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| Bird on our feeder |
My middle daughter loves birds and we have tried to incorporate bird studies every so often into our school work for her sake. We bought a feeder right around Christmas that really does a good job of keeping those pesky squirrels out, so I am happy to feed birds now. This has been a real opportunity for our whole family to observe birds on a more regular basis.
We are still not very good at identifying our feeder birds. We recognize cardinals and seem to have a nesting pair as both come to the feeder at different times of the day. There are occasionally robins in the yard, and under the feeder, but we have not actually seen them eat any bird seed. They prefer worms and we observe them especially before rainstorms, interestingly. Almost all of the other feeder birds are strangers to us.
We hope to begin to develop a feel for the birds at our feeder, and hope to eventually know the names of the little birds that often feed there.
I haven't been out on a hike with our children in several months, and since this is bird month, I hope to take the kids to the Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary and trails. That would be a good hike for us for this month. It goes well with our study.
I hope to work with the kids on some identifying some of the birds of prey by their shadows. I found a couple of good books at the library that offer images of their forms in flight.
One of the books I read about bird watching said that a good goal is to make 15 second drawings of birds you see to help with identification of the birds. I hope to do this with my children this month, as well.
So there you have it. My goals for this month's bird watching nature study:
- Identify at least one new (to us) bird at our feeder
- Hike the Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary
- Learn identifying features about birds of prey
- Practice quick drawings of birds for our nature journal
Those sound like awesome goals for the month. I look forward to seeing your results...wishing you the best month of nature study ever!
ReplyDeleteThank you. The things you have planned for the month sound great. Since my daughter likes birds so much, we may incorporate the things you suggest as well as my goals. I have printed your newsletter in order to help my kids with the bird study this month.
DeleteGreat goals and great lesson. I am bird nut. I found once I started watching them I couldn't stop. I spot them every where and they are such a delight. We don't get cardinals out here. They are so striking to me. I sure hope you all enjoy yourselves!
ReplyDeleteMy middle daughter has all the makings of a bird nut. We went on a hike today, and I was surprised how many birds both of the older kids could recognize.
DeleteI love our cardinal pair. They really are striking and very regular at our feeder.
Maybe you've heard of it already, or maybe you've already got plans for the weekend, but Matt and I just decided to participate in this event called the Great Backyard Bird Count where armature birders (like us and your family) can submit data about bird sightings to help scientists keep track of changes in bird populations and locations. Its put on by Audubon and the Cornell Ornithology Lab. Its free to participate and education and since you've got aspiring birders in your house it made me think of you. You're always doing such good educational nature activities with your children, it seems. It can take as little as 15 minutes of birding...or more if you want. In any case, I just thought I'd share the info with you. If you want, here is the link: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Thanks so much, Beth. I would like to participate. Alas, I don't think we know our bird feeder birds quite well enough to identify all of them. We have improved drastically this month, but we still have a ways to go. (I hope we can do it next year.)
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