Hooray for Homeschoolers----Birds

The local metro parks has some wonderful programs that they offer the homeschool community.  We have tried a couple times to participate, and we either had someone sick or there was a snowstorm involved.  I sort of gave up...but we finally made it to one!

They made all natural bird feeders.  They used cloth similar to what you would use to latchhook with.  Simply bought at the local craft store in sheets.  Then they decorated with multi-color Sharpies.

 Next we sewed the sides together leaving room at the top to drop down in the suet cake.

 We added a small chop stick looking hanger and voila.....all natural bird feeder that is reusable.

Then we took a walk through the park.

 These are still locks left over and cared for in a natural environment to minimally impact the animal population.

 This poor tree was used by a deer to remove the fuzz from his antlers.

 I loved how the fall leaves were backed up on the dam....it looked so beautiful.

 As we were walking along, we saw two does.  You can see the one directly in the center of this picture.

 The other is in the center of this picture.

 More of the little falls...it was pretty.

 Lydia spotted a squirrel...right in the center of this picture.

 Bunny was describing seed dispersal by the trees.  That's a sycamore seed.

 She is showing us a gall.  This is a baby insect area.  Small insects lay their eggs in this area to protect them and grow.  But in the spring, birds spot those and know they are nutritious and good food.

 Can you spot all the osage oranges on the ground???  Apparently there is a huge amount in this park, and they are spread all over this hill if you look close enough.

 The inside of an osage orange.  It smells citrusy on the outside, but like raw pumpkin on the inside.

This is Japanese Honeysuckle...and it's plentiful at this park.  The birds have not ate all of these berries yet.  She said they would save these longer, because other food is plentiful right now.  They are looking for food high in fat.  This was another seed dispersal lesson.  The birds eat the berries.  Each berry has 8 seeds.  The birds poop out the seeds and they get more and more trees.

 Lydia loved staying right next to the guide.

It was a fun walk and we learned lots of information about how to take care of our parks and the kinds of birds that live in our area.

Check out your local parks, they usually have lots of classes.  And the price is usually pretty nice too!