Sunday we took a little family fishing trip to Independence Grove Forest Preserve. We'd spent Saturday running errands and buying new fishing equipment, so Sunday was the day to try it out.  We lugged stuff up to a prime spot on a hill, complete with two picnic tables and lots of red-winged blackbirds. DS hobbled off (recently had leg surgery) to scope out some good fishing spots along the shore and DD and DH plodded along the bank to try out their pole. Throughout the day they all changed spots and lures, seeing where and what brought the best fishing.

Me, I opted to not yet get a fishing license (DH has one and the kids aren't yet required to have one) so I spent most of the time up on the hill with our stuff, sitting in a chair, listening to a CM conference MP3 on my Palm T|X while I dabbled a bit in watercolor pencils. (VERY TOUGH for me, I totally need more practice)  Here's what I came up with:

My angle of view is waaay off, this makes it look like I was up in a lift somewhere!LOL But, this is sort of what I saw sitting on the hill. A young tree in the foreground, grasses on the shoreline, then the lake (this is just a SMALL portion of it) and more grasses  & a tree on the far side. It turned out way too bright freen (guess I got carried away) and doesn't really look anything like watercoloring in this scan, but I promise you it is. I just need to practice watercolor techniques. The grey sky covered it all as shortly after lunch IT RAINED on us and we left!! No one was able to bring a fish all the way in but both DD and DH said they had a couple of "good bites" and now need/want stronger fishing line. Good time had by all, and besides outfitting the family with equipment and license, it was free!

This fella has been a regular visitor to our yard since I moved here  September 2006. If memory serves, this was the first place I moved that I've ever seen black squirrels! Far away they're your typical "cute  squirrels" but boy oh boy... close up, when one is looking at  you, they're kind of scary looking! (Trust me on this!)

Common Name: Black Squirrel (variant of the Grey Squirrel)

Latin Name: Sciurus carolinensis

Notebooking ideas: Any of these lovely Nature Pages from Notebookingpages.com image from NBII, coloring page, another coloring page, Enchanted Learning, EDHelper squirrels area

(Photo taken from inside the house, behind patio glass & a door screen,using a Canon Digital Rebel and 75-300mm lens. Original poto, as-is, not adjusted for light or anything-- yes it was rainy today!)

To read about this dark creature you can read an article at Chicago Wilderness Magazine  or over at Wikipedia .

ABOVE-- My daughter (9.5 at the time) filled out this notebook page from Notebookingpages.com. She narrated about her sighting and I wrote it in for her.

BELOW-- For copywork one day in one of our poetry books she found a poem  about robins and copied it to notebook paper. She drew a robin, cut it out, and adhered it to the page.

THANK YOU to whomever it was that recommended the Reader's Digest North American Wildlife book. And a second thank you to you for sharing the fact that the "updated edition" is really just a reprint of the old one. I was able to buy the 1982 edition very inexpensively and we've used it so much already!

The book, as I said, is READER'S DIGEST NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE (1982) (click title)

Click here--> updated edition  <-- to see the updated edition. (I'd use this link to view the table of contents as well so you can see how much is truly covered in this book.)

My 1982 edition has 559 pages PLUS an extensive Index listing all species by both scientific names and common names.

Species are pictured with full color, beautiful illustrations (not photographs) that highlight their distinctive characteristics. I'm very, very pleased with this book.

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure ya'll knew about this book! It is a treasure trove! Truly the most exhaustive field guide I've purchased ever. And the notes for identification make it so easy to, well, identify what you're looking at!

Again, I'd try to get the earlier edition (for less money.) But either way, I'd definitely recommend getting this book!

Those that have read at least the nature study portion of my blog know how much I adore the books by Clare Walker Leslie. Well, let me tell you about one more product I purchased last year (I know, I should have told you about it sooner!LOL)

She has a 'ready to go' nature journal. Yep, all set up and ready for YOU to use! It is a hardback with 176 pages.

 It is called Nature Journal: A Guided Journal for Illustrating and Recording Your Observations of the Natural World  (You can view an excerpt from the book by following the link. )

Amazon describes it ...  "No one could describe NATURE JOURNAL as a blank book. Clare Walker Leslie has transformed what could have been an ordinary diary into something truly unique. The text and illustrations offer just the right amount of inspiration and guidance to help the journal-keeper begin and succeed at making this book his or her own.

First Clare explains to the budding journal-keeper how to get started and suggests some possible formats to follow. She even includes a few sample pages from her own journal as inspiration.

Then come the journal pages themselves. The left-hand page has ghosted-back lines for those who prefer a sense of structure. The right-hand pages are left blank for sketching or writing. Short, inspirational quotes and exercises to help guide the journaling process are scattered among the pages.

At the back of the journal is Clare's mini-field guide, packed with essential information on how to recognize (and draw!) basic families of birds, insects, and trees, thus sparing the journal-keeper the trouble of lugging multiple field guides into the wild. An elastic band keeps paper from flapping while you're writing, holds specimens, and acts as a bookmark. Drop it in the mud. Get trail mix stuck between the pages. This journal can take it! Printed on recycled, acid-free paper with a lay-flat binding. "

Do I think it is a "must have" for homeschoolers? No. A simple piece of paper and a place to store your drawn pages will suffice. But is it a nicety? Absolutely. If you're looking for something to kickstart your own nature journaling, or want a special gift for a nature lover this is a great idea!