Sunset

This week has been beautiful and spring-like outside. Even the sunsets have been pretty.

Looking for Signs of Spring

I love living in the desert, but the winter here is the hardest season for me. The cold weather, and the lack of anything green makes me long for spring. As soon as the calendar flipped to March, we all got spring fever, so we took a trip to the park today for a short walk to see if we could find any signs of spring.

We can still see snow on the mountains. But, the sky is wonderful blue color today!

The grass is still brown and dead looking.

Brown sand, but fun for digging in!

Even our favorite pine tree is still looking a little dry and brown.

Allison brushed away the brown pine needles and found a patch of green clover!

Chloe found some sap dripping from our favorite pine.

We found our park mostly dry and brown, but the best thing about today was the promised high of 59 degrees! Mr. Sun still seems a little far away, but we could feel the warmth of his rays today--a perfect day for climbing trees!

Book Review: Rascal

Our current read aloud for history is Rascal. The book takes place during WWI and has given us a picture of what life was like around 1917. I decided to post the book here because it has given us more of a wonder for raccoons and outdoor life than it has for the first World War. Rascal's author, Sterling North, takes his readers through a year of his own life as an 11 year old boy when his brother fought in the Great War and Rascal becomes his pet. North's charming descriptions of his raccoon endear his readers to the ring tailed animal, and almost made us wish we could have our own pet raccoon! If you are looking for a good read aloud about animals for about 4th grade and up, try Rascal!

The Bird Count is On!

We were very excited to get to count a northern flicker!

The northern flicker is a kind of woodpecker, but he does not look like what we expected a woodpecker to look like.

The best picture I got from this morning's count is this one of the house finch.

The Great Backyard Bird Count continues through Monday, Feb. 15th.

Our count so far:
1 Spotted Towhee
6 Oregon Juncos
3 House Finches
3 House Sparrows
1 White Winged Dove
1 Northern Flicker

Spotted Towhee

It never fails. Each day that I decide to throw out fresh bird seed, the spotted towhees will appear. They like the seed freshly thrown, and they are quick to grab the seed and hide in the brush again. This little brave guy spent more time than usual hunting in the leaves for seed, so I was able to snap a few pictures.

Bathing Birds

Yesterday morning we woke up to snow on the ground. By the afternoon, the warm sun had come out and melted it all. Right under our porch the melted snow collected into a pool in which a little Junco decided to take a bath. We all thought he was cute with his feathers all matted down!

Remember, the Great Backyard Bird Count and photo contest will be held next weekend!

Making Birdfeeders

Chloe and I decided to make our own bird feeders yesterday to see if we could attract birds for observation outside our front windows. We did the classic pinecone, peanut butter, roll in birdseed kind of feeders.

We tied thin jute rope to the pinecones first.

This morning, we were rewarded with juncos and house finches!

At one point, this little guy was hanging sideways on the rope and swinging away while nibbling the birdseed.

This male finch decided to take his seed to the roof and eat in peace.

Good bird pictures are difficult to take, but I like trying!