-portrait, Just do it!
and decided that it would be a fun long term project to take photos from every single location listed in this guide (like a need another project!). There are 32 locations mentioned in this book that we can look forward to experiencing through the lens of a camera (or iPhone in my case on this particular trip since I forgot the charger to my digital camera). NOTE: This is an older book that you can’t purchase new…there are a few used expensive copies on Amazon. I may switch over to a newer book like this one:
