March Family Activities

March Family Activities

by | Mar 1, 2023 | Family Activity

Want to attract the bluebird?

Build it and they will come! Building bluebird nest boxes is a great way to help conserve birds at the local level. Boxes are readily available at most home improvement stores or you can check out lots of nest plans at www.birdwatching-bliss.com and build it yourself.

To make it more successful, remember:

  • Limit pesticide use; bluebirds diet consists of insects which can be affected by pesticides.
  • No perch! Perches encourage predators and the birds don’t need them.
  • Houses should be put up at the end of February or early March.
  • Make sure boxes are 200 yards apart if putting up more than one nesting box.
  • Face the box east or northeast, away from prevailing winds.
  • Place boxes 4–8 feet high, facing a clearing if possible.
  • The North American Bluebird Society has very strict guidelines for monitoring nesting boxes that you should check out.

Some websites have live Eastern Bluebird Webcams so you can watch babies in the nest. Do a search online.

Do you have a preschool-aged child in your life? Teach them this little finger play.

Two little bluebirds
(hold one finger from each hand in front of you)

Sitting on a hill

One named Jack
(wiggle one finger)

One named Jill
(wiggle the other)

Fly away Jack
(put hand behind back)

Fly away Jill
(put other hand behind back)

Come back Jack
(bring one hand back to front with finger up)

Come back Jill
(bring out other hand)

 

Winter Tree Buds

Explore with your kids the buds of various trees. In February or early March, while buds are still tightly closed, cut off a 12-inch twig from various trees. Use garden shears for a sharp, clean cut and cut at an angle. Never take more than you need.

Fill a jar with water and put in the twigs. Place in a sunny windowsill and change the water every few days.

Check daily and note how the buds begin to swell. Finally, the flower buds will burst open. The leaf buds take a little more time.

Eagle Craft Idea

Try this craft idea with your kids and encourage them to be creative.

Kids can trace their hands and one foot on a brown paper bag. Cut out the tracings and glue or tape them together as shown in the picture below.

Glue some white paper to the head area, find something fun for the black eyes and make a triangle beak out of orange paper and glue on.

Draw some feet out of orange paper and glue those on.

These would be fun to make after the Eagle field trip on Feb. 21st! You could even hang them in a window.

 

Late Winter Exploration

If there is still snow on the ground, take a trip outside to make snow angels (or snow birds)! Lay down on your back in the snow, then move your arms and legs side to side.

While you make your snow angels, look up at the sky to watch for any birds flying by. In the evening, go outside with your family and you might hear some owls!

Go outside and try to spot the American Woodcock. This is the best time of year to find one! When the American Woodcock flies, it looks like a nerf bullet! While you are trying to find one, you can take a walk and look for animal tracks in the snow.

 

Pied-billed Grebes

Pied-billed Grebes

by | Feb 1, 2023 | Beginning Birder

Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps)

Pied-billed Grebes are a type of aquatic diving bird. Although they look like ducks, coots, or loons, they are most closely related to flamingos. Often described as “part bird, part submarine,” they are known for their amazing diving skills. The genus in their scientific name, Podilymbus, means “feet at the buttocks” because their feet are close to their backside to help them propel through the water. They have lobed feet instead of webbed feet like ducks. They sure do move fast! Grebes have dense and waterproof feathers that they can adjust to change their buoyancy in the water. This allows them submerge most of their body underwater.

Pied-billed Grebes are small and chunky with a compact body and blocky head. They have a short, thick yellow-brown bill during nonbreeding season, but during the breeding season, the bill is white with a vertical black band, giving the descriptor “pied” to their name.

Pied-billed Grebes eat mostly crustaceans and small fish, but will also eat crabs, shrimps, snails, mussels, and aquatic insects and/or their larvae. A unique behavior with grebes is that they eat their own feathers and feed them to their young; the feathers act as sieves the prevent parts of their prey from passing too far into their digestive tract. Like birds of prey, they will regurgitate a pellet.

Look for these birds in freshwater areas but look fast – they dive down and swim away quickly!

* Thanks to allaboutbirds.org.

February Family Activities

February Family Activities

by | Feb 1, 2023 | Family Activity

February can seem dreary, but conifers cheer us, giving us the gift of green against gray skies.

Take a walk noticing the different conifers in your yard and neighborhood. Collect some of the cones and needle clusters. Are the tops of the trees rounded or pointed? How are the needles of various conifers different? How might animals use conifers?

Kids and adults alike can hunker down with these two coloring books (or others); all that you learn in these can sharpen awareness when you then take them along on late winter walks.

Birdwatchers Coloring Book, Dover Nature Coloring Books.

A Walk in the Woods, Dover Nature Coloring Books. For all ages. The woods in all seasons are celebrated: includes the amazing life below pond ice and the early spring flowers.

Family Activity

February or March can seem dreary, so looking for the gift of colors can help!

Go on an adventure with others. Bring a notebook and colored pencils or markers. Look for all different shades of color as you explore and take note of them in your notebook.

Look for BLACK – Such as the black feathers of an American Crow or the black scat of a mammal.

Look for BROWN, such as mud emerging from the melting snow, the tree trunk, or the Brown Creeper eating insects on the tree trunk!

Look for RED – The red coloring found in the Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpeckers, or male Downy Woodpeckers.

Look for ORANGE – Sometimes fungi are orange or maybe you’ll spot a Baltimore Oriole.

Look for YELLOW – Like in the American Goldfinch or the rays of the warming sun that is now out longer!

Look for GREEN – The needle like leaves of evergreen trees or some mosses emerging from under the melting snow.

Look for BLUE – Blue Jays and American Bluebirds are common and easier to see against some snowy WHITE backdrops.

What other colors can you find? The world really is a colorful place!

Play a Migration Game

Several family members or friends can pretend to be a flock of migrating birds—perhaps in a V-shape as with geese. Have them rotate position so the lead bird can go to the back for a break and another moves into leadership.

Birds call to signal each other – you can make this fun by having the lead bird call back things like, “You getting too tired, Jack?” or “How are you doing, Livy?”

Make a Bird Bath

As migration brings more birds to our area, you can welcome them with a homemade bird bath as well as commercial ones. They can drink and bathe and fluff their feathers after their long journey. You can simply use a garbage lid. Or use large plant saucers or shallow bowls placed on tree stumps. The water should be no more than 3 inches deep. If it is deeper than that, you can put gravel or stones in the bottom—which is a good idea anyway to anchor it more firmly.

Be sure to change the water and to keep it clean; you can hose it down for a quick cleaning; occasionally wash with warm water and soap and a brush; scrub it vigorously, then rinse thoroughly. An adult can add a little bleach to the water; in that case, take special care to rinse thoroughly. Put your birdbath near shrubs or trees.

Decorate Windows to Prevent Birds from Crashing into Them

  • Use sparkly ribbons or strips of black garbage bags; the glitter and flutter will help to warn birds away.
  • Or you can draw flowers or squiggly lines with tempura paint.

Ideally, these devices would be about 4 inches apart, but you can judge how much you need by whether birds frequently hit your windows.

Do the Feather Test

Why don’t ducks get wet? Ducks have glands at the base of their feathers that release oil to spread over the top layer of feathers.

Take two feathers: Coat one with vegetable oil. Dip each in water. What happens? Can you see how the oil prevents water from soaking the feather?

Feed the ducks – but not with bread. Bread isn’t good for ducks and can make them sick. Instead try grapes cut in half, frozen peas that have been defrosted, birdseed, cracked corn, barley, or oats.

Since Valentine’s Day is in February, a fun craft to do would be to make a heart owl. Carefully cut out a heart-shaped head, feet, and a set of wings from construction paper, then glue them on to the edges of a paper plate so that it resembles an owl. You can use googly eyes or just draw your own eyes on, and write a clever phrase, such as “Hoo loves you?” in the middle.

Black and Brown Faces in American’s Wild Places

Black and Brown Faces in American’s Wild Places

by | Feb 1, 2023 | Adult Books

Black and Brown Faces in American’s Wild Places
by Dudley Edmonson

Dudley Edmonson is a photographer, author, filmmaker, and presenter. He wrote this first-of-its-kind book to highlight the involvement of African Americans in the public lands system. He interviewed 20 other African Americans and showcase their connections and contributions to the natural world. People of color often face adversity when out in nature and this book hopes to inspire other people of color to enter the field of environmental conservation and carry it further for future generations.

A Youth’s Look at Black and Brown Faces in American’s Wild Places

A Youth’s Look at Black and Brown Faces in American’s Wild Places

by | Feb 1, 2023 | Juvenile Books

A Youth’s Look at Black and Brown Faces in American’s Wild Places
by Dudley Edmonson

This book is included with the full book recommended below for Adults. Dudley Edmonson hopes to present a set of outdoor role models to young African Americans and regard nature as a safe place for them to explore. He hopes to inspire youth to learn about the environment, share their new knowledge with others, and perhaps go into careers in the outdoors.