Great Backyard Bird Count

Today we went to a local wildlife sanctuary to count birds for the Great American Backyard Bird Count. Wow, this was so much more difficult than I would have thought. The place where we went was a 1/2 mile plus board walk over water. We were with a group that was also counting birds. We thought it would be pretty easy but, I guess I didn’t think the plan completely through. We had counted birds a couple days here at the house before we went out to the sanctuary and this was easy because we just sat in one place. This is a better idea. Out there in a huge bird sanctuary, the birds are moving around a lot more, nesting, and all sorts of stuff. We were moving, the birds were moving, it was quiet confusing. We wanted to be useful scientists but this proved very difficult! We did the best we could and if we had any question at all about the type of bird or if we might be counting the same bird twice we simply didn’t count that bird. This is also what it said to do on the GBBC’s website. I think, over all, we did a pretty good job. I hope to do it again next year as well. Next time I plan to stay in one place and let the birds come to me each time I count. Here are some of the birds we spotted on our adventure.

Anhinga nest - Mama and babies

Great Blue Heron on nest

Ducks

Not a bird but still photo worthy, don't ya think?

Not sure if this is the male or female coming back to the nest with nest fixings

Anhinga (snake bird) in the water

My spotters

Anhinga nest - Mama and babies

Pie Billed Grebe

Tri-Colored Heron

Red-Headed Wood Pecker

4-H Mud Flat Birds

 

Everyone listening to our guide

Everyone listening to our guide

 

 

Today we met up with fellow 4-Hers at a state park to learn about mud flat birds.  We also learned about local vegetation, some about the first Fl. settlers, local wild life and so much more.  Nature is one of Indie’s favorite things to learn about.  He loves going on nature walks and exploring new parks. We had a great time and it was extra special that Papa could come along.  Today is presidents day of he had the day off.

 

looking for shore birds

looking for shore birds

Doesn't Beluga look like Wall-E?

Doesn't Beluga look like Wall-E?

 

Look at all of those shells!

Look at all of those shells!

A little windy and cold but it was great!

A little windy and cold but it was great!

Bike Ride

New Year’s Eve we took our first big, out and about, bike ride.  Since both kids can ride bikes, Beluga still on training wheels, I’ve been wanting to take them out to a park some place to ride. We also have Florida State Park Passports that need to be stamped.  This day, we accomplished both, and had a really nice time.

 

Getting the bikes out of the van

Getting the bikes out of the van

We spent about 5 hours in the park, we ate lunch next to the intercostal, watching the boats go by, and had a nice nature walk on a trail leading to the beach.

img_0034sizedI hope we can do this at least once a month.  We have so many nice parks here in South Florida, and it’s so nice to be outside on an adventure with the kids.  

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Hard to take a self portrait while riding. 🙂

 

Taking a juice break, half way though our ride.

Taking a juice break, half way though our ride.

 

Nature walk

Nature walk

Our passport

Our passport

 

There are pages for each Start Park with a place to get a stamp and to for notes.

There are pages for each State Park with a place to get a stamp, and to for notes.

Thank You Notes

We have received some really great gifts this Christmas.  Now, we need to thank everyone who gave them.  We’ll be doing our thank you notes starting this week.  In this past, it’s taken us a week or two to get them all done.  I try to make the activity fun, and let them stop when they show signs of  loosing interest.  My almost 6 year old will write a few sentences, my 4 year old might do the same this year.  I usually get them to dictate what they want to say, then I write it out on paper or on a board in front of them to copy.   I get out stickers, glue, scissors, markers, colored pencils, the whole tool box of fun. I was browsing around this morning and found a neat site on this subject on the PBS site I thought I’d share.  Check it out!
Happy writing!!! 🙂

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Indie making a birthday card for his stuffed animal. 🙂

 

Lots of stickers and colored pencils.

Lots of stickers and colored pencils.

Nature

Yesterday,  we took a nature walk in a South Florida Wildlife Refuge.  We’ve been here a few times and love it. This is the best time of year to go.  Many animals to see, even a few gator.  During the summer months you have to get out there pretty earl to see much wildlife… today we were there at lunch time which is a much better time with little ones.  Indie kept saying, “this is the best day, Mama.”  I think he could do this kind of thing every day.  He is our nature boy.  I’m right there with him and could take long nature field trips every day….  we used to much more often when the kids were younger.  It’s harder this year trying to get school lessons in.  I should really try to commit to something nature at least once a week.  It’s so refreshing!

I was happy to see so much going on out there in the Everglades today.  It’s only recently that I’ve notice we really are recovering from hurricane Wilma and previous tropical storms that caused so much havoc in our area.  The trees and scrub areas are so much fuller, giving the animals a place to live again.  It’s nice to see!  

Gingerbread House

Yes, we bought a kit. I thought I would be making a gingerbread house from scratch this year…. maybe next year. We have been baking and doing a lot of crafts and this is just easier and just as fun… maybe even more fun!  I “glued” the house together and the kids put all of he candies on.