You Caught What?

Madelyn rushed into the house, yelling for me to come outside. Quick! She had caught a sick squirrel at the neighbor's house and the children had placed it into a 10-gallon aquarium. I went outside with my camera to see if she was pulling my leg. She wasn't. The squirrel looks ill. His fur is falling out and he isn't moving very much. I told all the kids to not touch the squirrel again, while I checked what to do with it. The internet suggested calling animal control. We called animal control and they won't do anything about a sick squirrel. So the kids are taking the aquarium to a local park to let it loose. No dogs are allowed in the park and the kids were afraid that it would get attacked by a dog.

The Harsher Side of Nature

The owls are growing bigger. Mike and I enjoy watching them in the evening about 1 hour before dark. We hear them frequently from our bedroom windows at night when we are trying to sleep. Lately, we've been hearing a lot of birds chattering angrily. Usually, the loud squawking happens when it is too dark to see what is happening up in the tree branches. Yesterday, the birds started making a very loud racket around 8:00. Mike and I stood under the huge maple and searched for the young owls.

The young owls are maturing quickly. One owl had a small animal in its talons and was beginning to eat. As we tried to see what type of animal the owl had caught, another young owl grabbed a young robin from a nest. The robins were shrieking. The male robins were flying around frantically. Our lovable owls are eating the young robins! Yuck. Paige and Allie were upset that the young robins are considered food for the owls. They were horrified that the owls were mean. I explained that in nature birds and animals eat each other to survive, not to be mean.

My explanation didn't help much. They remember "Bob" and "Bobbie" from our old home who used to get very near the children. They used to feed some of the young robins last year. This year will not provide the same memories. Nature is tough. Everything isn't sweet and friendly. Animals don't have human feelings. Life is not like anything from a Disney nature film.

Owls

There were 14 children all gathered underneath one of the large maple trees in our backyard. Everyone was staring up into the tree and pointing. Of course, I needed to see what was so interesting. We have 3 small gray owls perching in the tree next to my bedroom windows. No wonder I keep hearing bird noises all night long!

My photos didn't turn out too well, but here is the best one. Aren't they cute? I think it might be a grey Eastern screech owl. If anyone knows for sure let me know. It's about 7"-9".

Nature Hike

Last weekend, Mike and I took a drive throughout the town to learn more about the area and various neighborhoods. We noticed a nature preserve located near one of the rivers. This morning, we took the kids to hike the trail. The weather was beautiful with sunshine, cool breezes and a moderate temperature. The trail is approximately 1 mile and meanders through woods, swamps, and the river bank.

We searched for mushrooms, but didn't find anything edible. Allie noticed a fungus and was disappointed that she couldn't bring it home for supper.

The youngest two girls were a little noisy, so we didn't see much wildlife. We did hear a number of birds and saw swans and Canada geese in the river. Paige was fortunate enough to see a yellow butterfly.



I was surprised not to see any spring flowers. It shouldn't be too much longer before they are out in abundance. I'd like the kids to make nature journals this year. Next time we visit the preserve, we'll bring nature guides and do more identification of plants, etc.





Towards the end of our walk, we discovered a number of huge vines. The kids spent some time trying to climb up the vines.





Paige decided that climbing the vine was too difficult, so she bounced on it pretending that it was a bucking bronco. Yee Haw!



We drove through the park/petting zoo near our home and were able to see the ducklings and goslings. I think the parents take the babies to a quieter area of the river when school is out because the park gets so busy. The female mallard duck was mistakenly named Melvin early in the spring. "Melvin" is the proud mother of 10 ducklings.

Nature Study

Joe has a huge interest in the natural world. He builds countless terrariums, plants and tends seeds in the yard, collects insects and small animals. Over the weekend, Joe rushed in and asked to borrow my camera. He returned inside and asked me to come see his latest discovery at our current home.



A few hours later he discovered a similar hole in a tree on our new property. Joe is thrilled at the thought of being able to continue to watch woodpeckers.

Family Time

The weather was beautiful this past weekend. Mike and I took all the kids to a local forest and walked through the trails. Boy do I need to get more exercise! We walked around 3 miles and up several steep hills. It's always such a pleasure to get outside and enjoy nature. The leaves are beginning to change colors in our area. So my youngest girls collected colored leaves. Madelyn, Joe, Paige and Allie also collected rocks. Why are rocks so fascinating to children? I remember collecting tons of rocks when I was a child. Paige and Allie completed the entire walk with bulging pockets. After about 2 miles, Paige asked Katie to carry her rocks. Kate carried them for a while, then told Paige to come get her rocks. Paige stated that Katie was supposed to carry them the rest of the way. Paige ended up carrying her own rocks.



The whole family minus Amy (off at college) and me (designated photographer.)



Madelyn exploring the creek.



Paige marked the trail by making smiley-faces on the path using water from her water bottle.



Joe getting ready to fly his homemade kite.



Katie taking a breather on a garbage can.

A Walk on the Wild Side

Mike was home Monday and Tuesday this week. It's so easy to homeschool and take children to activities when there are two adults available. Yesterday, Mike took Paige and Allie to a local forest, so the older children and I could complete school work in quiet.

Here our the girls at the beginning of the walk. They walked over 3 miles in the afternoon, then attended dance class for an hour. At bedtime, they were still wide awake. Where do they get their stamina?



Mike pointed out some of the fungus is the forest and discussed never eating wild mushrooms unless an adult tells them that it is okay. Several years ago, we needed to call poison control because Madelyn ate a fungus on my mom's property. It was not an experience that I would want to repeat.





Mike let Allie gather rocks and sticks to her heart's content.



Meanwhile, Paige gathered Queen Anne's Lace into a bouquet.




The girls were able to suck sumac juice from some sumac leaves they found.


What a blessing that we home school. My younger girls were able to spend the afternoon with their dad, learning about plants and enjoying nature. The weather was so beautiful! I'm so glad that they weren't stuck inside a classroom doing workbook pages.