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!

Wolf Moon

Last night, we all went out to view the moon, and in spite of all the clouds we were still able to see the big, bright, full moon. On January 29th, the moon was the brightest and biggest that it will be this year. Perigee is the term explaining when the moon's orbit reaches its closest point to earth. One or two times a year, the moon's perigee coincides with a full moon making it appear really big and bright for us. Native Americans gave each month's full moon names, thus the name "wolf moon" for January's full moon. You can read a further explanation here. We were able to identify the Sea of Tranquility through my binoculars. Apollo 11 landed at the edge of the Sea of Tranquility, and I got pretty excited about being able to so easily see it.

Nature Journaling Birds

We've been observing birds since December when I received a bird feeder for my birthday. My binoculars and field guide have been our best friends in our quest to identify the birds coming to our backyard.

I was brave and attempted to draw a little Junco in my nature journal, but

the kids are a little intimated by drawing birds, so I found this great coloring book of birds and printed off some of the birds that we are seeing for the kids to color, cut out, and paste in their nature journals.

Snickers likes to observe the birds too, but for a very different reason I think! Good thing for the birds that she's an indoor cat!