Bird Nature Journal Ideas and the Great Backyard Bird Count Reminder

I am getting ready to count birds now that the seasons are changing. We have so many birds at our feeders these days that it is going to be interesting to see the comparisons between last year and this year.

Here is the official video announcing and explaining the Great Backyard Bird Count!



I also found this link very helpful in learning more about feeding our backyard birds.

You may wish to make a record of the birds your family observes in your nature journal. Our family likes to look back over the years and see how our lists compare.

Here are some ideas for recordkeeping:

A simple list is a great place to start. Record the date, the bird species, the location. You could keep a list for each day of the GBBC and then insert it into your nature journal or add to your life list. (There is a link to this particular bird log at the bottom of this page.)

I also keep a running list of birds on one of the free notebook pages from my friend Tina that she made for the Outdoor Hour Challenges.

A few years ago, our family made cards for each bird we observed. The pdf for the captions can be found on Scribd. You can see what they looked like HERE. 

NotebookingPages.com has a nice set of bird pages you can use if you want something premade.(Note: If you are a Treasury Member of her site, you have access to all the bird pages included in your membership.) See links at the bottom of this post to the set I use in our journals.

We also use the coloring pages from Cornell's Backyard Feeder Coloring Book as a way to record birds we see in our backyard. I print out the table of contents and keep it for reference and as a reminder of what birds are available in the coloring book.

Both of my bird field guides have places for you to record the birds we have observed. It is a handy place to keep your record since you will normally have your field guide on hand.

In the Peterson guide there is a checklist in the back of the book. It looks like the newest edition of this book(which I don't have) has a life list in the back of the book.

In the Audubon guide there is an index with circles to check off as you observe a bird.

I am eager to count birds this weekend and will probably be able to participate on two of the days with my family. This week's Outdoor Hour Challenge will feature winter birds so next week you can share your family's list as part of Mr. Linky if you would like to participate in this challenge.

Mammals - Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges

#44 Rabbits
#45 Squirrels
#46 Woodchuck, Groundhog, Prairie Dog, and Marmot
#48 Rats and Beavers
#49 Bats
#50 Skunks and Badgers
#51 Wolf, Fox, and Dog
#52 Raccoons
Cats
Bats
Raccoons and Skunks
Horses

Winter Mammals/Tracks
Winter Mammals/Hibernation
Squirrels (Autumn)
Goats (Spring Splendor)
Mouse (Summer Sizzle)

You may also be interested in purchasing this

Forest Mammals Lapbook Kit from Hearts and Trees.

Hearts and Trees Mammal Lapbook Kit

Garden and Wildflowers - Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges

#12 Focus on Garden Flowers - Seeds
#13 Garden Flowers - Flower Parts
#14 Garden Flowers - Pressing Flowers
#15 Garden Flowers - How To Draw A Flower
#16 Garden Flowers - Sunflowers
#17 Garden Flowers - Collecting Leaves
#18 Garden Flowers - Pollen
#19 Garden Flowers - Seeds and Germination

#29 Sunflowers
#30 Weeds and Seeds
Buttercups and Poppies (Spring Splendor)
Blue Flag Iris (Spring Splendor)

Crop Plants - Clover
Crop Plants - Beans
Crop Plants - Corn
Crop Plants - Cotton
Crop Plants - Strawberries
Crop Plants - Pumpkins
Crop Plants - Tomatoes 

Other Miscellaneous Flower and Garden Challenges
Summer Cattail Study
Autumn Cattail Study
Spring Cattail Study
Winter Cattail Study
Evening Primrose and Other Night-blooming Flowers
Goldenrod (Autumn)
Winter Weeds and Seeds (Winter Wednesday)
Summer Queen Anne's Lace
Autumn Queen Anne's Lace
Dandelions (Spring)
Pumpkins (Autumn)
Early Spring Flowers - Bulbs
Milkweed 
Ferns
Spring Vine Study - Hedge Bindweed, Dodder, and Sweet Peas (Spring Splendor)

Birds - Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge

Red Birds - Robins, Cardinals, House Finches
Robin  (Spring Splendor)
Blue Birds - Jays and Bluebirds
Yellow Birds - Goldfinches and Meadowlarks
Hummingbirds - Flight
Hummingbirds - Summer Sizzle
Brown Birds - House Sparrows, House Wrens, and mourning Doves
Black Birds - Crow, Red-Winged Blackbird, Starling, and Cowbird
Black and White Birds - Woodpecker, Chickadee, Nuthatch, Towhee
Gray Birds - Pigeon and Mockingbird

Owls (Summer Series)
Geese (Autumn 2010)
Winter Bird Study (Migration)
Winter Wednesday Birds
Spring Bird Study (songs)
Woodpeckers

Here are specific challenges from the Handbook of Nature Study for different bird topics if you are interested in learning more:

Feet

Flight

Eyes and Ears

Beaks

Feathers

Wing and Tail Shape

Insects - Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges

#22 Butterflies
#23 Moths
#24 Crickets
#25 Housefly
#26 Ladybugs/Aphids
#27 Bees
#28 Dragonflies/Damselflies

Winter Wednesday - Winter Insect Study
Ants (Spring)
Mosquito
Moths and Fireflies
Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Katydids
Leaf-Miners and Leaf-Rollers
Yellow Jackets and Mud Daubers (Summer Sizzle)

Miscellaneous Nature Study Using The Outdoor Hour Challenges

#21 Notebook Challenge
#39 Weather Challenge #1
#40 Fall Seasonal Weather Challenge
#41 Flowerless Plants Overview
#42 Moss and Lichen
#43 Molds, Puffballs, Morels

Mushrooms (Autumn)

Spring Weather 
Winter Weather
The Winter World
Snow
November World
December World
Winter Sky and Stars 

Reptile Study - Snakes
Invertebrates - Earthworms
Invertebrates - Garden Snails (Spring Splendor)
Trout and Salmon 
Frogs 
Turtles and Pondweed (Summer Sizzle)

Salt Study 
Sand and Soil (Summer Sizzle)
Small Square Study (Winter)
Autumn Nature Journal - Field Notebook

Trees - Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenges

#11 Year-Long Tree Study
#20 Summer Tree Study 
#36 Autumn Tree Study 
#47 Winter Tree Study
#31 Introduction to Trees
#32 Pine Trees
#33 Oak Trees
#34 Maple Trees
#35 Apple Trees
#37 Spruce Trees
#38 Elm, Hickory, Chestnut
Dogwood (Spring Splendor)
Cottonwood Tree (Summer Sizzle)


Tree Challenges 31-35 and 37-38 in one PDF - free download

Winter Tree
Pine Tree (Winter Series)
Tree Silhouettes
Cones (Winter Wednesday)
Seasonal Tree (Autumn 2010)
Pine Cones (Autumn 2010)
Seasonal Tree (Spring)
Apple Tree (Spring)
Seasonal Tree (Summer)
Oaks (Autumn)
Buds, Catkins, and Blossoms (Spring Splendor)

Our Family OHC: Pine Cones and More About Pines

Photo by Mr. A

Our study of pine cones started way back when I was writing the Autumn Series ebook. We gathered a few pine cones to use in the experiments suggested. We had fun soaking the cones in a bucket of water and then setting them in the sun to observe them as they dried and opened up again. Simple things sometimes make the deepest impressions and honestly, none of us had really put all the pieces together until doing the experiments. I know I took photos but they are lost somewhere on my hard drive. Could that be a sign of taking too many photos? I bet a lot of you can relate to my desire to document as much as I can about our world and that leads to lots of images to save and enjoy.

Our unofficial theme as we worked through this study became something like this:
Pine cones don't just hold still, they are a living thing created for a specific purpose. 

What else pushed this pine cone study up another notch?

We have had sort of an on-going study of the female and male cones of the pines in our area.

We studied pine cones back in February of 2008 as part of the Winter Wednesday studies: Cones and a Woodpecker. We also studied pines as part of the Winter Series back in February 2010. This time though we are really trying to concentrate on the cones.

We extended our study of female and male cones.


Male cones with the pollen.

This is the photo that sort of started it all so long ago. We wondered if these were "baby pine cones". Well, it turns out they are not and only after completing a study of what gymnosperms are in our biology study did things start to fall into place. There are male and female cones on the tree. Females are usually at the top and males at the bottom. The males have the pollen that is wind driven up to meet up with the female cones.  How about a simple video that even I can understand? Here you go!

Pine Cones on YouTube.com



Next we wondered why the female cones are sticky and then we guessed it had to do something with capturing the pollen...but that is whole other subject.


This guy wanted to be included in our pine cone study this week. He was so very happy that I put out some extra walnuts for him when I was filling the birdfeeders and he climbed up the tree to look in the living room window at us.

"Thanks a lot", he said as he swished his big fluffy tail and then leapt to the ground and off to eat some more.

There were also some bird friends that made an appearance but I will save those for another post.

There is always something to learn about in our world and these challenges have helped us focus on things that we never dream of making into a complete study all on their own. I love it.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Our November World and Some Reflections of a Nature Study Mom

Out my back door.

I headed out with the boys for a walk in our neighborhood to see what interested them from our November World. I tried hard to just listen and observe what they commented on or stopped to look at as we spent some time in the crisp November air....we are expecting snow any time now so the air is cold, about 38 degrees F. The wind howled last night and the rain came in but now snow yet.

Back to our walk....I made a mental list as we walked of all the things they noticed.

• Golden mushrooms- not very large and partially hidden under some fallen leaves.
• Dark clouds and little peep holes of blue shining through occasionally (Hey, look at the blue sky Mom!)
• The variety of colors of leaves on the ground.
• The differences between the two kinds of oaks we saw....one has big leaves and the other has small pointy leaves
• The sound of a crickets in the late afternoon.

Pretty good list for just a casual walk don't you think?

I challenged myself to just take a walk and not bring my camera. I know how much I can be distracted by my own interests when I have the camera in my hand. I wanted on this walk, for this challenge to just spend time with the boys and notice things. I noticed that the air is different as the storm makes its way into our area, a sort of stillness that feels heavy. There is also a smell of dampness from the morning dew that isn't present in the summer. There are still colors to be seen if you look closely and try to find them in the autumn weeds.


The birds seem more active when the weather is changing and after our walk I spent some time filling feeders and listening to the boys talk about the red-tailed hawk they saw earlier in the week, still gushing about its greatness and size.

It feels good to be living a life so close to our natural environment and learning about the lives of other creatures that cross our path. It is comforting to learn about the cycles of birth, growth, death, and then rebirth that takes place right in our own backyard. Yet, with all the knowledge of such things gained in years previous, we know there is so much more to glean as we keep inviting the opportunities to come by making time to get outdoors every week....just about every day.

Our November World has pretty much turned into a Winter World since I started writing this post a few days ago. We have had really cold temperatures and wild weather. It now feels like time to start thinking about winter nature study.

Stay warm,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Autumn 2010 OHC #10 November World-Familiar Spot and a Giveaway!

Autumn Series #10
November World

“Yet, with all my familiarity with this brook, I did not know it in the winter. Its pathway up into the winter woods was as unexplored as the arctic regions. Somehow, it was not a brook in the winter time. It was merely a dreary waste, as cold and as forbidding as death. The winter was only a season of waiting, and spring was always late.”
The Nature Study Idea, L.H. Bailey, contemporary of Anna Botsford Comstock.

Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 1-2 of the Handbook of Nature Study as a refresher. Mark and highlights points that you want to keep in mind before you embark on this last of the Autumn Series Challenges. How have these challenges awakened a love of nature study in your heart? What changes have you seen in your children as they have participated in a regular course of nature study? What practical and useful knowledge has your family gleaned from the “comprehension of the individual life of the bird, insect, or plant that is nearest at hand”?

Outdoor Hour Time:
Sometimes it is fun and interesting to revisit a familiar place in a different season. Perhaps you have a certain park you go to in the summer but you have not explored there in the autumn or winter months. There may be a trail or creek you explored as part of a previous Outdoor Hour Challenge and it might be interesting to go there now that the seasons have changed. If you are just starting out with the challenges, choose a place to visit this week that you can go back to in a future season.



Spend 15 minutes outdoors in your chosen spot and enjoy the November world. Use all your senses and let your children find something to show you. Remember not to talk too much or lead them but rather try to see what your children see. Sometimes it is nice to just to let something interesting come your way without a particular focus.

“The author can think of nothing she would so gladly do as to spend days and months with the birds, bees, and flowers with no obligation to tell what she should see. There is more than mere information in hours thus spent.” Handbook of Nature Study, page 7

So this challenge is really for the parents. Let the nature study unfold and then enjoy the time with your children. Be refreshed.

Follow-Up Activity:
For this challenge, leave the nature journal or notebook page as an option. If you child is inclined to complete a follow-up entry, make an opportunity for one but if they are content with just having spent time outdoors, there is no obligation to complete an entry.You might like to use my free Signs of Autumn notebook page.

As always see if they have any questions about their nature study time. Follow their lead by looking up the answers in the Handbook of Nature Study. Skim down the table of contents to see if there is a lesson covering what you child found interesting. If not, check your local library for a book to use as a resource. Last year we made a list of things to research during the winter. You can find a notebook page on which to list your things in this set of free notebook pages that I put together last month on Scribd.com: Autumn Series 2009 Notebook Pages.

Now for the giveaway details!

As a way to celebrate the end of another great season of nature study, I want to offer a nice giveaway to all those that complete the November World Challenge outlined above.

Complete your challenge by November 30, 2010, put your link in Mr. Linky and you will be entered to win a random drawing for one of two gifts.  
Giveaway has ended! Thanks to all the participants!

1. Moleskine Plain Notebook- Perfect for nature journaling!

or

2. A $10 gift certificate from NotebookingPages.com

If you do not have a blog but would still like to be entered in for the giveaway, you can email me with the details of your study and what your family discovered in your November World. I will be happy to enter you in if I receive your email before November 30, 2010. Please send your email entries to: harmonyfinearts@yahoo.com.

I will announce the winners on December 1, 2010.

What is in store for winter nature study? 

I am working on enhancing and supplementing the Winter Wednesday Challenges and making a Squidoo page to go along with them and I hope to have it all wrapped up and available in December some time. In the meantime, if you have not worked through the Winter Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges from the beginning of this year, you may want to check that ebook out and get prepared to work through those when you have the opportunity.


See this entry for a description.

You can see all the challenges listed under the tab at the top of the page labeled Winter Nature Study-Outdoor Hour Challenge. Have you see seasonal tabs at the top of my blog? I have worked hard this week to get the seasonal challenges moved and linked on the tabs so it is easier to navigate through the blog and find things that will help you in your nature study.

I want to thank all the Autumn Series participants for a wonderful season of nature study. I appreciate the community of like-minded families that have shared their experiences and encouragement with others. You are truly the best set of blog readers and supporters on the internet. 

Our Seasonal Weather Observations: Autumn Series #8

Weather Comparisons - OHC

Our typical November weather is very unpredictable. We can have warm sunny days filled with outdoor activities or we can have cold, wet day where you stand at the window and wonder when it will end. Both were experienced this week as part of our official seasonal weather observations.

Using the chart provided in the ebook, we all worked together to keep track of morning and afternoon temperatures and other factors like wind, rain, clouds, etc. Our outdoor thermometer is broken so we had to take a portable one outdoors to make our measurements each time.


Comparing our morning and afternoon temperatures was interesting because of the large span of numbers on a few of the days. We had one day with a 24 degree change in temperature within a few hours and from day to day it was widely varied as well. I am the official record keeper for this challenge since they like the observation part but not the actual writing it down in a journal part.


Unofficial time spent outdoors found us raking leaves for the compost bin, noticing how beautifully the leaves fell in a pile around the base of this tree.


Observing clouds was fun this week since we had a variety to enjoy.


The changing color in most all the deciduous plants in the yard like this grape vine is happening before our very eyes. 


More raking after the rain came through...these are the walnut tree leaves which have a particular odor that is imprinted in your brain once you smell it.


We also took a drive over the Sierra on Thursday and saw the mountains with a fresh blanket of snow that will more than likely stay there until late next spring.


We stopped to take in the snow at the summit and it was cold! This is about an hour's drive from our house and very near to where the Donner Party was stranded if you have read about them in your history study. I highly recommend Patty Reed's Doll if you are interested in reading a children's version of their survival during the winter of 1846.

Our weather study will be on-going as we keep adding to our weather chart and it will give us some great data to use to compare to our winter observations.

Thanks for coming along with our study.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Autumn 2010 OHC #9 Pine Cone Study

Today we went on a drive up in the mountains and would you believe there was snow! I spotted some freshly fallen pinecones and it was a perfect introduction to this week's challenge. The snowy landscape reminded me that we will soon be finished with the Autumn Series and it will be time for a new season to start. The Autumn Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges has greatly added to our family's knowledge of everyday things around us and I hope they have helped your family too. Next week will be our last autumn challenge and a nice giveaway so make sure to pop over to the blog next Friday to read all about it.

Autumn Series #9
Pine Cones

“Their foliage is evergreen but is shed gradually. The pollen-bearing and the seed-producing flowers are separate on the tree. The seeds are winged and are developed in cones.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 674

Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 670-675 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 185). This section talks about the pine tree and gives the background for this challenge. Pay attention to questions 5 and 6 in this lesson covering the pine cone. (You may find it helpful to read this Treasures in a Pinecone link before going outdoors to look at pine cones.)

Compare A Tree with Cones and A Tree Without Cones

(Use the Venn Diagram to Record Your Observations.)
Compare needles and leaves, including their arrangement on the branches, shapes, and colors.
Compare the trunks and bark, including the shape of the tree. Does the main trunk go straight up or branch out? How low do the branches start? Is there a crown?

Outdoor Hour Time:
Take fifteen minutes outdoors this week to explore your yard or neighborhood looking for a pine tree and pine cones. Remember how to identify a pine tree and use some of the things you read about in the Handbook to help your child learn a little about the pine tree. You could point out the difference between an evergreen and a deciduous tree, how the pine tree’s leaves are needles, the distinct shape of a pine tree, and the cones. Collect at least one cone to bring indoors for observations in the follow-up activity.

Follow-Up Activity:
Use a hand lens to look closely at your pine cone. Take note of its shape, size, color, and patterns. The Handbook of Nature Study suggests the following sketches in your nature journal:

• Bundle of needles, showing the sheath and its attachment to the twig.
• The cone.
• The cone scale.
• The seed (under the scales)

You can use the notebook page provided with the Autumn ebook, a blank page in your nature journal, or a blank notebook page from my sidebar.

Additional activity: Soak your cone in water. Check your cone every 15 minutes to see what happens. Now let the cone dry. This sometimes will loosen the seeds inside and you can take a closer look at their shapes and structure. Try this activity again and soak only half your cone in water and see what happens. More activities with cones are found at these links: Treasures in a Pinecone and Pinecone Weather.

Additional Resources:
Help in identifying pines and this one with pines by region
A Pine Cone Tale: This link will be helpful if you don’t have access to a pine tree to observe and the formation of cones.

Don't forget that there are additional resources and ideas for autumn  nature study on my Squidoo website: Outdoor Hour Challenge-Autumn Series.

Autumn 2010 OHC #8 Seasonal Weather-Autumn Observations

Autumn Series #8
Seasonal Weather: Autumn Observations

Autumnal Equinox: 9/22/10
Daylight Savings Time: 11/7/10


Inside Preparation Work:
Read pages 780-783 in the Handbook of Nature Study (beginning pages of the section on Climate and Weather ending at The Atmosphere).

Make a weather chart like the one on page 807 (last page in the weather and climate section) or use the one provided in the autumn ebook. You may wish to purchase an outdoor thermometer and a rain gauge to enhance your study of the weather during the autumn and then into the winter.



Compare The Weather on Two Different Days

• Compare a sunny day and a rainy day. Compare temperature, clouds, and wind direction and speed. Don’t forget to use all your senses: smell, touch, hearing, etc.
• Compare weather on the same day in the morning and then again in the evening.
• Compare how your landscape looks today to what you remember about the summer or winter.

Outdoor Hour Time:

1. Spend fifteen minutes outdoors observing your autumn weather. Note the direction of the wind, the direction the clouds are moving, and where the sun is rising and setting. The main aim for this challenge is to make weather observations and comparisons. Enjoy the season’s delights and have fun with your children.
2. In addition, as part of the comparison activity, use your senses to make observations about the weather on two different days (perhaps choosing a sunny day and a rainy day to compare). Record your results on a Venn Diagram. If you would like an example of a Venn Diagram, HERE is a link.
3. Start and maintain a Weather Record Chart as many days as you can.

Follow-Up Activity:
After your outdoor time, talk about all of your observations. Pull out any previous weather challenge journals to compare with today’s observations. Complete the notebook page in the ebook, the weather notebook page from previous challenges (HERE), or make an entry in your own blank journal.You could also complete a Signs of Autumn notebook page.


Extra Resources:
National Weather Service –Look up your state for weather warnings.
The Weather Channel for Kids –Several activities your family may be interested in completing.

Queen Anne's Lace Study-Autumn Season Comparisons

We finally completed our autumn observations for the Queen Anne's Lace in our neighborhood. The challenge asked us to go back to our patch of this flower and compare the changes since our summer observations. Most of the Queen Anne's Lace looks like this right now...dry, brittle, brown, and stiff. We cut a stem or two to take inside to observe closely and compare to our summer observations.


We had a great time observing closely the flower heads we brought in and were able to observe some interesting things. The challenge suggested using a hand lens to look more closely at the seeds of the Queen Anne's Lace.

• Each dried cluster was made up of many dried flower clusters.
• The large cluster was made up of more than 70 small clusters.
• Each small cluster had over 20 seeds in it.

We drew a flower cluster and a seed after viewing it with our loupe. The little seeds were sticky and I found them in the carpet and the hem of my skirt after we had finished. We thought about our dandelion seeds (akenes) and how they are blown away in the wind and compared them to the Queen Anne's Lace seeds that are definitely spread by adhesion or attachment. Our dog regularly helps disperse the seeds of the Queen Anne's Lace as she romps through the weeds on our walks.


On today's walk with the dog, we found a patch of Queen Anne's Lace that is not quite dried up yet. There is still a little greenness to the stem, leaves, and flower head. We are experiencing some unseasonably warm weather with the afternoons in the 70's. I actually took a walk without a sweatshirt and we worked up a thirst by the time we reached home again. We will be trying to get out in the warm temperatures again tomorrow....who knows how long they will last.

The season of abundant Queen Anne's Lace is over but we shall be watching as we enter the winter season to see if the plants make much of a change.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Salmon Circle of Life

We were able to experience two kinds of salmon and their spawning this autumn.


The Kokanee salmon are a land-locked species that live in the high mountain lake and then return to the creek of their birth for spawning.


This shallow creek is the perfect place for laying eggs in the gravel.


The fish come by the thousands, swimming and leaping around in the water as they make their way back up the creek from the lake.


The bears are around and we are warned to keep clear of them as they come for their autumn feast of salmon after the fish have spawned and then die.

Even though these are land-locked salmon, they still go through the same changes that their ocean cousins perform. Their colors change and their jaws and teeth become more prominent.


They wiggle a little dance to court the females and then fertilize her eggs. It is amazing to watch.


There are two bridges that you can watch the fish from and on this day there were quite a few nature lovers out there viewing the fish ritual.



The ducks, gulls, and eagles all depend on the salmon spawning for their autumn diet. We didn't see any eagles on this day but the ducks were present.


They eat the freshly laid eggs if they get the chance.

Our second salmon observing opportunity came this past weekend at the American River above Sacramento. There is a fish hatchery below a dam where the salmon will make their way up the fish ladder.


Here is the ladder the salmon will leap up as they  make their way to the hatchery. The officials were waiting until the next day to open the gate that ajoins the river to the ladder.


We were a little early but we were still able to observe the *huge* Chinook salmon waiting at the gate to climb up. They were actually jumping up out of the water and slamming into the metal gate. One sign says they can leap out of the water nine feet!

The Chinook are much larger than the Kokanee and we decided it was because they have a much longer migration journey. They travel round trip 2,000 miles from their birthplace, down the American River, through the Sacramento Delta and then out into the Pacific Ocean. Two or three years later, they make the return trip and end up at their birthplace again....changing from freshwater fish to saltwater fish and back again.


The hatchery we visited has a lovely visitor's center to learn more about the cycle of life of the salmon.


Trout are filling the holding ponds of the hatchery at the moment. There are steelhead and rainbow trout to view. In a month or so the steelhead will start their journey up the fish ladder and we may take time to visit again.

We had an additional observation of the rainbow trout a few weeks ago at a local pond that they stock for the kids to fish in. They are such beautiful fish and very tasty too. (I'm surprised I didn't encourage us all to taste test the salmon and the trout...next time.)

So for our Outdoor Hour Challenge we were able to compare two different species of salmon as well as the salmon to the trout.

Our favorite is still the Kokanee salmon in its wild habitat and its unique cycle of life.


Here is a nature journal entry I made a few years ago featuring this colorful amazing fish.


Here is one from my son's portfolio...oil pastels.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom