July has flown by and looking back on it I am grateful that I have determined to keep up with the Nature Photo of the Week. Picking a weekly image to post has made me more aware of the beauty I find as I go about my business…and outdoor time!
Exploring a new area is one of my favorite things to do. Nothing makes me happier than traveling to a new place and spending time learning about the habitat. Our trip to Eagle Lake was just that sort of experience. We found new plants to observe, interesting birds to watch, and experienced some wild weather too!
We loved the campground which was nicely arranged with spaces far apart and lots of trees. Our particular space was within view of the lake and we enjoyed watching the activity of the afternoon and the changing colors of the water as the sunset each evening. (We were at the Merrill Campground.)
The water is down in the lake pretty far…exposing a lot of beach with plants that are growing from the volcanic rocky shore. This is the second largest natural lake in California and it lies with in 60 miles of Lassen National Park. It is in a wilderness area and has its own particular species of trout. Some of the neighbors in the campground had been out fishing in their boat and related that they caught their limit every day.
The wildflowers are very pretty and we enjoyed walking along the shore with our dog…she enjoyed getting wet.
There were sections of the beach just covered in white aquatic snail shells. Just part of the ecosystem I guess.
We saw so many osprey here at Eagle Lake and enjoyed every single sighting. We went up to the Osprey Overlook which had binocular equipment to view the tops of the trees, looking for nests. We didn’t see a nest but we saw a platform where they have had a nest in the past. It was a spectacular view (no photos because as we got up there a thunderstorm rolled in so we didn’t spend a lot of time there).
We saw lots of other birds too: Steller’s jays, Mourning doves, Tree swallows, American white Pelicans, Western grebes, Canada goose, California Towhee, Dark-eyed juncos, Lesser goldfinch, Western tanager, and even an Anna’s hummingbird. (Excellent list for the lake area’s birds HERE.) If we ever go back to Eagle Lake, I am going to take better camera equipment to document the many amazing birds!
There was a nice paved bicycle trail along the shore of the lake connecting several of the campgrounds and the marina. We were wishing we had our bikes!
The afternoon thunderstorms were mostly dry…no rain. But, the sunsets were amazing because of the layers of clouds. The wind was brisk and we were quickly cooled off from the hot summer temperatures when the storms would roll through.
The highlight of the trip was a day at Lassen Volcanic National Park! But, of course, that will be in a separate entry in the near future!
We will be heading to Utah for another adventure soon…looking forward to exploring another habitat with the family and a couple of my son’s friends.
We made a trip to our cattail spot for our summer observations. We are in the middle of a drought in my part of California and I was sure that our cattail spot would be dry. I was right.
There was no water at all in the pond for this summer observation. The cattail plants were still green but the ground was bone dry.
The cattail flowers were really large and the soft parts were much longer than in previous years. What does that mean I wonder?
I am estimating that if I was able to stand on the ground next to the cattails that they would be taller than I am…much more than 6 feet I think.
The area has filled in a lot since April but the water is all gone making it look very different. We shall now look forward to making some autumn observations.
This week we are going to use our senses and do a little cattail observation! Make sure to click over to the original challenge to see the list in the Train Your Senses section to get some ideas for your family to try. Also in the challenge, make sure to read the lesson in the Handbook of Nature Study. If you already started a year-long cattail study, revisit your spring spot and note the changes.
As a bonus for this challenge I am including the Summer Pond Study notebook page and the Pond Study Grid from the August 2011 Newsletter!
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #3.This week you should take a trip to your cattail patch and make some drawings. You can use a blank page in your nature journal or use the notebook page included in the ebook.
June was an exciting month of outdoor life for our family. We took a three day camping trip up to the mountains and were able to complete two awesome day hikes. Hiking is something that fills that need for adventure, finding a spot out in the forest where there are few people and lots of interesting views to enjoy. The first hike was to a lake we have visited before but the second hike was completely new to us.
The trail to Round Lake is part of the Tahoe Rim Trail,stretching along for 3.5 miles from the trailhead to the lake. The hike, according to my sister, is 80% uphill on the way to the lake. It was a steady uphill and never felt to strenuous to my husband and I. There were lots of things to look at as you hiked, including wildflowers galore.
In fact, at the very beginning of the hike you cross Big Meadow on a completely flat narrow trail lined with wildflowers and criss-crossed by butterflies flying. What an enjoyable place!
Here is a close-up of one flower that was abundant as we walked across the meadow.
Here is a map of the topography of the trail, showing how as you hike along you go up in elevation for the most part until you reach the lakeshore.
Some more wildflowers along the trail…just enough to keep it interesting.
This was our stopping spot to eat some lunch and enjoy the view. Although, the photo does not show the hordes of mosquitoes that were trying to make lunch of us! We were glad that a strong breeze kicked up and for the most part we could sit and enjoy our meal without too much annoyance. I wish I could say the same for the hike back down the mountain….I ended up with quite a few bites on my legs and back of my neck.
Here is one more view of the trail side as we hiked back down. This section was filled with Corn Lilies…a little dampness is all it takes.
So there you have our hike…New Hike #2! We are planning on returning later this summer to hike to the Dardanelles which are along this same trail with a westerly turn at about two miles.
I am calling this my “local hike” since it is just about an hour from my front door.
The bird story of the summer is the story of the house finch. We have discovered that in the evening, just at dusk, we have a flock of house finches flying from all directions to roost for the night in our Sweet Gum tree on the side of the house. It starts off with a few birds flying in and progresses to a crescendo of birds flying in groups of 5-10 at a time. By the end of the evening, there are hundreds of house finches roosting in the tree for the night.
The process is reversed in the morning and starts at around 5 AM with the birdsong and then the departure for who knows where during the day.
It is an amazing story really…one that we have come to anticipate each evening as we sit on the deck.
We have not had any owls to observe yet this summer but we are going to jump at the chance if it comes along. Instead of an owl study, I have been keeping a list of our summer birds that frequent our yard. (You can find the Summer Owl Study here on the Handbook of Nature Study.)
Here is our list of birds that we have observed so far this summer.
Summer 2014 Bird List
Scrub Jays – one morning we have five of them squawking at something in the front yard.
Anna’s Hummingbirds – at least three of them at our feeder and then some in the backyard in the trumpet vine
Titmouse – several in both the seed feeder and on the suet feeder
Mourning doves – we hear them cooing every day
Starlings – in the trees
House finches – 100’s roosting in our tree
Evening Grosbeak – pair, feeding in our fig tree and at the sunflower seed feeder
Turkey Vulture – flying overhead
California Quail – heard them but haven’t seen them
We have just hung a new thistle feeder in our front yard to hopefully attract some colorful goldfinches. So far, no takers. I am curious to see if they ever come and I will keep you posted.
I hope you are having a great summer of birdwatching!
You may wish to start a new year-long study this spring 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.
This week we are going to do a summer frog study using the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Here is a link to the original challenge for you to use for ideas and suggestions for your family’s frog study:
Use the activities in Lesson 47 in the Handbook of Nature Study to learn more about frogs.
Printable Activity: Seasonal Pond Study Notebook Page
Use this notebook page to record your spring pond study observations and then revisist your pond in each season to compare plants, insects, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Printable Seasonal Pond Study Notebook Page
Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, complete Outdoor Hour Challenge #10.Take a picnic lunch to a near-by pond and combine your frog study and a little pond study after you have a little something to eat. Food always tastes better when you eat it outdoors! Use the notebooking page in the ebook as a follow up to your outdoor time if you wish.
Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is a park like no other that I have visited before. This national park is not gated by an entrance station and has no real parking within its borders.
Instead, this national park is right in the middle of a town! Hot Springs National Park is not far from Little Rock so when we were traveling through on our cross country trip last April, we made a visit to this interesting place.
My daughter and I arrived early in the morning when there was still plenty of on street parking and the temperatures were cool. The national park is one side of the street and the town is on the other.
We were too early to tour the Fordyce Bath House (where the Visitor’s Center is located) so we took a stroll along the Promenade just behind the row of bathhouses. In this image you can see the stairway up to the various terraces where the pathways are located.
It was a pleasant walk in a green and wooded area where we heard lots of birdsong.
There were several paths (more on hiking in the park) to take and if you have enough time you can hike to the top of the mountain behind the bathhouses to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. We were on a time schedule so we didn’t do that hike this time but we would have liked to do so and would highly recommend it to other families.
These hot springs are different than those we have seen in the past. The waters are heated by pressure and friction (you can read more here). They do not have any sulfuric smell at all and you can find both hot and cold springs within the park.
There are places you can bring your own containers to fill up water from the hot springs to take home. I purchased a water bottle and filled it up as a gift for my son in New York. In times past, people were given prescriptions for hot springs water to cure all sorts of ailments.
Today you can still have the traditional hot springs bath experience at the Buckstaff Bathhouse. We watched the movie in the visitor’s center that showed just what you do when you take a hot springs bath…super interesting and very involved.
We were interested in these steam baths…not sure I would like to actually get in one but still rather interesting (only your head sticks out).
This is one of the bath house rooms where the men would sit after their bath.
In their hey day, these bath houses were quite stylish and reminded me of the gilded age. There were many stained glass windows and ceilings throughout and very ornate furniture and decorations.
You can also have a more modern hot springs experience at the Quapaw Baths and Spa right in the middle of the national park.
This was a wonderful half day trip for us and if you want to add in the bath house experience or hike to the tower, you could easily spend a whole day exploring the national park. I would love to also take time to investigate the surrounding areas of Arkansas. Arkansas was a surprising place for both my daughter and I. It was so much prettier than we had imagined it to be and much greener. I can imagine it would get very humid in the summer time but in the spring it was lovely.
I highly recommend visiting this park with your family!
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This month’s newsletter link will be available only during the month of July so be sure to download it before 7/31/14.
Contents of this edition of the newsletter include:
3 articles that encourage and inspire starting and/or continuing a year long study of a nature topic
Spotlight Family interview
Year Long Nature Study Reminder printable with links
Nature Journal Toppers
July Nature Study Grid
Recommended study links
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