Bird Following

We were sad to see our babies leave the nest yesterday, but thankful for the experience we shared with them. This morning they graced us with their prescence at our bird feeder, eagerly showing us their newfound skill of flying.

As we decided to read our bibles outside today and enjoy the beautiful sunny day in the northwest, we viewed a few of they babies practicing their flying around the yard. My daughter and I followed the mama, knowing we would soon find the babies somewhere near.

She immediately started clicking and so we knew we were close. Just as my daughter was about to take a step, she noticed one of the babies in the tall grass. He hopped to get further from us, and flew just a short distance to the shelter of a fern.

We were able to take these few pictures as quickly as we could, for as quickly as we found him, he flew away to the safety of some neighboring salmon berry bushes. We were so grateful to see our little ones, and will tread lightly from now on in the tall grass! :)

Our babies leave the nest

What an exciting week we had, watching these beautiful creatures grow and learn! It was also a sad week, as we said goodbye to a dear friend, our dog Dusty. But God is good and he gave us new life to observe and fall in love with.

The little darlings grew like weeds right before our very eyes. We couldn't wait to get up every morning and see how much they had grown and what new things they were learning.

Today though, we had a surprise that we had not been expecting. I had noticed one of the babies sitting just outside of it's nest, just looking about. I thought that was a neat trick. But then the mama came back to the nest and pushed the little one right out! First flying lesson I suppose. He landed safely in the grass, but decided to stay there instead of follow daddy. The other two were also pushed out by the mama and landed on the cement patio. One looks as though it might have injured a leg, as hobbled off to follow dad.

Here is mama, trying to coax her son to come, but he is not budging.

Mama and Daddy sat on this branch for several minutes and discussed what to do with their son, as they all the time kept a watchful eye on him. I came out and took a few close ups, which did not please them, as they flew frantically around me.

We will let you know how things progress with the baby that is not quite ready to leave! :)

Our Afternoon Discovery

For the last couple of weeks, we have been observing a lovely couple as they prepare their home in our hanging flower pot. They busily fly back and forth, bringing scraps of all sorts to make a proper home for themselves. When the work was finally finished, the Mama got to work, laying her eggs and staying with them consatantly to keep them warm. The Papa stood guard most of this time, keeping the pesky chpimunk away that was much too curious. It reminded us of Chatterer the Red Squirrel. It was hilarious to see the Papa bird swoop down and peck at the chipmunk and chase him all the way back into the forest only to return a short time later for another pecking!

But yesterday as we prepared for lunch we were given the best surprise, the babies had hatched! We dragged our chair to the window and peeked into the nest. At first we saw only one little beak, but soon two others came into view. When the Mama returned they stretched their necks so far to receive the food that had been lovingly brought to them. We watched for quite some time, but then we were spotted by Mama and she quickly covered her babied with her own body and shielded them from our view.

What a joy it will be to watch these creatures grow and to see their life cycle played out right in front of our very eyes!

Our Journey begins

We are so excited to begin this journey! Although I have done a lot with nature in our homeschool in the past, I have not integrated the Handbook of Nature Study book into it so far. When I found this blog spot: handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com on the amblesideonline group through yahoo groups, I was very excited. I need a little shove and a point in the right direction to help me get started. And this blog I found should do the trick. But before we can head outdoors, I need to dust off the book and read the first few pages! ;)