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Homeschool/Education Freebies: Learn About Birds
In honor of International Bird Day, Homeschool Freebie of the Day has two wonderful resources for us:
The First Book of Birds by Margaret Williamson (PDF ebook) -A delightful introduction to birds of all types; how and why they can fly; where they live; what they eat; why they build nests; and much, much more. Heavily illustrated with Williamson’s fine black and white line illustrations, this is a great chapter book for use with younger learners.
Birdwatching for Beginners: A Guide for Homeschoolers (PDF ebook) — An excellent starter guide on birdwatching… How to get started, what resources and equipment you need, where to find birds and how to identify them, how to keep records of your sightings, “etiquette” for watchers, how to attract birds to your own back yard, and much more! An educational and fun hobby that is perfect for these glorious spring and summer days!
Stop by CurrClick for a couple of more free resources for studying birds:
Nature Study ~ Birds ~ Notebooking Pages —This set of 50 notebooking pages will compliment any study of birds and will work nicely as narration pages or copywork practice pages. The illustrations are black and white and could be colored in to add more beauty to these already lovely pages. Included in this set are 2 title pages, one for narration and the other for copywork, as well as basic and primary lined pages.
Birdcall Memory Game with Audio —This is a free, fun excerpt from “My Favorite Backyard Bird” that includes 8 high quality recordings along with pictures that can be matched up to the audio recordings. This activity also includes a description of what each bird call sounds like so kids can have fun figuring out which bird call matches up with each bird.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has quite a few Citizen Science Projects to participate in, including:
Blessings,BirdSleuth —Citizen-science curriculum for middle school kids.
Celebrate Urban Birds! —Promotes conservation in cities through gardening, the arts and observing birds.
eBird —A real-time, online checklist program.
NestWatch—Learn how to effectively monitor nests & collect breeding data to track the reproductive success of all North American breeding birds.
Denese
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Citizen-Science Project: The Great Backyard Bird Count
The Great Backyard Bird Count 2010
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual “citizen-science” project that the whole family can participate in. This year’s bird count begins tomorrow, February 12th and runs through Monday, February 15th.
What is The Great Backyard Bird Count?
“The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.”
The GBBC website contains a printable poster, tally sheet and regional bird checklists; a PowerPoint slideshow about the GBBC (or you can watch a video); a kids page with fun activities, games and coloring pages; an educators page with ideas and activities to involve children in the GBBC plus a photo contest to enter!
Have fun –I know we will! 
Blessings,
Denese
Snow Day
We woke up to 4 inches of snow yesterday…
Hangin’ out with the chickens.
No swingin’ today!
Look ma…no hands!
The race is on!
Time for hot chocolate!
Blessings,
Denese
It’s Rooster Party Time!
Show Us Your Rooster Blog Party
Welcome all you Rooster Party people!
Hope ya’ll enjoy my roosters.
Woodburning by my friend Frances.
Ol’ Rojo
Rojo and hens
He definitely rules the roost!
Mr Fancy –Rojo doesn’t care too much for him.
Papa Bantey (or banty, bantie –pronounced with a long a)
See more roosters on over 200 blogs!
Blessings,
Denese
Education In The Smoky Mountains: Learn About Birds Of Prey
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a special program scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, August 15 at the Sugarlands Visitor Center –all about birds of prey.
Attend a Birds of Prey program at GSMNP
For more details, please call the Sugarlands Visitor Center at 865-436-1291.
Blessings,
Denese
Miss Chickee In The Lounge With The Candlestick
“Can I play?”
“There might be a clue here.”
“Is it my turn yet?”
“It wasn’t me! I was in the dining room!”
Related posts:
New Mama Hen, Rejected Chick, Chicken Whisperer, Pet Chicken
New Mama Hen
A couple weeks ago, when we went to put the metal on the roof of our add-on, we found one of our banty hens sitting on a nest.
She had seven eggs under her – yay! We left her there, and on May 3, the eggs hatched.
Baby Chicks
On May 6, we moved our little hen and her chicks back to the chicken coop, and all were doing well -until two days ago.
Rejected
This past Monday, my children came running in the house with a baby chick -the poor little thing couldn’t hardly move! Thinking it had strayed too far from momma hen and just got cold, we put the chick in a box with a light.
After a while it perked up.
That night I put the little chick back under it’s momma, hoping she would take it back.
It was not to be. When my children went to feed yesterday, they saw momma hen peckin’ and steppin’ on the little chick –she had rejected it. 
Back in the box for the poor little chick.
After it perked up again, the little chick got to cheepin’ really loud –probably because he was all alone.
The Chicken Whisperer
The constant cheeping can be rather annoying and Daniel couldn’t stand it! He sat down beside the box and started cluckin’ to that little chick – and, wouldn’t ya know, that chick quieted right down!
Daniel would quit cluckin’ and the chick would start up again.
It wasn’t long ‘til Daniel got tired of cluckin’!
The chick cheeped for a little while and when there was no answering cluck, he proceeded to hop up on the edge of the box and over to Daniel’s lap!
A Pet Chicken
Daniel couldn’t play with Legos with a chicken in his lap -so little chick went in his pocket.
It’s not picky, either –Abby will do as well as Daniel.
I was worried about the chick cheeping all night long, so, after everyone went to bed, I held the little chick until it went to sleep and then I tucked it under the feather duster we have mounted in the corner of the box.
It worked! Not a peep ‘til this morning!
So now we have a “pet” chicken…
What am I gonna do with a pet chicken?!
I guess we could ride around with it in the car, or take it shopping -like everyone else does with their itty bitty dogs. Heehee.
Related posts:
Blessings,
Denese
Occupied: Do Not Disturb
Vacancy
Eggs?
“Who’s there?”
Hello!
“Can’t a girl get any privacy around here?!”
Carolina Wren Sitting On Three Eggs
Hope you all enjoyed these,Denese
What Are You Lookin’ At?
Picture taken by Abby Davis
