Birds of South Dakota Booklets

In order to encourage them to write more, I decided to have them copy four sentences about a local bird and then draw a picture of it.  This proved to be a very good idea!  At first some struggled and complained about having to do this.  It was difficult for some students to write that much, but after a few weeks, it was quite easy for them to do.  I noticed a big difference in their journals after we did this too.  This would be a good booklet for your child to practice reading over the summer as I tried to use sight words that they knew.

We Will be in the September "Birds and Blooms" Magazine!

I'm sure that you remember the video contest that we won and that part of our prize was an author visit for our school.  One of the authors was Stacy Tornio, editor of the "Birds and Blooms" magazine. She must have been impressed with what she saw here because she has asked to write about the kindergartners and I in one of her articles for the magazine!  

The article will be about birding on the job and there will be 3-5 profiles with me being one.  Hopefully it will encourage other teachers to think about incorporating birds into their curriculum.  The local photographer was hired to come here for part of two mornings taking indoor photos and photos of us birding outdoors.  Hopefully one of the photos will make it into the magazine.  Watch for the article in the September issue of "Birds and Blooms" magazine.  That reminds me...I need to renew my subscription now!

Charlie's Owls

A birder from Buffalo South Dakota donated a pair of his mini binoculars to the class, so the kids made him thank you cards.  Then he wrote a very nice letter back to the kids and I including beautiful, large photos of Northern Saw-whet Owls.  He wrote descriptions on the back of each photo.  I read them to the kids and they were very interested.

These owls are small 7"-8" owls with an over-sized head and they look pretty cute!  They also are quite secretive, so they are rarely seen.  I have heard one near the dam, but otherwise they are not known to be in our area, but who knows.

Charlie has built 44 nest boxes for these owls.  This spring was a very good year with a total of 246 eggs!  After they hatch, he measures and bands the owls with a metal band and a number.  Then if the owl is captured or found at a later date, scientist can go to a data base to find out where it originated.  In this way, Charlie, is a citizen science helping determine the range and population of a species.  Last year, one of his banded Northern Saw-whet Owls was recaptured at a banding station in Wisconsin over 600 miles away!  That is quite a journey for a little owl that was just over 6 months old, but birds are amazing creatures!

Here are the photos that he sent:

Our Published Book is Ready!

We have published a book!  Go to the Lulu site by clicking here.  The book has the kindergarten students' bird drawings and hand written facts about each backyard bird.  The price seems quite reasonable at $7.57 and possibly shipping costs.  This may also make a great gift for grandparents or that bird lover that you know.  We hope that you enjoy it!

Birding Festival

Two kindergartners and one second grader were able to attend the birding festival on Saturday morning.  The weather was beautiful and we saw many birds, however only one bird was caught in the net to be banded.  After a few hours, we left and then he caught 8 more birds.  On Sunday morning he couldn't keep up with 20 birds in the net and only myself and another couple their to see them.  It had rained a bit that night, so there was a "fallout" of birds.  The birds take a break from their migration to settle into the trees and bushes.  Bird banding is one of my favorite things to watch.  I love seeing the birds up close and it is so fun to hold them!

If you ever find a dead bird with a metal band on its leg, please record the number and then search on the internet, "I found a banded bird." You will be instructed on how to contact the "Bird Banding Laboratory".  Sending in the band #  will help scientist determine the bird's range and other information that is valuable.  In this way, you will be helping with citizen science!

Here is an article about the birding festival with some amazing photos of Yellow Warblers.  You will notice that my camera and I are mentioned towards the end of the article.  Click here to read about the SD Birding Festival or you can click here to see the same article with larger images.

Dr. Swanson is at the mist net getting 
the bird.

Being close to a bird and touching it helps a child feel 
a connection them.

This is a Song Sparrow.

He is checking to see how much fat the bird has.  If it 
has plenty of fat visible that means it will be migrating soon.

He is measuring the birds wing.  All of this is data 
that is recorded into a book. 

This is her first time to hold a bird!

He is checking out the ducks at pond.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler that was banded on Sunday.

Red Fox Kits

I was thrilled when my friend spotted these Red Foxes while we were birding!  There were four kits and they were so adorable!  I enjoyed watching their antics!  To view these and bird photos, check out my Flickr site by clicking here.

Red Fox Kits

Peek!

There was a total of four of them and they were very playful!

They were so cute!

Earth Day

I read several books to the children about Earth Day and we have been talking about it for a couple of weeks.  Today we decided to get to work and do something to help the earth.  We walked to the lake with trash bags in hand.  Of course all good birders always remember to bring their binoculars with them everywhere they go!  

When we got our first look at the lake, we saw Northern Shovelers and then we saw a wonderful sight!  There was a Great Egret standing on the far shore!  It was beautiful!  The kids were cheering, "Life bird!" Later it flew over us in a circle and landed in a tree next to two Double-crested Cormorants.  We saw quite a few birds on that windy afternoon and we picked up a lot of trash!  We put all of our bags in the trash can out there and nearly filled it to the top.  The kids did their good deed for the Earth.  Now we all need to be more mindful of caring for it all year long.

They are scanning the lake for birds.

The Common Grackle was nearby watching the kids and 
thinking that it was time to go to my house and 
empty the bird feeders!

This was a funny photo with two Canada 
Geese, the Great Egret and a Northern 
Shoveler all in the same photo.

Check out its beautiful plumes blowing in the wind.

We were happy to see the Great Egret landed in the 
tree near two Double-crested Cormorants.

Kids were shouting, "Life bird!" when they saw birds they 
had never seen before.

Here are the wonderful children who did their part to help 
their lake, town and earth!