Event Report - Nature Exploration 2018, Grades 3-5
Our Nature Exploration event for grades 3-5 was another smashing success!! An unseasonably warm afternoon provided a super active event for both students and wildlife alike!
We began our afternoon in the classroom reviewing our local wildlife briefly before rushing outside to enjoy the beautiful afternoon! We could hardly contain our excitement to get out so we made our usual review session a quick one. Once outside, we were greeted to a flurry of activity including American Robins peppered throughout the treetops. Students all had great looks of them feeding on berries and feeding in the mowed meadow.
After hearing the calls of a Red-shouldered Hawk, we went down the trail in hopes of seeing the bird. We didn't end up finding it, but we did stumble upon one Eastern Bluebird perched in the forest below the outdoor classroom. Then, we noticed a second, this time a female, perched nearby. Suddenly, four more birds flew in and put on a show as they chased each other around and picked insects out from under the leaves of the forest floor! During this, a White-breasted Nuthatch landed on the ground and began feeding; an action I haven't observed from them before!
Those were just a few of the birding highlights! We often had so much action that it was too hard to photograph and keep count of what was going on. After our walk, we went back to the school to tabulate our checklist for the day. We ended with exactly 20 total species - A great total, especially for February!
20 Species for the Event:
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 Mourning Dove 9 Downy Woodpecker 2 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker 1 Blue Jay 3 American Crow 7 Carolina Chickadee 3 Tufted Titmouse 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Carolina Wren 1 Eastern Bluebird 6 Five males and one female, all in forested area near outdoor classroom American Robin 40 Estimate. Lots of AMRO movement, too hard to get exact count. They were feeding in the mowed meadow and in the adjacent tree lines! European Starling 4 White-throated Sparrow 5 Song Sparrow 1 Eastern Towhee 1 Northern Cardinal 5 Red-winged Blackbird 2 Common Grackle 2
