Here is your great big reminder that the Great Backyard Bird Count starts this Friday, February 17, 2012! I am anxious to count birds with my family and to compare our results with last year. I am wondering if our unusual winter weather will effect our numbers and species.
Want to know what I love about walking a familiar trail? I love knowing where things grow, the landmarks to notice, the way you can tell that something is different. Usually this is the changing of the season, seeing the plants grow, blossom, and then die down in the fall. Sometimes it is a man-made change and it is shocking!
This is where our star thistles, Queen Anne’s lace, and sweet peas grow in mass every spring and summer. We haven’t been on this section of the trail in a few months and were were surprised to see that they had cleared it off, inserted a culvert and pipe, and then recovered it with this material. We are wondering what they reseeded it with. I can guarantee it is not star thistle, Queen Anne’s Lace, and sweet peas.
I dug up a photo from a previous season.
Our family used this spot as a landmark. I could say to the boys as they ran on ahead, “Stop at the thistle spot.” Now we shall have to see what grows and make a new landmark. I know I will miss my Queen Anne’s lace.
Another change we see is in our bird feeder attendees. This year we are seeing Anna’s hummingbirds everyday in our feeder. They are coming and going all day long. Several of you have noted the hummingbirds on my monthly bird list. This species (Calypte anna) is an iridescent green and gray below…the male has an iridescent red head and throat. If you catch a glimpse of them in the sunshine, you are amazed at their dazzling color. They stay all winter even in the sub-freezing temperatures. I go out to check their feeder each day to make sure it isn’t frozen.
We took a walk around our yard last week as part of the Preparation for Winter-Plants challenge. This challenge had us looking for ways that plants get ready to survive the cold winter temperatures. We noticed that several of our plants are putting out a new bloom. This Moonshine yarrow is very pretty..especially up close.
One plant that is surprising us is our yellow rose. It is still blooming…not the prettiest of blooms but still treating us to some rose-goodness for the kitchen table. For all you Redwall readers out there, we have named this the Winter of the Rose.
As part of my research and preparation for the new More Nature Study #2 ebook, we are having fun studying rocks up close with our magnifying lens. I set up a spot on our nature table with some interesting rocks and I noticed that just about everyone has stopped by to take a peek. (Quartz will be a topic in the new ebook.)We have lots of examples of quartz in our rock collection so pulling them out and putting them in one place has brought them back out of the shoeboxes and into the spotlight.
We are headed into another week of dry sunny days so we will be outdoors walking quite a bit. I know at some point the rain and snow will come but for now we are breathing deep the warm (50’s) afternoons together. Hope you get the chance to be outdoors this week.
Our front yard feeder has been busy, busy, busy the last few weeks. The colder nights and mornings seem to draw the birds out to our feeders and it is a joy to watch each day from our front window. I joined Project Feederwatch this year for the very first time and I am thoroughly enjoying counting birds two days a week…just a few minutes a day.
We have had some wonderful bird visitors to enjoy and it makes me happy to see them spending time in our yard plantings and feeders.
Here is our beautiful Western bluebird in the Pistache tree. We don’t see these regularly so it is a treat when they flock into the trees to snack and then sun themselves.
Our most exciting new friend is the Ruby-crowned kinglet. We have nicknamed him Rudy the Ruby. He looks much like a little goldfinch but there is a bright orange patch on the top of his head…the feathers sort of ruffle up to show the color. These images are taken through our living room window when Rudy was sitting in the bushes looking into the house right at me. He came four days in a row and landed on the same branch….I loved being able to get a really good look at him up close. Thanks Rudy.
Here he is with his feathers down. Interesting huh?
This is the first year we placed a birdbath in the frontyard and I am always amazed at how many birds each day come to bathe and drink from this water source. I highly recommend putting out a birdbath to attract bird visitors. We found that if we put a few rocks in the middle of the birdbath, making the water a little more shallow, more birds actually bathe. Don’t they look like they are having fun?
Now for our November Bird List:
Yard and Feeders
California Towhee
American Robin
Western scrub jay
House sparrows
House finches – really pink right now
Lesser goldfinches
Anna’s hummingbird – still several birds that come everyday to the feeder
White-breasted nuthatch
Spotted towhee
Oak titmouse
Dark-eyed juncos
White-crowned sparrows
European starlings
Western bluebirds
Great horned owl – hooting 5 AM
Mourning doves – sweet pair
Ruby-crowned kinglet – new to our life list!
Travels around town and to the Sierra
American Crow
Canada geese
Brewer’s blackbirds
Steller’s jay
Pigeons
Turkey vulture
Snowy egret – flying
Red-tail hawk
California quail
Bald eagle!
Mallards
White-headed woodpecker
California gulls
Osprey
Common raven
This was the best birding month in a very long time. My field guide has been busy and our bird list is always handy.
There is a wealth of birding information on the internet but I have not found a more homeschool-friendly site than the ones sponsored by Cornell University. I would love to encourage you all to subscribe to their homeschool blog (click the logo above to pop over there now).
We can stand inches from the feeders and the hummingbirds still come to eat.
May 2011- This list is testimony that keeping a list makes you more aware of the birds as you go about your everyday business. I started off the month thinking that our feeders were empty and that most of our resident birds were gone. But….when I slowed down, wrote down each bird that I saw each day, the list is full and rich and even includes a new bird to our life list. I love the mental exercise of keeping track of the birds we see and it makes me more aware of each winged creature that we saw during the month.
We are leaning towards studying our backyard hummingbirds for our June bird since they are such a willing subject. You can join us with a hummingbird study by clicking over to the Outdoor Hour Challenge for Hummingbirds and Flight.
From Our Backyard
Western scrub jay
White-crowned sparrows
Anna’s hummingbird-Resident hummers are all over the place right now!
Common raven
Black-headed Grosbeak* Our new bird that we first observed on the trail and then at our very own feeders!
Red-tail hawk
Turkey vultures
Mourning doves
Great horned owl *Mr. A was up early one morning outside and he called me out to listen to two owls
House finches – Sweet singers in our yard
White-breasted nuthatch
California quail-A pair in our backyard…not usually seen so close to home. Lots as we drive around town.
American crow
Canada goose
Acorn woodpecker- swings from the suet feeder like an acrobat
Lesser goldfinches – so brilliant and yellow right now…..in the feeders and the birdbath
House sparrows
Oak titmouse
California towhee
Starlings
American robin – another bird bath participant
Out and About
Brewer’s blackbird
Tree swallows
Wild turkeys – whole flocks
Spotted towhee
Red-wing blackbird
Mallard ducks
White Goose….not sure what the name is yet.
Rock pigeons
Emu – sort of a crazy bird to add but we did see several, obviously not native….neighbor has a few
You can share your link with Tweet and See…click the button above to learn more about the monthly meme.
We have a new feeder bird! I changed up our seed in the feeder and I started to catch a glimpse of a new colorful bird coming to visit. I could hear a new song in the backyard trees as well and I knew it sounded a bit familiar. It finally occurred to me that this was the same song that I heard earlier in the month on our hike to the natural bridge. It was the Black-headed grosbeak!
Sure enough….there are three that come to our feeders now.
They are such beautiful birds and I know now why they are called songbirds.
My field guide says this, “Song, rising and falling passages, resembles a robin’s song but more fluent and mellow.” This is the perfect description of their song. You can hear it in the video in THIS ENTRY or at this link on AllAboutBirds.
NotebookingPages.com has a great free resource for those of us who live on the West Coast…free bird notebook pages for the following birds: Red-tail hawk, Western scrub jay, Spotted towhee, House finch, Black-headed grosbeak, and Black-capped chickadee!
Here is your link: Free Bird Notebooking Pages
I took advantage of the free page for the Black-headed grosbeak and used it for my nature journal.
What a thrill to add a new bird to our backyard bird list….we started off the month of May thinking that our Tweet and See list was going to be sparse. Boy were we wrong! We not only have a large number of birds but a new one to report as well.
Another great week of nature study….another topic from the May Newsletter completed. We have our mammal still left to find but we may just revisit a wildflower instead if we can’t come up with a good mammal to study using the Handbook of Nature Study. Remember to submit your entries to the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival to share your links just like you would for Mr. Linky.
You can really do any topic for your entry….I am hoping that you pick at least one thing from your own backyard and that you give the nature journal idea a try.
Don’t forget to use my discount code:
Use discount code = discount5 to save $5 on your $10+ purchase at NotebookingPages.com
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Flowers in Pots Attract the Bees and Hummingbirds…Easy to Maintain
My goals this year for our garden are a little different than those in the recent past. I usually focus on growing veggies and accent with flowers. This year I am going to be a rebel and do the exact opposite. I am growing color and accenting with edibles. I am hoping for more of an “artist’s garden” this year, providing a space to sit with watercolors and colored pencils and oil pastels on those long hot summer afternoons. Sometimes a garden is more than just for growing food, healing and refreshing us with its beauty and vitality. Of course, you can really call it a “bee garden” since the focus has been on flowers that will attract bees, birds, and/or butterflies.
Our deck usually has some herbs and a few veggies in pots, keeping them close for the dinner time crunch. It is a great plan and I will do the same this year with two tomatoes and some basil.
We have had a lot of hummingbird traffic at our two feeders as well as the colorful flowers.
I am keeping just a few flowers on the deck and most of them will be to try to entice the hummingbirds up to the feeders. Red geraniums, bright daisies, and a hummingbird favorite lantana or two. I started my zinnia seeds and much to my surprise I found a pot full of milkweed growing already over in the corner. Seeds and seedlings are all tucked in ready to go. We are planning on studying our geraniums along with the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson #163) this summer.
Back in the main veggie garden I am going to be growing pole beans…Kentucky Wonders. I am dreaming of the green towers of vines and the never-ending picking that will come as the summer progresses.
Lots and lots of Bee Balm growing in the butterfly garden.
What will be missing are many of the water thirsty plants that I usually have that yield very little in proportion to the effort like bell peppers.I have lots of great plants that are well established that will give color without a lot of work.
These are coneflowers, chrysanthemums, and daisies from last year. I will fill in the empty spots with seeds.
The boxes this year are filled in with coneflowers and zinnias, dahlias and daisies. The bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are going to be having a party all summer long out there. I love having a cutting garden to fill oodles of vases indoors.
We ended up transplanting a few daylilies to the front of the box and the rest is waiting for me to come finish planting the sunflower seeds. Thunderstorm rolled in this day and I had to give up.
My new garden space is coming together and the seeds are almost all in the ground. We had a composting problem and somehow a load was dumped in the garden space with un-composted rotten potatoes so we are sifting through again to get those out before planting the Three Sisters Garden (pumpkins, corn, and beans). The pumpkins, corn, and sunflowers will also be part of our summer nature study using the Handbook of Nature Study.
Happy Squash.
I have four zucchini seedlings happily growing in their new spot and the sunflowers are all showing signs of sprouting as the garden comes alive.
Looks a little different than the last time…now the lavender is the predominant plant, along with the blooming dogwood.
I am hoping that I don’t regret our decision to shift our garden focus this year but as with anything we can always change things back next year. We have a wonderful Farmer’s Market in our town where we can put our hands on any veggies we decide we need. Still eating healthy and with local produce….an important goal in our family.
That is this week’s garden update…..next week hopefully I will share our Three Sisters Garden.
Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!
I think I forgot the sounds that come in open windows in the mornings and evenings. Winter requires the house to be shut up too much but with open windows I woke this morning to a an owl hooting in the neighbor’s tree.
“I’m awake! You Too!” he was calling.
What a great sound and it makes me wonder what all I have been missing closed up in the house for the winter.
This evening I am hearing crickets for the first time and the call of the tree frogs from across the street. It makes me happy to think we have reached the point where we can have open windows and doors to bring a little of nature back into our house. The mosquitoes are buzzing tonight too….found one in my bedroom and had to give him a swat. Now that I could do without.
We are busy working on weeding the garden walkways and preparing beds for seeds. This is a joyful, hopeful time. Outdoor Hour Challenge #12 includes choosing and planting flower seeds and I thought our family might include that as part of our first challenge for the month of May. (If you purchased the Garden Flowers Ebook you will have that challenge and corresponding notebook pages to go along with it.) I will share our seeds in separate entry later this week.
In the meantime, I thought I could share a little of the edibles in our garden landscaping. We try to mix edible plants with our flowers so we can harvest a little homegrown yummy-ness when the time comes. It also is such a treat to have a little handful of something each afternoon when we are outside…a couple of blueberries, a strawberry, or a grape popped in the mouth make even the fussiest of kids happier when they are helping to work in the garden.(You can read more of my tips for nature study and gardening with very young children HERE.
The blueberry bushes really are not all that happy looking. They are all covered in fresh green leaves but I am needing to read up on what a blueberry needs to really get established. I seem to remember something about how they like a pine needle mulch.
Mr. A’s strawberries are looking incredible and there are dozens of blossoms and little baby strawberries filling the box. These are an easy crop to get started and we purchased ever-bearing and June bearing plants so we will have a longer harvest. (There is a challenge for strawberries if you are interested.)
We were very surprised to see so many blossoms on the pear tree this year. We had pruned it way back to keep it out of the neighbor’s yard and this seems to have been agreeable to the tree. We might get a dozen pears this year….well, we can hope for that.
Figs….does anyone really like figs? This tree was here when we moved in 25 years ago and we have tried to cut it down several times, just to have it grow back more lush than ever. We have finally come to grips with it and we share the fruits with those in our lives who enjoy them. The birds like them too so I guess it is worth the mess.
Tomato in a pot to cover the ugly stump….sounds like a good idea and if it doesn’t do well we can always move it. We also have seedless grapes planted there on the fence to shield the ugly propane tank from view when we are sitting on the back deck. They vines get so green and climb all over, producing little sweet bites to nibble when I am out in the back watering in the hot summer sun. (There is a challenge for tomatoes if you are interested.) Do you have a place for a tomato in a pot?
Another reminder to us: Keep the back door closed in the evenings. This bat made its way INTO the house last week. The cat may have brought it inside but we aren’t entirely sure. We had a comedy act going on trying to get it to fly back outside. My boys ran and got the butterfly net and we were able to get him in the corner and inside the net. He really calmed down and just hung in the net long enough for us to get a good look at him. We released him outside and he fly away so gracefully. (There is a challenge for bats if you are interested.)
We are ready to start doing some nature study and the boys have been discussing what subjects we will study for the month as part of the new format of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Don’t forget you can pick from any of the topics: wildflowers, garden flowers, birds, and/or mammals. You can chose one from each category or stick with one topic and study four of them in a row. Please feel free to make the challenges work and build on interest you find with your children. Don’t forget to submit your blog entries that you complete to the OHC Blog Carnival.
My blog entries over the last few weeks have shown what wonderful spring weather we have been enjoying. This week we had snow, heavy rain, and high winds. In between storms we would rush outdoors to drink in the sunshine and get some fresh air. The daffodils are still blooming, several vases full at a time which contributes to my good mood.
Our signs of spring have been popping up all around us and I made a personal list of things to study in the next few weeks, some with the Handbook of Nature Study and some with my field guide.
1. Dogwood (Handbook of Nature Study page 680)
2. Spotted Towhees-Where do they nest?
3. Red Shouldered Hawk
4. Iris (Handbook of Nature Study page 571)
5. Hair Cap Moss (Handbook of Nature Study page 709)
Our new dogwood tree (planted last fall) is beginning to show signs of life. We purchased it when it had lost its leaves already so we are anxious to see it leaf out and blossom too.
Our forsythia continues to spread its own yellowy sunshine in our yard, providing shelter to the sparrows and towhees that sit on its boughs.
The buds on this tree are ready to burst open and seem to be waiting for just the right moment.
Mr. A’s tulip bed shows signs of life this week and on careful examination you can actually see the flower buds forming. Now that says spring!
Last year I featured this flower in my signs of spring post and I didn’t know what it was called. I have since done my homework to discover its name because I wanted to plant some more in a different area of the yard since it is such a great bloomer. It is Laurustinus – Spring Beauty. I actually found some to purchase at our Home Depot last week and four new plants are happily placed by Mr. A over on the other end of the yard now.
How quickly our weather changes this time of year! We went from sunshine to rain and then to two inches of snow in a matter of hours. Now today it is back to rain again with periods of snow showers that wash away with the next wave of rain.
The daffodils still add color to our yard even with the snow coming down. I picked quite a few and brought them inside so it feels like spring at least on the inside of the house.
The birds were not deterred by the snow and they gathered at the bird feeding station. We all sat and watched the birds flying in and out as the snowflakes came down all around. They sheltered under the nearby lavender and would pop out to flutter up and take a few nibbles.
So there you go…a wide range of spring weather and lots of promises for a future summer of color and goodness.
Looking forward to seeing your signs of spring this week!
Our “squirrel-proof” birdfeeder is very popular with the finches and sparrows.
The excitement for the Great Backyard Bird Count mounted last week all over the blogging world, especially among homeschoolers. I could feel it here at the Handbook of Nature Study as so many families prepared to participate. Birdzilla was the talk of the bird blogs….check it out for your state.
Black oil sunflower seeds are the seed of choice at our feeders. You can read some more tips HERE.
Our family has been a long time fan of the GBBC but the enthusiasm I felt became a little contagious as the boys helped me count birds most of Friday afternoon from our windows, watching our feeders and trees. Much to our surprise, the day before it had snowed so Friday was cold and there were patches of snow on the ground. The birds didn’t seem to mind.
Friday’s Count:
American robins – 5
Mourning doves – 2
Acorn woodpeckers – 2 (tapping on the side of our house!)
Nuttall’s woodpecker – 1
Norther flicker – 1 (he has become a regular visitor to our back grass)
Oak titmouse – 1
White-breasted nuthatch – 1
Spotted towhee – 5
California towhee – 2
White-crowned sparrow – 14
Dark-eyed junco – 15
House finch – 5
House sparrow – 5
Cedar waxwing – 57
Cedar Waxwings
Yes, we saw fifty-seven cedar waxwings and it was the spot of the day. Here is the story. We were about to finish up our counting and I said to one of my boys that I was disappointed that we didn’t see any cedar waxwings. We changed windows for a last look and honestly….a flock flew into the tree in our neighbor’s yard at that very moment. It was amazing. I truly would have been satisfied to have seen the flicker again but the cedar waxwings made the whole thing perfect.
We woke to snow on the ground again on Saturday and I was up early looking out the windows. The bird spotting of the day was to see the robins sitting in the snow-filled tree outside our window.There were a dozen of them sitting in the frozen morning world, quiet and still.
California Towhee
The snow melted quickly and we had another bird filled day. We counted at our feeders again but when we went on our afternoon walk we heard and then spotted a red-tailed hawk flying high over our heads. I felt like he appeared just for us. Thanks Mr. Red-Tail.
The only other bird we added to our list for Saturday was the Western Scrub Jay. He can be a very aggressive bird but isn’t he pretty in the morning sunshine? The Western Scrub Jay’s brilliant color almost makes up for not having any cardinals in our part of the world. Almost. The rest of the numbers were higher for most of our regular visitors on Saturday since the weather was actually quite nice by the afternoon hours.
It is not too late to join in the fun and you can spend as little as fifteen minutes looking for birds if that is all you can spare. Read more about the Great Backyard Bird Count and share your list with the Outdoor Hour Challenge too!
I am getting ready to count birds now that the seasons are changing. We have so many birds at our feeders these days that it is going to be interesting to see the comparisons between last year and this year.
I also found this link very helpful in learning more about feeding our backyard birds.
You may wish to make a record of the birds your family observes in your nature journal. Our family likes to look back over the years and see how our lists compare.
Here are some ideas for recordkeeping:
A simple list is a great place to start. Record the date, the bird species, the location. You could keep a list for each day of the GBBC and then insert it into your nature journal or add to your life list. (There is a link to this particular bird log at the bottom of this page.)
I also keep a running list of birds on one of the free notebook pages from my friend Tina that she made for the Outdoor Hour Challenges.
A few years ago, our family made cards for each bird we observed. The pdf for the captions can be found HERE. You can see what they looked like HERE.
We also use the coloring pages from Cornell’s Backyard Feeder Coloring Book as a way to record birds we see in our backyard. I print out the table of contents and keep it for reference and as a reminder of what birds are available in the coloring book.
Both of my bird field guides have places for you to record the birds we have observed. It is a handy place to keep your record since you will normally have your field guide on hand.
In the Peterson guide there is a checklist in the back of the book. It looks like the newest edition of this book(which I don’t have) has a life list in the back of the book.
In the Audubon guide there is an index with circles to check off as you observe a bird.
I am eager to count birds this weekend and will probably be able to participate on two of the days with my family.
Also I am highly recommending that you purchase the Bird Bundle from NotebookingPages.com as a great supplement to your study of birds using the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Note: These are affiliate links.
Use code discount5 to save $5 on any purchase $10 or more from the NotebookingPages.com Shop. (This does not include membership purchases.)
readers out there, we have named this the Winter of the Rose.
