Birdwatching and Bird-Reading for Kids

Right out our school room window are three bird feeders.  Warren and I like to start each morning with a cup of coffee and watching the birds.  Our enthusiasm has rubbed off on Peter; he's our current bird watcher - always informing us when Mr. Cardinal is near or how many Juncos are ground feeding.  Birds are naturally interesting creatures to watch, especially for youngsters, with their brightly colored feathers and silly antics.  The upside down feeding Nuthatch is quite amusing to watch, as are the flittering Goldfinches.  His interest doesn't stop with backyard birdwatching; he also loves waterfowl like his big brother, Nick.  Here he's memorizing the characteristics of ducks.  I love this series of pictures - there's nothing better than a bird book and a cap full of peanuts.

I pulled a pile of bird books from our shelves, some fiction, some non-fiction, to add to our current reading basket.  Here's a list of our favorites.

Spring is a great time to start learning about birds.  Give it a try!

*clicking on any book will take you to Amazon, if you make a purchase (any purchase), I earn a small commission--thank you

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Bird Watching

A Weekend With Only Half.....(the family home)

What in the world does one mom, two teenage daughters, and one toddler daughter do for lunch?  Mind you, there are NO boys at home waiting on meat and potatoes or pizza.  We make Chinese food of course!  We made Orange Chicken from The Pioneer Woman Cooks:  Dinnertime and Easy Lo Mein from Damn Delicious, brown rice, and frozen egg rolls.  With all of us working together we managed to get it all made in about an hour.

Emily fries chicken for Orange Chicken.

Amber prepares veggies for Lo Mein.

The finished product.  Delish.

Maybe you're wondering where all the men and boys were?  They were ice fishing and eating pizza for lunch.  And since they're gone I had a morning almost to myself. The girls and Joe were snuggled up watching Heartland episodes, while I made Chocolate Chip Muffins, substituting coconut oil for the vegetable oil.  Wow!!! is all I can say.  Definitely doing that again.  I made an egg, cheese, and spinach omelet, sneaked out to the school room, and watched the birds.  It's amazing how active the birds are in the morning.  I could hardly focus on one at a time because my eyes were flitting from one to another as they flew from the ash tree to the feeders to the spruce trees and back to the feeder again.

Blue Jay in the Ash tree.

Looking out across the cranberry marsh; all tucked in for winter.

Black-capped chickadee and a couple of Goldfinches.

Enjoy the winter weather if you're able.  Time for me to head out and load the wood burner.

Migration

First saw them October 18.  Everyday they're picking seeds in the lawn under the feeders.  Another nature note:  First skim ice on the chicken's water dish, October 19.

Birds

The rain was welcome on Friday. It's been so dry this week; everytime a truck drove by the dust would just roll over the house and across the marsh. Once the rain stopped we had a few feathered friends stop by. We love watching the birds; it seems everytime we stop to watch them we learn something new.

Baltimore Oriole (male)

House Finch

Goldfinch - munching on dandelion seeds, I never knew

Spring Birds

Just a quick note to say the Robins and Bluebirds are back. Yesterday we officially saw our first robin and now today, while coloring pictures of robins, Lou and I saw the first bluebirds. A pair were flitting around the ash trees in the front yard. I tried to get a picture, but my camera batteries were dead and Grace's camera wouldn't focus on them as they were quite a distance away. The last two days had temps in the low and mid 60's. Wow, did it feel good to get outside without coats. It's just so easy to walk out the door that I found it hard to keep the kids corralled for school. Grace actually did math outside sitting in the sun. Today is promising a high of 50 and tomorrow will be the coldest day of the week, but we'll take it. We've waited a long time for sunshine and warmth and here in central Wisconsin even 45 is warm enough to put a smile on my face. Because it sure beats the alternative of January's -20's.

I've replaced the batteries and am going to wait for the birds to make another appearance. Hopefully a few pictures in the near future.

Have a wonderfully sunshiny spring day!

A Walk Around the Yard

Finally a sunny and somewhat warm day. I actually pulled myself away from all my indoor obligations and took to the outdoors just to soak up the sun. It really helped my mood as well. Here's what I found beautiful while watering flowers and enjoying the newly mown lawn.

Bird Watching

This Indigo Bunting visited our feeder last Monday, on and off all day. It's a good thing it was only one day because I get nothing done when he's around. Even the kids are mesmerized by his beauty. All schoolwork comes to a halt as we stare out the kitchen and bathroom windows watching him flit from feeder to feeder to the clothesline and then the spruce. 

Many other birds have been visiting lately, including the Rose breasted Grosbeak, Goldfinch, Red - winged Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, Purple Finch and House Finch, various Sparrows and Swallows. The following pictures are from a while back, but wanted to share anyway.