New Printables in the Member’s Library!
There are new printables for you to use with your family if you are a member of the Ultimate Naturalist or Journey level memberships. You need to log into your account and then check the “Other Releases” section for brand new printables to enjoy as you observe trees in your neighborhood.
Here is our burdock nature study entry..so happy to have had a chance to see it in person!
Hiking in Utah we saw an area with these plants that had HUGE leaves. I was intrigued and took a photo so I could later look it up in my field guide. I had no idea that what I was looking at was first year burdock!
Later on in the hike, we spotted these blooming plants and I was pretty sure what we were seeing was burdock. I had read all about this plant when I was writing the current ebook and was sort of on the lookout for it in our travels this summer. I apologize for the blurry photos but it had started to rain and we were moving quickly off the mountain.
Here is a closer look at the leaves.
And here is the underside of the leaf. It is much whiter than the top of the leaf.
Here are a couple more images we took to document our discovery.
In reflection, the plants and flowers are much larger than I anticipated.
The flowers look like prickly balls with purplish color. The flower is ringed with spiny hooks all around.
We noted that the first year leaves are large and wavy looking while the second year plant with the flowers are much smaller and less wavy.
This was a case of preparation in identifying a wildflower/weed…reading up on things and then looking for them when you are out for your Outdoor Hour Challenge time creates such a sense of satisfaction. Since the Handbook of Nature Study was written for a specific region, many of the topics are not found naturally in California. This never stumbles me since I view the time reading and researching topics for future use a very valuable tool in learning more as I go through life.
But, guess what? We found something right alongside our walking trail that looks remarkably like burdock. We snapped some photos and made some observations.
Doing some additional research online, we found out that this plant that looks like burdock is a the cocklebur plant!
Both the cocklebur and the burdock plants are in the asteraceae family…which is probably why they have some of the same characteristics.
What a great find and discovery!
Here are some ideas from year-long nature study topics we have done in the past:
You may wish to start a new year-long study this autumn using some of the ideas above. If you have a continuing year-long nature study project, don’t forget to put it on your calendar or you may forget to make your autumn observations. If you are using the new planning page from the newsletter, there is a box on each page to note the seasonal observations you wish to make during the month…we all need reminders!
This week’s Outdoor Hour Challenge was to look for and observe some Teasel. We were not expecting to see any teasel this week and we didn’t…not too disappointed and we didn’t let it stop us from taking some hikes to see some other weeds with prickles and interesting flowers.
We observed something with prickles….Yellow Star Thistle. This is a menace in our neighborhood and I immediately pull it out by the roots if I see it in my yard. We have friends that have a honey business and they insist that star thistle honey is the best. It is very light tasting and is one of my favorites.
We also observed some Curly Dock. It is so colorful in the landscape right now. (More information on Cal Flora.)
Sometimes you just need to go with whatever subjects present themselves.
We are experiencing the King wildfire in our area which is a little scary. Each day we looked at the smoke and clouds and wondered how far it would come our way. Some of our friends were evacuated but so far we are safe here at home. The drought conditions in California are so severe and those dry conditions coupled with heat and windy afternoons make for perfect “fire weather”. This is from the bottom of my road.
This is from yesterday in town looking towards the fire. They call those clouds above the smoke “pyrocumulous“.
Yikes.
We are all praying for the fire to be contained and for all those evacuees to be allowed home to their homes. My husband is working on this fire but is in management with a job behind the scenes at base camp. He is tired but doing okay…this is what they do and they are accustomed to being under stress in emergency situations.
This Outdoor Hour Challenge is included in the new Autumn Nature Study Continues ebook. It is only one of fifteen nature study topics included along with notebook pages and coloring pages. If you have an Ultimate or Journey level membership, you will find this ebook in your library!
#1- Visit two new national parks in 2014. Complete.
We have had the opportunity to visit four new national parks this year! Petrified Forest National Park, Hot Springs National Park, Mammoth Cave National Park, and Great Basin National Park.
#2- Identify and journal three new birds. Two out of three done!
I have completed the Bewick’s Wren and Clark’s Nutcracker.
#3- Identify and journal three new rocks. Once again, I am failing at this goal. I need to refresh my memory and make a plan. (See below for my new plan to accomplish my goals.)
#4- Three new hikes. Complete!
We accomplished this goal with these three hikes: Mount Arab in the Adirondacks of New York, Round Lake on the Tahoe Rim Trail, and the Bristlecone Pine Trail at Great Basin National Park.
#5 Visit a new-to-me nature center. Complete.
We thoroughly enjoyed the nature center at Great Basin National Park.
#6- Post a nature photo of the week for the entire year. Up to date!
#7- Camping in all four seasons.
So our spring trip didn’t happen because of my road trip to the East Coast with my daughter…BUT we have gone on three camping trips this summer! (We have a camping trip planned for the end of September and then another in December…plus a trip for spring 2015 to the Grand Canyon!)
My New Plan For Accomplishing my Goals
I have added a Nature Study Goals box to the Nature Study Planning Page in the newsletter for October (take a peek at the original page in this entry). This may remind me and all of you too of your nature study goals each month. Let me know how it helps you or if you have any other ideas for the planning page.
Make sure to have your outdoor time this week even if you don’t have any teasel to study. We don’t have any in our local area so we will be looking back on photos from past trips and also looking for local weeds and wildflowers to view.
Inside Preparation Work:
Beware! The teasel plant has extremely sharp spines both on the flower head and on the stem. Take along a pair of heavy work gloves if you intend to touch the plant, cut it for your nature table, or bring it home to examine more closely.
Outdoor Hour Time:
Follow-Up Activity:
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.
Note these are affiliate links to products I love!
Download a FREE sample of A-Z Animal Notebooking Pages from NotebookingPages.com.
Congratulations to the winner of the Mystery Photo Contest from this edition of the Handbook of Nature Study newsletter.
Winner- Amanda C, age 13.
I will be contacting you by email to get you the $10 Amazon gift card.
Thank you to all of you who participated in the Mystery Photo Contest. We will do this again in a future edition!
We were so excited to start the new series of Outdoor Hour Challenges this week with the Salvia Flower Study.We even went out and purchased a new type of salvia to begin our study with.
I was interested in researching more about salvia and the name “scarlet sage” as listed in the Handbook of Nature Study lesson.
We tried to observe a bee in our salvia but not this time. We did talk about how the bee needs to duck inside to reach the nectar wells.
Now that I am looking at these images in a large format on my computer, I can see the fuzziness of the salvia which is just like the sage we have in our front yard.
The leaves on our two different salvia plants are completely different.
Our autumn flowers have been a little slim pickins this year. But there have been some surprises around the yard, including this sunflower that came from a seed that fell from the birdfeeder right into a pot on my back deck. I wasn’t sure it was going to actually bloom but here it is!
It is gorgeous and we enjoyed watching the bees visit it…no wonder! There is so much pollen coming from this sunflower that they can actually just bathe in it as they fly in and out.
Look at that pollen!
These zinnias are from my dad’s garden…he had saved seeds from last year and sprinkled them in his flower bed a few months ago. Now, they are blooming like crazy with a variety of flowers that dazzle the eye.
He also has a bank next to his driveway that he has filled with different colors of lantana. This one is my mom’s favorite color and the hummingbirds and butterflies love it too. This is a great plant to have in your garden to attract birds and insects for observation. (Note to self…plant lantana when we can have a garden again.)
Our little explorers were more interested in watching birds this week and not going on a flower hunt. Maybe next time….
We also looked at ants this week since there was a whole nest of them under a rock we turned over to look for insects. Can you believe all the leaves that have fallen already in my backyard?
I forgot to take photos of their flower drawings but here is mine.
Here is a sketch that one of the boys did of a black widow spider. He had seen one in his garage and decided to draw it using a book I have on how to draw insects.
It was a really great week observing flowers as the autumn season starts. We will continue to keep our eye on flowers as we work through the next few flower challenges.
This Outdoor Hour Challenge is included in the new Autumn Nature Study Continues ebook. It is only one of fifteen nature study topics included along with notebook pages and coloring pages. If you have an Ultimate or Journey level membership, you will find this ebook in your library!
Great Basin National Park is a surprising place…way out in the middle of a lot of nothing-ness (close to both the Utah and Nevada borders). It takes some planning and forethought to get there but it is worth the effort. We stayed three days earlier in August along with my husband, son, and two of his friends.
We camped in one of the five campgrounds in the park, Baker Creek which is three miles up a gravel road that is accessible to most cars whether they have four wheel drive or not. We looked at each of the other campgrounds during our stay and they each have their own benefits so make sure to read about them on the website. All are first come, first serve so arrive early in the day for the best selection of sites. There are no hook-ups for RVs, all have simple vault toilets, and there are no showers….making for a real camping experience. There were lots of trees, nice picnic tables, and a babbling creek that some children were exploring when we were there.
The nearest place to perhaps find a room is in Baker, Nevada but Ely, Nevada is not too far either. Baker had a little grocery store (very limited), a cafe, and a gas station. The national park does not have a store except for a gift shop. There is a small cafe at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.
There are two visitor centers at Great Basin National Park. The Great Basin Visitor Center (closest to the highway) is superb! We thoroughly enjoyed the interactive exhibits, historical displays, and nature based information that was presented. You can learn all about the bristlecone pines, the Great Basin habitat, and all the creatures found in this unique desert environment.
Great Basin National Park is trying to make a name for itself as a dark sky destination for viewing the night sky beauty. It bills itself as “one of the last true dark skies in America“. We wish we had been able to experience that part of the park but because of the super moon and the clouds…it wasn’t a great star viewing weekend. It will go back on the bucket list for future visits. You can find a schedule of astronomy events on the park’s Astronomy page.
The second other visitor center is the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. This wasn’t as updated or interactive as the other center but still very informative and interesting. We booked our cave tour here early in the morning and we only had a few choices of times available. Make reservations or arrive early to make sure to fit in a tour of the caves. There are two different cave tours and we took the ninety minute tour which takes you to every room open to the public. It was amazing!
I have been to quite a few caves but this one by far is the most interesting and beautiful of all. I also want to note that this cave has lots of tight confined spaces that you have to fit through (usually by turning your body sideways) and lots of low ceilings. I am fairly tall (5′ 10″) and many times I had to walk a distance with my head down to avoid touching the ceilings. Just a warning. This tour is appropriate for all ages as long as they are comfortable with walking since you can’t take strollers, carriers, or even backpacks on this tour.
There are also Park Ranger programs you can attend by viewing the schedule in the park newspaper or asking at either visitor center. The day we were there they were offering up scopes to few the sun and an interpreter to tell you all about what you are looking at.
There is a Jr. Ranger program at Great Basin National Park that we observed quite a few of the children participating in….ask at either visitor center for information. They also have a “Cave Cadet” pin so ask about that too!
My guys enjoyed the viewing scopes to look down from the park across the Great Basin…
Our group split up on hiking day. Three of use hiked the Bristlecone Trail and two hiked to the top of Wheeler Peak!
The trail up to the Bristlecone pines was empty when we hiked up early in the morning (around 8:30 AM). There is a rather large parking lot at the trailhead but it was FULL when we got back later in the morning. There are vault toilets (clean) in the parking lot once you wind your way up the road from the visitor’s center. It is a very high altitude and the views as you round the corners are majestic.
Bristlecone Pine Trail: The hiking trail itself is a little longer than posted at closer to 3.1 miles and not 2.8, as measured by our pedometers. It is a moderately difficult hike because of the length and elevation when you end up at a little over 10,000 feet.
Our group thoroughly enjoyed the hike and then the interpretive trail with signs teaching you more about these ancient trees. More information on the hike here.
Fascinating to think about how old some of these trees are and after going through the interpretive trail I am fairly sure I can identify these interesting trees.
View from the trail…amazing light and clouds the whole day long!
Wheeler Peak Summit Trail: We dropped the other group off at the Summit trailhead and they started off at around 8 AM. It is advised to start early so you aren’t up on the peak when the threat of afternoon thunderstorms roll in. There is a very small parking lot for this trailhead so plan to have someone drop you off or get there early. This is a very strenuous hike and fairly long at 8.6 miles roundtrip. You start at 10,100 feet in elevation and gain 2,900 feet going up to the summit. My son said the last portion of the hike is all exposed with no tree cover.
These two young boys completed the hike and said it was worth the effort because of the beautiful view from the top. I will take their word for it.
There is a turnout alongside the road where you can use these telescopes to look up at the peak. We could actually see people up there but not our boys.
One evening we walked along this trail which parallels Baker Creek and ended at our campground. What a beautiful place with the aspen trees, green grass, and the sound of running creek water.
There were lots of wildflowers which makes me happy.
Plenty of fungi to observe too!
Not so very glamorous after a week of camping and no showers at Great Basin. Our children are all growing up so we treasure the time we have to spend with even just one of them during a camping adventure. Planting seeds of appreciation for the natural world gifted to us by a loving Creator is something we highly value and have tried to do throughout our years as parents. Seeing our youngest share his love of the outdoors with his friends makes me smile from ear to ear.
Thanks for coming along on our Great Basin experience!
Some other things to know about Great Basin National Park:
You can read more of my national park tips in these entries:
We are starting off our new Autumn Nature Study Continues series with the study of a beautiful bee-loving plant, salvia. This is a great garden plant or one you can actually grow nicely in a pot on a patio or deck.
Please note that if you don’t have any salvia to study this week….pick another garden flower and create an “autumn flower” nature journal page instead. See the ideas listed below for some ideas on how to accomplish a simple and fun flower study with your family.
Inside Preparation Work:
Outdoor Hour Time:
Follow-Up Activity:
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.
Note these are affiliate links to products I love!
Download a FREE sample of A-Z Animal Notebooking Pages from NotebookingPages.com.
