Yesterday, I took the St. James preschoolers out to look for birds. Armed with toilet paper binoculars and too much energy we set out. Birds are fun to look for with preschoolers because they are all around us and they can fly. The trouble with looking for birds with preschoolers is that birds can fly. Since birds don't like loud noises and sudden movements, bird watching is challenging for kids and many adults. As my brother put it, “you know you’re old when your entertainment is watching birds.” But I believe that birding is great fun, and that once you start looking it is hard to stop. Danielle, a friend from the Nature Center, once said that she never realized how many birds were there because she never really looked. I think it is important to help kids and people like my brother give birding a chance.
The
preschoolers and I saw vultures, a dove, some sparrows, heard cardinals and
mockingbirds. I also set up a spotting
scope on a hobby lobby cardinal for the kids to see. We then sneaked up on the pretend bird on its
tree perch. This past Sunday, Jacob and I
spent the whole day looking for birds. We
saw over 80 different species. Our list
included everyday birds like cardinals, and mockingbirds, to more unusual birds
such as an osprey, and pelicans. The variety
of birds is one of the things that makes birding fun. The challenge is remembering all the things
that separate the different types of sparrows and gulls. The excitement is being in the right place at
the right time to see a Bald Eagle peak over its nest, a Pileated Woodpecker as
it is flying away, or a heron spear a fish.
Share
your bird stories.
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| We have enjoyed seeing large numbers of American Robins this winter |
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| Green-wing teal, and American coot feeding on mud flats. |
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| Northern Shovelers shoveling |
WARNING!!!No teeth but still bites. When I went out to the garden on Sunday I found a Pyrrhuloxia caught in some netting. While attempting to release him he bit me. He clamped onto my finger like a pair of visegrips. No blood drawn but I had to pry his beak open to get him loose. Instead of teeth marks I had beak marks for quit a while. He flew off so apparently he was not effected.
ReplyDeleteThe curved bill thrasher is the king of the bird feeding station. Today a curved bill thrasher landed to get some food. Usually all other birds are scared off by him.This time he couldn't believe his eyes. It was the largest bird he'd ever seen and it didn't fly off. It was one of our buff orphington hens. But that thrasher kept looking at it like he was amazed.This maybe rediculous to you but It hilarious at the time.
ReplyDelete