What is that shining blinding orb in the sky?
The sun has returned. Finally. It's been a dreary, gray, cold, rainy spring.
Yesterday the fine young gents and I went to the pond. Painters arrived at our house, early and unexpectedly and we had a burning desire not necessarily to see nature, but to get away from the paint smell and strangers in the house. When we left it was gray and cloudy. By the time we arrived at the pond with our things, it was glorious, sunny and cool.
We hung out by the pond for a couple hours, watching birds. We saw great blue herons circling overhead and a mama duck with six fluffy ducklings, watched the tree swallows skimming and swooping and circling and feeding babies in the nest boxes at the edge of the pond, and spied on a starling's nest in a lampost. Best of all, we saw a green heron, a bird we've been longing to see. It flew to the pond just as we arrived, perched on a branch in the middle of the water, then flew away, probably searching for a quieter spot. Our spring bird study has blossomed into a love of birds, birdwatching, learning the names of different birds, observing their habits.
Around lunchtime we wandered across the bridge for a picnic, played in the field, saw an osprey soaring overhead, played a round of Poohsticks.
I forgot sunscreen. Lately, preventative packing has been more along the lines of boots and raincoats. I'm out of the sunscreen habit. The fine young gents are relatively unscathed. The eldest of the gents has one red ear, and the edges of his neck recently exposed by a haircut are a little pink. His brothers are just fine.
My own face is bright red.
A kind friend said to me yesterday, "Oh, you look so tan. I was wondering if you'd been out in the sun today." Well, cool, I thought, until I saw my lobster face in the mirror.
We're off the the pond again today at the request of the gents, and I've got a list of items that we forgot yesterday: A blanket for sitting, the pond-dipping backpack, hats, a black pencil, sunglasses. And sunscreen.
Showing posts with label Birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birds. Show all posts
Friday, June 13, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
On Friday, we took a nature day at the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum. The camas is in bloom.
The Wildflower Festival is next Sunday, May 18th, and the fields are purple with flowers. The fine young gents and I bemoaned the fact that we had forgotten our wildflower book, but the arboretum volunteers are prepared for wildflower lovers-- there was a laminated wildflower guide on a stand along the trail. (For an online wildflower identification guide, try here or here.)
Lovely lady had a day off from high school. We all heard a downy woodpecker, and our sharp-eyed girl spotted him first. The fine young birders also spotted European starlings, American crows, American robins, all of which we've spotted in our own backyard, and a spotted towhee, which we haven't. And some little flitty brown birds we couldn't identify.
Then we headed to the turtle pond. The fine young gents stopped several times on the way to explore an hollow stump, blow "wishes" (dandelions gone to seed), look in the ditch, examine new flowers, throw rocks in the river.
I took pictures with my new camera. You all with have to bear with me for a while as I experiment with all the buttons and what-not. Fine young gent above (with his hair brushed, I'd like to point out) is telling me to stop taking his picture so he can show me the owie on his finger.
We didn't see any turtles at the turtle pond, but the gents had a grand time searching. We've never seen turtles, though many of our friends have seen them basking.
Time for nature journals. Each child has a nature journal, colored pencils and a water bottle in his backpack. Littlest gent was quite indignant at the suggestion that I carry his water bottle in my backpack. He is big. He carried it all the way without complaining.
The fine young gents finally got to play by the creek, which is why they'd wanted to come to the park in the first place. The arboretum has a wonderful picnic area with tables, a covered enclosure and a sitting area in a small tent. Last week we visited the park with friends, planning on a hike, and the children spent the entire time splashing in the creek and playing house in the tent.
As we gathered our things to leave, one of the fine young gents found an injured Anna's hummingbird. It had flown into the skylight of the picnic shelter and fallen, and seemed to have an injured leg or foot. I gently scooped it right into my hands. It was so tiny and amazing, that little living creature sitting in my hands like a little jewel. It was serendipitous that we'd visited the Cascade Raptor Center just the week before, and I'd happened to ask what one does with an injured bird that is not a raptor. You put the bird in a shoebox or other bird-sized box if you can do so safely and call a wildlife rehab center. (What to Do If You Find An Injured Bird.) The park volunteer we found to help couldn't find a small box, so we made do with a pickle jar. We slid the hummingbird into the jar, put a paper towel over the top of the jar with a rubber band, and poked air holes in the paper towel. I wrapped it in my sweatshirt to keep it dark and so that it wouldn't be frightened of the big scary people. On the way home we took quite a detour to drop the bird off at Willamette Wildlife Rehabilitation.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday Ten: Turn off the television
Tuesday Ten: National Turn Off Your Television Week
We participate. Not because we're hopping on the all-television-is-evil bandwagon, though I've certainly got some concerns about the impact of television and screen time on developing brains. (But we won't go into that beyond mentioning that I was raised without a television at all, and loving husband grew up in front of one. We've reached a workable balance for our family.) We already have screen limits in place, so we aren't trying to make a point. We participate simply because it usually gives us a chance rediscover pastimes, individually and as a family, that may have been neglected in favor of the easier screen choices. And we have fun together.
Ten ways ways to occupy time, Poohsticks style.....
1. Watch insects.
The praying mantises are growing. We did an emergency release into the garden despite the still-chilly weather at the beginning of the week. Apparently praying mantis young are not as cannibalistic as we were led to believe, and we simply had no way to feed them all. So they were let go to fend for themselves.
The remaining mantises are well-fed and housed in middle young gent's bug habitat. They're getting longer and creepier by the day.
2. Play all things to do with knights, castles and swords.
That's pretty much been our week around here, boys running around with swords. I wonder if medieval mothers said wearily, "If I've said it once, I've said it umpteen times: No swords in the kitchen."
3. Ask Mom incessantly, "When is no-screen week over? Is it over tomorrow? Can we watch a movie anyway? How many more days? Can we play on the computer? Why not?"
4. Start a business.
First-grade gent tried selling flowers off the front porch a few weeks ago, and the fifty cents or so that he raked in made him hungry for more. He'd mentioned selling worms like the boy in Where the Red Fern Grows, and we've been so busy that I've been putting him off. Sunday he and his brother made signs: "Worms for Sale--25 cents a cup" and "Duck Food 75 cents", picked worms out of the compost while I turned it, and off we went to the park. They sold two cups of duck food and six worm cups. I suspect that the folks fishing were kindly interested in supporting a fine young entrepeneur more than they were really in need of worms, but hey, whatever sells, right? Now I've got to take them to the store to buy Hot Wheels with the $3 they earned.
5. With the leftover product, feed the ducks yourselves.
6. Birdwatch.
Then enter the results at www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration
We saw canada geese, mallards, rock pigeons, crows, a scrub jay, American wigeons, and an American coot. I love the wigeons. They're a dainty little duck, with a narrow head and a cry like a cross between a whistle and a beep.
7. Go to the library.
We spent a lovely forty-five minutes between choir and piano at the library with friends. The library has a beautiful children's courtyard. It's a work of art. The benches and ground are inlaid with beautiful tile, with animal and nature poetry printed in some of the tile. We had a scavenger hunt, searching for riddles and poems and sayings.
8. Learn to ride a bike.
Mommy-guilt: I realized that I had a seven-year-old who didn't know how to ride a bike because I hadn't taught him. Pure laziness on my part. So I geared up for a grueling afternoon of grinning my face off and cheerfully saying, "It's all right, get up and try again!"
I gave a push and he sailed around the yard.
9. Ride bikes all around the neighborhood.
10. Play games, read stories, snuggle, garden, play chase, go for a walk, listen to music. We intended to try each of the activities on the activity list we'd picked up from the library when then boys signed their no-screen pledge. But we were too busy playing to look at the list.
Bonus, #11. What teens do when they're disconnected from their lifeline:
Listen to music.
Talk on the phone. A lot.
Play games with the family.
Sleep.
Invite friends over to draw, play Cranium, talk, goof around. (Then go to a movie.)
Draw and paint.
Read magazines.
Talk to their parents.....maybe we should do this every week. (Just kidding, girls.)
We participate. Not because we're hopping on the all-television-is-evil bandwagon, though I've certainly got some concerns about the impact of television and screen time on developing brains. (But we won't go into that beyond mentioning that I was raised without a television at all, and loving husband grew up in front of one. We've reached a workable balance for our family.) We already have screen limits in place, so we aren't trying to make a point. We participate simply because it usually gives us a chance rediscover pastimes, individually and as a family, that may have been neglected in favor of the easier screen choices. And we have fun together.
Ten ways ways to occupy time, Poohsticks style.....
1. Watch insects.
The praying mantises are growing. We did an emergency release into the garden despite the still-chilly weather at the beginning of the week. Apparently praying mantis young are not as cannibalistic as we were led to believe, and we simply had no way to feed them all. So they were let go to fend for themselves.The remaining mantises are well-fed and housed in middle young gent's bug habitat. They're getting longer and creepier by the day.
2. Play all things to do with knights, castles and swords.
That's pretty much been our week around here, boys running around with swords. I wonder if medieval mothers said wearily, "If I've said it once, I've said it umpteen times: No swords in the kitchen."3. Ask Mom incessantly, "When is no-screen week over? Is it over tomorrow? Can we watch a movie anyway? How many more days? Can we play on the computer? Why not?"
4. Start a business.
First-grade gent tried selling flowers off the front porch a few weeks ago, and the fifty cents or so that he raked in made him hungry for more. He'd mentioned selling worms like the boy in Where the Red Fern Grows, and we've been so busy that I've been putting him off. Sunday he and his brother made signs: "Worms for Sale--25 cents a cup" and "Duck Food 75 cents", picked worms out of the compost while I turned it, and off we went to the park. They sold two cups of duck food and six worm cups. I suspect that the folks fishing were kindly interested in supporting a fine young entrepeneur more than they were really in need of worms, but hey, whatever sells, right? Now I've got to take them to the store to buy Hot Wheels with the $3 they earned.5. With the leftover product, feed the ducks yourselves.
6. Birdwatch.
Then enter the results at www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration
We saw canada geese, mallards, rock pigeons, crows, a scrub jay, American wigeons, and an American coot. I love the wigeons. They're a dainty little duck, with a narrow head and a cry like a cross between a whistle and a beep.
7. Go to the library.
We spent a lovely forty-five minutes between choir and piano at the library with friends. The library has a beautiful children's courtyard. It's a work of art. The benches and ground are inlaid with beautiful tile, with animal and nature poetry printed in some of the tile. We had a scavenger hunt, searching for riddles and poems and sayings.
8. Learn to ride a bike.
Mommy-guilt: I realized that I had a seven-year-old who didn't know how to ride a bike because I hadn't taught him. Pure laziness on my part. So I geared up for a grueling afternoon of grinning my face off and cheerfully saying, "It's all right, get up and try again!"I gave a push and he sailed around the yard.
9. Ride bikes all around the neighborhood.
10. Play games, read stories, snuggle, garden, play chase, go for a walk, listen to music. We intended to try each of the activities on the activity list we'd picked up from the library when then boys signed their no-screen pledge. But we were too busy playing to look at the list.
Bonus, #11. What teens do when they're disconnected from their lifeline:
Listen to music.
Talk on the phone. A lot.
Play games with the family.
Sleep.
Invite friends over to draw, play Cranium, talk, goof around. (Then go to a movie.)
Draw and paint.
Read magazines.
Talk to their parents.....maybe we should do this every week. (Just kidding, girls.)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Celebrate Urban Birds!
Check out Celebrate Urban Birds! Lots of bird information and projects, a great hands-on way to enhance a bird study or just enjoy bird-watching with kids.
Sign up for a Celebrate Urban Birds kit, with free bird posters.
Information about common urban birds.
Read about Gardening for Birds.
Collect and share data online about the birds you're observing.
I've just begun poking around the site, and I know there's lots more. Thanks to Elizabeth for pointing me to this site! It's fantastic.
Enjoy! I know we will.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
A Day in the Life: Happy Birthday
Singing:
Happy Birthday. Fine young middle gent is now officially five. He got to choose his birthday breakfast: French toast, melon, bacon, and the last of our summer blackberries.
Watching:Winter birds. We've got robins and crows and all kinds of little flitty chirpy birds. I wish they'd just hold still for a moment so while we look them up in the bird book. When they're on the fly it's hard to distinguish whether this one has a white stripe across the ridge of its brow, or that one has rusty patches along the rump.
We've been scolded several times, both at home and outside our lovely piano teacher's house, by a kind of a jay that we've been trying to identify, a blueish bird with a light gray chest and a dark head. First-grade gent was supposed to finish yesterday's science, but he spied the bird hopping about on our neighbor's lawn across the street, so we all bundled up and out we went to sit in the driveway. It was 26 degrees, but gloriously sunny. The driveway froze our bums, but it was peaceful sitting to listen to the birds. Our bird song book came in handy. We played the call of the Stellar's jay, and a curious (or defensive or territorial, maybe) jay called back, and even perched on a branch on our yard until the bouncy gents made the bird nervous and it flew away. We think these jays are Western scrub jays. They're beautiful and they're all over the neighborhood. The birds will make a lovely addition to our nature notebooks.
Going:To the bakery to choose a cake. This young gent turned giddy at the idea of choosing his own cake, so we piled in the car and drove to Sweet Life Patisserie. He picked a cake called Strawberries and Cream. I practically started drooling right there. We cheated a little and the gents got tiny cakes, petit-fours, even though we planned to eat birthday cake later. Shhhh...don't tell.
The young man helping us at the counter was positively charming. He did not ask me if I'd said, "Polly" or "Tommy" or "Tully" or say, "Huh?" with furrowed brow when I asked if he'd please write fine young gent's name on the cake. He noticed that I had my hands full with three excited gents, the little cakes for those gents, and a full bowl of coffee--one of those round wide cups that promptly slopped coffee all over the table when I set it next to an exuberant cake-elated young person. Helpful Guy smilingly brought out my cannoli, some forks and the birthday cake in a box, and even checked to make sure he'd spelled "Tolly" correctly (he had) before he sealed the box. I love taking my fine young gents out and about but on occasion it's like herding cats, as the expression goes. We manage just fine, usually manage gracefully even. And today, thanks to Helpful Guy, I had a few moments to settle with my guys and enjoy my coffee.
A little help kindly given goes a long way. So whoever you are, Helpful Guy, thank you from the bottom of this hands-full momma's heart.
Birthday Wrappings:A pillow sham, a large fabric gift bag, a small white box (reused) decorated with dragons by lovely artistic lady, and the packing paper from one of fine young gent's birthday packages decorated with the birthday boy's own fine handprints in his favorite colors.
Prizes inside the wrappings:
A backpack, cars, Legos, a book and a t-shirt with some kind of beetle on the front. His last present is on the way. We knew our bug-crazy gent would get a kick out of a praying mantis study kit. I almost ordered the praying mantis set while I was doing my Christmas shopping, but I decided that no, I'd remember to order before his birthday rolled around.
Who was I kidding? I can barely remember what day it is, much less that I'd decided to wait to order a gift.
Until yesterday when I wrapped gifts, I was convinced that the praying mantis kit was safely stashed away on the closet. I'd thought about ordering it. I forgot that I hadn't actually done it. His fine young cousin was supposed to get the same gift. Oh well. Good things come to those who wait, right? Plus, I had also forgotten to clear fine young cousin's gift with my sister. It's always a good idea to check with someone's mom before you gift that someone with bugs. Especially bugs with long legs and beady eyes. I think she was very relieved to find that the kit comes with a bug enclosure.
My guy is five. Five! I still remember so clearly the gray day when he was born, how good it felt to welcome him and hold him. He was so little.
Life is good.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A Chicken Picture For My Young Friend Sean
Hattie and Ethel.Lucy....well, Lucy is no longer with us. Her leg was injured, and it would have cost at least $50 just to walk into one of those little vet rooms with her. So she made her way into our freezer instead. (Sorry, Sean.)
My kids are fascinated, by the way. For a couple weeks, every time we ate chicken they'd ask, "Is this Lucy?" Ew. I prefer not to name my dinner, thank you very much.
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