The children and I enjoy watching the birds in our yard and at the feeders. We have identified most of them and find it quite amusing to observe which kinds are more aggressive and the kinds that are least aggressive. We have our favorites, such as the finches (Goldfinches and House Finches), but these little guys would definitely fit in the timid catagory.

     American Goldfinch & House Finch

     The Finches have but a moment to feed before the White-crowned Sparrows or Titmouses chase them off and the Juncos rarely even bother with the feeder but peck at what is on the ground. My favorite sparrow is the Harris Sparrow, the largest of the sparrow family.

     Harris Sparrow

Sorry, not too great a picture, but I did get a better one off of Wikipedia.

     Sometimes people confuse this bird with the European House Sparrow, a very common sparrow that is much smaller than the Harris Sparrow and with dark markings only below it's beak and on it's cheek. Harris Sparrows migrate here from northern Canada in late Fall and will stay until early Spring when they will fly back to the edge of the tundra and boreal forests to breed and stay throughout the Spring and Summer. These birds are very wary of humans due probably to the fact that they inhabit places that are not heavily populated by people.

     One more bird picture, this one I found amusing as it looks like the White-crowned Sparrow is telling the Black-capped Chickadee to "Step off!"

     Interestingly, we see the Eastern Bluebirds quite often but I am yet to see one on the feeders, although they do take up residence in our bird houses in the Spring and Summer to raise their broods. The children and I enjoy collecting feathers we find on the property and sticking them into a styrofoam ball that I have put in a little terracotta pot. 

     I thought I would include a picture of what we're doing in Science. We have started studying mold, fungus, and germs. Here the children are drawing a picture of a tomato left too long in the refrigerator.

     We also looked at it with our Eyeclops which is a "bionic" eye that puts the image up on the TV screen...scary. After drawing the moldy, stinky tomato and discussing what we were seeing, we started an experiment using different slices of bread (in sealed baggies) placed in different parts of the house and hypothesised which would mold quicker and why.  

     I hope to get the Christmas tree up and decorate the house this weekend. I'm still trudging but with a bit more purpose.

     Blessings, Julie