NEW BIRD

A Brown Thrasher found our yard today. Always so exciting to identify a new bird. These birds are HUGE. Their tails are so long and beautiful.

Ornithology

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retta found a dead baby bird today. She came running hysterically..."Mom, Mom, there is a baby Black Capped Chickadee--come quick it's dead, Hurry!"  Sure enough it was dead. We saw it had a small puncture wound on it's body. It was very small, may have fallen from a nest.

Retta insisited upon examining it. Musa sat back grossed out, wanting gloves, asking 400 questions about bird germs, and washed his hands three times before he touched the bird!!! That's my Musa.

Retta, the opposite. She had tweezers and scissors and went to work. She examined the feet, the beak, the feathers and wanted badly for me to cut it open to see the heart and I just couldn't go there. Musa's bird germ theory was starting to wiggle it's way into my brain and before I knew it I could hear my own Mother's voice, yelling at me to... PUT THE BIRD DOWN, IT IS DISEASED. I started wondering if perhaps Musa was right.

So...off to the internet to find out. All we could find was several warnings that is illegal for anyone to possess a wild bird in the US. If you find a feather and pick it up you are supposed to place it right back where you found it. It is illegal to posses any feathers or bird parts. OOPS. Here we were with bird part all over my kitchen table. I wonder if unschooling would be a adequate defense.

Well this piece of information just about threw Musa over the edge, FIRST GERMS, NOW ILLEGAL....he was outta there, he wanted no part of it.  

Please if you are reading this journal....have a heart, don't turn in the unschoolers from Maryland...this is the only lab we have. Dont' send the Bird Police to our door. We put the bird back where we found it, really!

It was a good, illegal day.

 

Full Flower Moon

Although we couldn't see it because of the cloud cover, it was a full moon last night. It is also called the Full Corn Planting Moon. Musa and Retta love to track the moon. We did notice on our weather alerts yesterday there was an alert for high tide flooding around the Chesapeake. That "lesson plan" walked right into our hands.

Who needs curriculum...all you need is your curiosity. (a computer and a library help :) )

Sounds of a new swimming pool.

Spring Yard

We have been busy enjoying the mild weather. We know it won't last for long and the heat of summer will be upon us.

I had mentioned that our yard was certified by the NWF as a habitat yard. We are forever discovering new ways to encourage wildlife. We made a mud pond, for toads and for mud collecting birds and received an immediate reward. Within hours we noticed an American Robin--a new bird to our yard--picking up mouthfuls of mud and carrying it to the small spot in a tree. With the binoculars we could see it was making a nest. This bird kept this up for 5 hours..swooping down..getting a mouthful...back to the same spot in the tree. The kids were so excited that not only did we invite another type of bird, this bird has decided to make our yard it's home. What a great feeling!

The kids (and I) have learned so much about birds and mating behavior and habitats, not to mention the toads, snakes, squirrels, bunnies, deer. So much more than we would have learned staring at a textbook all day.

We have studied different types of bird seed combinations in an effort to attract specific birds. We are very pleased with the result. We have an average of three different types of birds a week, that take up residence in our yard and frequent our feeders.

We have so far identified the following:

WoodPeckers:

Pileated Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Red Bellied Woodpecker---The male is HUGE

Downy Woodpecker

Ladder Backer Woodpecker

Chickadees and Titmice:

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse --Very messy eater.

Wren's:

Carolina Wren

House Wren

Migrant Warblers:

Pine Warbler

Grosebeaks and Buntings:

Male and Female Cardinal- The male is huge, he sits on the bird feeder and loudly calls with his chest puffed out. The female and male are often seen together at the feeder taking seeds out of each other's mouth. It appears they are kissing.

Finches:

American Goldfinches

House Finch

Purple Finch

A White Breasted Nutchatch showed up today.

Our goal is to see some Orioles and Blue Birds. We would also love to see a Belted Kingsfisher and some Swallows. We are planning to hang some dried gourd homes to attract the Swallows.

       

Red Bellied Woodpecker                                                                                                 

 

Snake Feet

Dad was walking the dogs and saw a big black snake by the side of the drive. We were so excited we ran as fast as we could, but he was gone. We have highly suspected we have snakes, but have yet to see one. Dad said this one was about 6 feet.

Later in the evening Retta said she was sad because she didn't get to see the snake with six feet. I looked at her and said, "Retta, you know that snakes don't have feet." She glared at me quite indignantly and said, "Mom, Dad said he saw a 6 footed, black snake!!"

Retta never misses a thing.

 

Outdoor Art

 

 

When you find cardboard this great, it must not go to waste.

Little Builders

I told the kids I needed some tomato cages to help support the vines and they went right to work.

It is great to have live in carpenters.

We have noticed that Retta has been building and hammering for over a year now and she has NEVER hit her thumb.

Habitat Book

I have recieved several requests to identify the book I was referring to when I posted the bakyard habitat entry and natural birdbath.

The book is titled: The Complete Backyard Nature Activity Book. written by: Robin Michael Koontz.

Enjoy...lots of great projects.

Also check out the National Wildlife Federation website for an opportunity to have your backyard certified as a natural habitat. From the homepage click the "YOUR YARD" button. Our yard was certified and our sign is on the way. Yippee!