We Are Still Going to the Birds
Over the holiday weekend, Mark Haberle and River, volunteered in the classroom. They erected our bird sanctuary and re-hung bulletin boards that were removed from the wall in order to install the SMARTBOARD. I sincerely want to thank both people for providing this act of kindness and community service. I have already begun creating displays upon their work.
A dear elderly friend of mine gave us her bird feeders as she is unable to physically perform the task of filling them on her own anymore. Mallie and I prepared them for hanging last Friday. We have two suets and four seed feeders. One of the seed feeders was given to the class by Jon Jameison as Christmas present for our birds and us. Today, a group of children and Beth Libby, added more sticks and greenery allowing us to hang feeders from branches and providing areas for perching. It looks fantastic. The class is anxious for the birds to hear there is another buffet in town. We have had a few siskins and chick-a-dees, but no sign of mourning doves, woodpeckers, or goldfinches which Mrs. Kingsbury’s group has had visiting.
Before Christmas Izzy’s and Eli’s Grandmother posted a comment from Utah. Here is what it said. Hello, and Happy Holidays to Mrs. Baker’s class. I have been reading your blog, sounds like a very busy month. Did Izzy tell you that we saw a bald eagle when we were in southern Utah? It was perched in a huge tree, near a small stream. Grumpy, and I liver near an eagle nesting area; sometimes in the late winter we see as many as 15-20 eagles. They are very large and easy to spot because of their white heads. Golden eagles live here too. Last summer I spotted an eagle family nested near the Sandbar on Lake Champlain. Keep your eyes open. Have a great vacation and I will see you in February. CeCe
We are preparing a slide show/bird guide of 16 birds we identified before Christmas. Each child is responsible for a bird. The individual slide shows will be combined to make one in the end. All the work is being created digitally. So far, each person has worked on a cover slide and an anatomy slide. I am shocked at the students’ ability to draw with a mouse birds that actually look like the one under study. Our bird journals are also being written in on a weekly basis. (Check out our Science page for examples of the students writing. Also, please note the link under blogroll.)
