As you can see, I've changed the look of my blog just a bit, mainly the header.  On one of our nature walks a few days ago, I snapped this photo of the woods behind our house.  We have had SO much rain this Spring, totally different from last year, so everything is painted in different shades of beautiful greens! I liked it so much I decided to put my hand to it in Adobe PhotoShop and learned how to edit and add text!   I'm excited because my intent is to change the photo and background throughout the different seasons.

Speaking of the trees in my backyard, I was on my deck a few days ago and noticed a flitter of blue out of the corner of my eyes in one of the nearby trees.  It wasn't long before my eyes rested upon this beauty!  Click on the images to enlarge in full size. 

He's a male Indigo Bunting (don't you just love that name).  I do not get the pleasure of seeing them very often, they are only here in summer and have never visited my feeders, and they prefer open farmland and roadsides to wooded areas.  So I was needless to say very thrilled that I got to see him and got a photo!  It's not the best because I was quite a distance away, and I've even cropped the photo to try to get closer.  Indigo Bunting's have a very pretty song, take a listen HERE.  The males feathers are actually all black but reflect blue in the light, cool!  They especially look brillant on sunny days.

After typing this, I just had to write a poem!  Bear with me as I express my creative outlet.

Little Blue Bird

A little bird just came my way,

Yes, little blue bird just today.

He landed on the bended bough,

Who is the prettiest as thou?

He tilt his head and held up high,

And sang to me a lullaby.

Bye for now my little blue friend,

And do be sure to come again.

After much perserverance I finally captured this handsome fellow on camera!  This is the Hairy Woodpecker which at first glance looks very similar to the Downy Woodpecker; only the Hairy is about 2" bigger and his beak is much longer.  Downy's are so small sometimes I practically miss them sitting on my suet feeder.  The Hairy Woodpecker, I can't miss!

 (click on photo for full size)

The picture isn't the best, but I was so happy to get it!  He's a very nervous acting bird that only stays at the feeder for seconds and then at the first sight of movement is outta there!  That's another big difference between him and the Downy, the Downy seems that they'd practically land on you, they're so friendly!

Visual Drawing Comparison of the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers

Comparison in Photos of the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers

I'm currently making some sugar water, washing my new pretty hummingbird feeder, and will be hanging it up later on our deck, in eager anticipation of the arrival of my miniature friends!

Click on THIS link to see the map larger.

Info: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Hummingbird Nectar

4 parts water to 1 part sugar

(ex. 4 cups water, 1 cup sugar)

Boil water, turn off stove, and add sugar.  Allow to completely cool before using.  Keep extras in a closed container in refrigerator.  Clean feeder every few days with mild soap and water, especially in summer heat.

**Do not use colorings, honey, or artificial sweeteners.

Thanks Jenn for introducing me to the migration map!

Graphic from allposters.com.

After our nature walk this week the hubby, kids and I, and my Dad all piled around a table and had a ball making Bagel Bird Feeders.  I found the idea in a book I just bought called Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife, by David Mizejewski, a Naturalist with NWF and host of the show on Animal Planet called Backyard Habitat (love this show!).  It's a fantastic book, lots of great ideas!

First, we took cinnamon raisin bagels and halved them and tied a piece of yarn around them for hanging.

Then we covered the bagels (all over) with peanut butter.

Next, we put birdseed in a cookie sheet and coated the bagels with it.

We used sandwich sized storage bags to store them in until ready to use.

This project was obviously a little messy, but well worth it, we had a lot of fun!  And the birds are pretty happy we went to the trouble too!  This is a picture of one hanging on my Dad's bird feeders.

It all started yesterday morning.  I was going about my morning business outside of filling my bird feeders when suddently I heard it...the familiar sound of a Pileated Woodpecker, and it was loud, obviously very close.  I stopped in my tracks and scanned my eyes meticulously across the woods, expecting to see his red head popping up and down.  But, nothing, nowhere could I find him.  Then, again, the sound came from seemingly right in front of me, flowing full throtle volume through my yard.  This time I searched with even more vigor convinced the bird was right in front of me...saying to myself "he's right on top of me and I can't find him."

Then suddenly, silence.  In my continued visual search, my eyes came to rest upon what I thought was a Mourning Dove.  He was very close on a dead tree trunk at the edge of the woods.  Upon closer observation I realized this could be no dove, he was hammering on the wood, and he had a red strip around the nape of his neck!  I raced back inside to grab my binoculars.  Getting a better view I knew I had seen a bird that I had never seen before in my backyard...a Northern Flicker.  I instantly remembered the post that was at Jenn's nature blog.  I observed it for a moment or two, and then went about my business of filling the feeders.  I went back inside still wondering why I had never been able to spot the Pileated Woodpecker.

After telling the kids about my new observation, we looked him up on the computer, and listened to his sound.  Well, guess what he sounds a lot like?  Yep, a Pileated!  Check it out...Northern Flicker Sound.  So it was him, not the Pileated.

So fast forward to today.  After regular studies were finished, we went outside just for a moment and guess what we heard again?  This time I did a quick glance of the woods for the Pileated, but I knew better this time when I didn't see him to look for the Northern Flicker.  We found him after a short look and listen, sitting on another dead tree trunk.  Well, we ended up sitting out there for 30 minutes watching and observing him through the binoculars!  What a treat!  He hung around, pecking away at the trunk, as if just for us to muse at!  After consulting our field guide, we also knew that he was a "he" from his black mustache that the female lacks.

SO, you know after having such a wonderful observation session, I couldn't resist the opportunity to teach further.  After all, we hadn't done our Nature/Science lesson for the day yet.  I grabbed the Handbook of Nature Study and was so excited to see that Ms. Comstock had a whole lesson on the Northern Flicker.  I'm always excited to find it there because her writing style always engages us.  So we read through the introduction and observation questions.  We found this part we liked best because it made us all roll in laughter:

"Those who have observed the flicker during courting season declare him to be the most silly and vain of all the wooers.  Mr. Baskett says:  "When he wishes to charm his sweethearts, he mounts a small twig near her, and lifts his wings, spreads his tail, and begins to nod right and left as he exhibits his mustache to his charmer.  He sets his jet locket first on one side of the twig and then on the other.  He may even go as far as to turn his head half around to show her the pretty spot on his back hair.  In doing all this he performs the most ludicrous antics and has the silliest expression of face and voice as if in losing his heart, as some one phrases it, he had lost his head also."

Can you just imagine this silly bird making a fool of himself for a gal?!!  Sounds like some boys I used to know!

We added him to our ongoing Taking Note of Birds observation lists, and Hannah also drew a picture for her nature journal.  

What was especially wonderful about spending time learning about this bird, is that before seeing him today we were having a terrible day!  Bad attitudes and the whole gamut of yucks!  This unfortuntely included Yours Truly.  REALLY bad day.  I'm telling ya, the weather is starting to really grind down on me and the kids.  I try my hardest to not be discontented, but these rainy, gloomy days, and end of the winter blues sends me for a loop I tell ya!  I had been praying for some relief, and the Lord sent it in the form of nature, imagine that!!  Even on a gloomy, wet day...His majesty reigns!

The Wild Turkeys have paired up and time for Turkey Tykes.  This Mr. and Mrs. was taking advantage of the corn that gets dropped from the squirrel feeders in our backyard.  I was lucky to get a video of them, they are usually very skittish and run at the sight or sound of anything.  You can see the squirrels scampering around about them; they don't seem to mind each other in the least.

We've been seeing very small glimpses of him for a week now..but he was so quick to fly away, we could never really observe in detail.  But...sometime within the last week my son managed to hear and remember their call.  Here's how I know....

Today, right when we were getting school started this morning, Alex jumped out of his seat and exclaimed, "That's him Mom, that's him!"  You see the window was open in our schoolroom for the first time in months because today's temperature got to a balmy 65 degrees, yes spring is coming.  I asked Alex, "That's who?"  He said, "Listen Mom, that's the Pileated Woodpecker!"  To which I looked at him rather quizzical wondering how my son could know there was a woodpecker visiting us.  "Listen Mom," he persisted.  Suddenly I heard a loud "Kic, Kic, Kic, Kic, Kic" sound (slow then faster) vibrating through the window from a short distance away.  Listen to this sound here: Pileated Woodpecker

In lickety split all three of us were up gawking out our back window into the woods.  My jaw nearly hit the floor as I saw this beautiful very large woodpecker with a stout red crest sitting on a large old log right on the edge of the woods by the creek at the bottom of our yard.  He was calling away with a loud command as if he was summoning our attention.  While he was still too far away for me to get a good photo, he sat there widdling, no drilling away at that log for a long time, giving us a great view and time of observation.  As he was starting to fly away I got a video on my camera of him, it's not a great video, but at least now I have proof!!  Just watch for movement, you'll see him!  You'll also hear my way overexcited son in the background telling me "he's ginorman," that's his way of saying gigantic and enormous together!  And my daughter trying to shush him!

 

 Alex begged me to make a paper Pileated Woodpecker outline, and he took it and decorated it.  I was amazed at the physical details he remembered and put on the outline.

He then proceeded to fly it around, with detailed and accurate sound effects and all, inside and outside all the rest of the day!

We've been having so much fun studying birds this week!  Birds are our focus pick for the Green Hour Challenge.  This week, in particular, we've been learning about Hannah's pick, the Northern Cardinal.  After checking out all sorts of information on Cardinals, I decided to compile it all together into a typed up study.  I plan on keeping these files on my side bar and adding to them as I get them typed up. I want to have more prepared ahead of time so I can be more organized before studying them!

I've also typed up a "Bird Study Guide Teaching Notes" page that I encourage you to read before using the guides.  And also I've typed up a "Nature Notebook Page for Birds".  This is completely optional to use with the study guide.  The one that Hannah did in the picture below is from Apologia Science, and was done before I created our own notebook page.

Here are the links, but as I said you can also find them on my side bar under Bird Study Guides: