The last two days have been Heavenly...temperatures in the 60s and 70s and sunshiney beautiful! Nothing like a couple of days like that to get you in the mood for spring. And the animals and plants feel the same way too; suddenly life begins to burst forth everywhere as if an alarm clock has sounded all throughout nature. How can you sit at a table for school when the outdoors beckons to you like that? So, gladly our classroom has been out under the oaks and hickorys for these rejuvenating days. We've spent time looking for those signs of spring that are emerging, and we were not disappointed.

Before we went out, we grabbed a clipboard and a nature journal page I made, a pencil, and a couple of books to read. But  most of the time we spent being explorers!

Creeks were explored; lots of Pond Skaters (Water Striders) were observed. 

 

 

We thought this tree looked funny with it's beard of moss.

 

 

Hannah found this hole a woodpecker had made.

 

 

We were specifically looking for the Spring Beauty Wildflower.

Last year it was the first wildflower we discovered on the wood's floor.

They bloom even before the leaves are on the trees overhead;

they do this so they can soak in the rays of sun before the canopy of leaves blocks their view!

We found no blooms yet, but we did find the vining!

 

We played Tarzan!

 

 

And slid down mountainsides.

 

 

Lots of creek walking.

 

And even hugging trees.

 

 

Lots of budding, but no blooms yet.

 

 

Faithful crocus blooms will be coming soon.

 

 

We even found this Red Slug crawling about!

 

 

 We found raccoon tracks in the mud.

 

 

And a bird's nest down low; probably a Sparrow's.

 

Some other signs of spring we noted were: green popping up, Cardinal carrying nesting material (twig), flies and gnats, ferns growing on the woods floor, a fresh spring smell in the air, bird's singing, bluebirds looking for home, and warm temperatures.  Oh, and I musn't forget to tell you about the snake...

Hannah was busily playing in the woods around a tree while Alex and I were exploring the creek, when suddenly she comes bolting toward me, running faster than I've ever seen her move, and carrying on something fierce screaming and crying "snake!" After she calmed down, she described this "monstrous snake" in which I proceeded to tell her that it sounds like nothing more than a harmless little Garter Snake! We looked for it for a bit, but she admitted that it was crawling on her shoe when she discovered it and she launched it to "kingdom come". So who knows where the poor thing went flying?! I informed her that she got the prize for discovering our biggest sign of spring:  snakes coming out of hibernation.

If you are interested in the signs of spring nature journal page I created, you can click on the image below to download.