Bird Watching

So we're using Jeannie Fulbright's Zoology books for science this year. I figured it was the ideal program to do with two at once...work at your own pace in your notebook, etc.

Turns out, we've fallen in LOVE with birds! I've always taken lots of bird photos when on vacation in Maine, but we never really paid attention to how many varieties we can see in our yard, nor were the kids quite as interested as I was. Things changed when we decided to host a science fair for our local homeschool group. I'm not one to come up with new and different projects that up-end our routine. Instead, we take our current studies and expand on them for these type of academic fairs. So, birds it is!

To this end, last week, I crawled under the back deck to resurrect the tall bird feeder (complete with squirrel barrier) and tried to figure out how to get it in the frozen ground directly outside our big living room window. Since our classroom is in this room now, it seemed an ideal location, I even removed the grids from the window panes to make it easier to see and to take pictures. (the girls want some photos as part of their display)

Well, it was a somewhat disappointing week as we waited and waited for some birds to find us...was the feeder too close to the house? Would we have some tragic window-smashing accidents? (it's happened before!) Today, however, is a new day! Apparently, the birds got the memo about the new diner in town and they all showed up for a spectacular show this morning!!

From their notebooks, the girls pulled their "life list" (because they are official 'birders' now, don't ya know!) and added at least 7 new birds this morning...we were careful to identify them properly before adding to their list. So far today, they have added:

• black-capped chickadee
• gold finch (both male and female)
• woodpecker
• cardinal (both male and female)
• mourning dove
• tufted titmouse
• nuthatch

As I type, a small tree outside the window is full of finches, waiting for their turn. The feeders have NO vacancy at all, and there are more birds waiting their turn! What fun!!