Early Spring Snow Day

We woke to snow this morning....the first real snow we have had this winter. What a delight to get out and feel the quiet moments before the world really comes alive on a snowy morning. The snow was falling so softly....like being in a snow globe.


The snow didn't last long with afternoon showers washing it away but for the first few moments of the morning it is picture perfect.


Look at these little beauties! What a great way to showcase the purple of the grape hyacinths. The snow didn't completely cover the blooms and their peeking little faces promise us that it really is spring...even with the snow.


The daffodils are waiting to burst out in bloom after the snow melts and the sun returns. I am very ready for it to be daffodil time and then the slide right into summer. Yes, I am a summer girl and I am anxious for the long hot garden days of summer.

For now, I will be content to have a snow day...steaming cup of coffee in my hand and fresh baked cookies on my plate.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's special First Day of Spring post...and a fun printable for your family.

Winter Snowshoe Hike - Jays, Tracks, and Weeds

Tahoe National Forest - California

When I posted on Facebook yesterday that we were going to head out to snowshoe, the weather forecast said something like "partly cloudy, high of 52 degrees, and 10% chance of precipitation". Sounded good to me. Well no one told us that between our house and our hiking spot that there was going to be dense fog, drizzle, and the temperatures were falling into the 30's.

I knew Mr. B was anxious to test out his new snowshoes so I didn't want to disappoint him and we kept going up over the mountain. Once over the mountain it cleared up and we had lots of clouds but no rain.


Needless to say, we kept our eyes on the sky, checking for signs we were going to get rained or snowed. We had the snow to ourselves, not counting the many animal tracks that were visible. So many tracks going so many directions...there must be a whole forest full of animals out there.
 

Isn't this a surprising sight of brilliant blue on this winter day? Steller's jays are common and this one was posing for my camera. I love the blue feathers on the nose. My field guide says that these jays are "inquisitive, intelligent, and noisy". Yep, that totally describes this bird.


We couldn't resist seeing if we could lure the jay closer and Mr. B had a pocket full of pretzels. One little bit of pretzel and that Steller's jay came swooping down for a tasty treat, making his shook-shook-shook sound as he flew. Here he is flying away back to his perch.


We had to go the long way around since the beavers have now completely dammed up the water in the creek and the resulting pond has spread over the normal trail. This is where we saw the salmon spawning last fall and the mama bear with cubs. No signs of them now, although it smells rather fishy around this bend in the creek from all the dead fish remains.



We hiked along the creek a little way and we noticed that there are places where the creek mud is piled up onto the banks. We could see lots of little animal tracks around the mud but I'm still not sure what kind of animal did this and what they were doing. Winter hikes can lead to lots of questions. You can see the muddy sludge...it is the black stuff there along the edge.


I never get tired of looking at the landscape here at Taylor Creek. The patterns of the tree trunks against the Sierra sky in the winter is amazing and beautiful. Some people get to look out their living room windows and view a similar scene and I wonder if they stop seeing the awesomeness of it. I come here a dozen times a year and I never tire of this place.


When you are on snowshoes, you can follow tracks as much as you want but I am always a little afraid of getting out into the forest too far....I have a terrible sense of direction. This area is easy to navigate because I can hear the highway in the distance and I generally know which direction I need to head to get back to the trailhead. Here is an example of a nice clear print in the snow.


We did a little preliminary winter weed study while we were out traipsing around the woods. There were plenty of subjects even with snow on the ground. I just liked the way this one looked. I think it is a corn lily. Next week we plan on doing a whole winter weed study so we will revisit these images then.

So our first real snowshoe of the year is over and we didn't get rained or snowed on. We were bundled up warmly so it was really a delight to be outdoors exploring just the two of us. Mr. B decided his snowshoes were perfect and now we will be able to explore the woods in winter as part of our Outdoor Hour Challenges.

You can read more about hiking in winter on my Squidoo page for tips on how to make it fun:
Winter Nature Walks

Nature Loving in February-It's For the Birds

"To the nature-lover February is the winter month of special charm. The forests on the snowy hills take on many lovely tints varying from dull to dark blue and from lilac purple to amethyst. The snow is toned with purple shadows and the skies in the morning are dull blue at the horizon and rosy and misty above until the blue of the upper skies is reached. Let us enjoy every day of February whatever the weather and then will our spirit be strong for blustering March."
Anna Botsford Comstock, The Nature Study Review.

Yes, we really do get snow here in our part of California.....not much and it doesn't stick around too long but this was the second of our snowstorms of the season and we are expecting a much bigger storm over the upcoming weekend (predicting 4-8 inches). We will get to enjoy some winter nature study and winter walks in our own neighborhood. 

For now our focus outdoors is observing birds as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count but now that the counting time has passed we will continue to enjoy our feathered friends.

I already shared our first list of birds spotted on Friday and pretty much our list didn't change for Sunday and Monday except to add Lesser goldfinches and Canada geese. I love sharing my snow day with the birds.

I think part of the charm of participating in the GBBC is that we get to see what other homeschooling families observe along with their list of common birds. Apparently this is something that has held its charm for over a century. I read this excerpt in the Nature Study Review....copyright 1917. It was titled, "A List of Birds That Easterners Would Like To See".

"The editor is recipient of the following record from Miss Barbara Marx, eleven years old, and a member of this bird class."

"I am enclosing the list of birds we have observed. We means the fifth and sixth grades of the Catilleja School of Palo Alto, California. The other morning Miss Hayes, our teacher, divided us up into groups so that we wouldn't frighten the birds away, and it was then we the owl, cedar waxwing and woodpecker. The only peculiarity we have found worthy of note is that the towhee scratches with both feet at once.

White Crowned Sparrow, Gold Crowned Sparrow, Oregon Robin, California Robin, California Towhee, Willow Goldfinch, Bush-tit, California Jay, Crested Jay, Anna Hummingbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Bluebird, Woodpecker, Barn Owl, Cedar Waxwing"

It warmed my heart when I read that little letter. I realized that watching birds was an activity that children enjoyed a century ago and today we still enjoy taking a few minutes to observe the many birds we have in our own neighborhoods. Let's hope that in another hundred years children are still taking time to learn about the birds in their world....whatever that world may look like. 

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

2011 Winter Series Outdoor Hour Challenge #2 Winter Tree Study and Winter Wednesday #2 Snow

Get Outside And Experience Your Winter World

Here are the links to this week's challenges:

Winter Series #2 Winter Tree Study 
Winter Wednesday #2 World of Snow 

Even if you don't have snow...take a Winter Nature Walk. Click HERE for nature walk ideas to print out for your family. Please feel free to complete one or both of the challenges as you have the opportunity. We would all enjoy seeing your entries and even if it is at a later date, please come back to this entry and add your link. I am listing all the entries in this series on the sidebar of my blog for you to add to as you have time. You are never "late" and you can add links whenever you have the chance.

Don't forget to check in with the additional webpages for these sets of challenges:

Winter Wednesday

Winter Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges 

Winter Nature Walks 

Whose Woods These Are.... Winter Nature Study #1

"Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow."

Robert Frost

Few lines from Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, 1923.

Our Winter Wednesday color walk and cattail observations were combined into one snowy hike....snowshoes firmly attached. It started off with 18 degree weather but by the time we finished it was around 40 degrees, sun shining brightly. There was lots of snow in our favorite woods.....it brought to mind the Robert Frost poem that we have been reading in our poetry study the past few weeks.

We started off with not much aim other than looking for colors and finding the cattail pond. I decided that it is nice to have something in mind as we head out in the really cold air....otherwise you keep your eyes down and forget to look up and out.

The color palette of this snowy world is actually quite beautiful. The blue sky, the evergreen pines, the red-yellow-orange of the shrubs, the colorful lichens, and the blue of the lake really stand out against all the snow.


Our cattails this year are quite secluded and we aren't even sure if we will be able to get out here since we think this is marshy in the spring and summer. It will be interesting to see how the terrain changes by the season.


Look at the mountain covered with snow! The colors really pop when you have all this whiteness going on...blue sky, reddish-oranges of the willow and dogwood, green evergreens.


It seems unlikely that we would get lost but we did wander around following someone else's path. It is a really good idea to have in mind a route when you are out in the woods like this. We knew our general direction but you get tired trudging through large amounts of snow even with snowshoes on. (I also got hot...too many layers.) Our problem was that there are two large creeks that run through the snowy meadows and if you don't plan it right you are stuck on one side with the water running between you and the rest of the path. I could see where animals had just jumped across the gap but with snowshoes on, you don't jump very well. We had to find a way to go around.


Another factor is that with all this snow, our familiar landmarks are erased. The bushes are flat with snow and there is far more water than we are used to.All those lumps are bushes weighed down with a couple feet of snow. You can't really hike over the top. Going around again.


In the end, we made it back to the car by following the creek and finding the bridge. It was a wonderful romp through the woods, successful in refreshing our hearts with some wonderful awesome vistas that you would never see if you didn't break out the snowshoes or cross-country skis.

I am going to add this to the first week's Winter Series Mr. Linky and I encourage you to do your own color walk and find a patch of cattails to study.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Snow Tow

The beginning of the little girl's sled ride. I spotted them and hour later and she was throwing snow balls from the sled. I guess had adjusted to the cold by then.

Dr Doolittle

....and they will walk and talk with you.

Warmer Coat

I must get myself a warmer coat.

Chilly Morning

London is snowed in today. We really don't cope well with lots of snow. Airports closed, trains cancelled, schools closed. An early morning stroll along Regent's Canal, all I could see was how pretty it looked.

First Snow

London's first dusting of snow fell this morning.

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

Of Mice and Snow

Last night my boys were going down after dark to put our cats in their basement room for the night. They have to walk right past our bird feeder along the way and this night they saw some kind of creature inside the feeder eating.

They ran back up and had me go outside to see and by the time I got out there the creature was climbing up the supporting rope and up into the tree. I got just a glimpse and I actually saw two critters climbing up. The boys were sure it was something like a possum or rat but I didn't think so from what I had seen.

We pulled out our mammal field guide and started paging through. What was the tail like? How was the head shaped? How big was it? What color was it? We went through all the pages and decided it had to be some kind of rodent.

I crept back to the door with the flashlight and quietly tiptoed out to the deck rail. I flipped on the switch and there in the feeder were the biggest mice I have ever seen. They looked straight at me a few seconds and then made a leap from the feeder to the tree, out onto a branch, and then hopped over to another tree and out of sight.

As long as they stay outdoors I can live with a few mice in my feeders.


This morning we woke up to snow on the ground and more coming down as daylight broke. I was so glad that I had gone out yesterday and cut a lot of my tulips and daffodils to bring inside. The ones left outdoors look so sad.


Our dog thinks this is perfect weather to be outdoors. It brings out the Labrador in her.

We are off to enjoy our very snowy day....I think hot cocoa is in order since this will more than likely be the last of our snow for the season.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Winter Series #4 Seasonal Weather

Weather Statistics for February 4, 2010

Sunrise: 7:06 AM
Sunset: 5:28 PM
10 hrs and 22 min of daylight-tomorrow will be 2 minutes and 8 seconds longer
High temperature: 50.8 degrees F
Low temperature: 38 degrees F
Winds: 7 mph S
Rain is predicted to start anytime this evening and rain through Saturday.
No snow...snow level is going to be at around 4500 feet in elevation and we live at around 2300 feet.

Here is a photo from our walk today. The weather was actually pretty overcast and a little chilly. The grasses are turning green though and that is encouraging.


Here are a couple of weather related photos from the last few weeks.

We took this photo a few weeks ago as part of our weather nature study. My son was trying to gauge how much rain we were having and then it started to drop in temperature and to snow. His water in the gauge froze. He noticed there was a thick layer on top and a slushy layer underneath. We had a lot of rain.


I thought this was a funny photo. There was a big frozen ice cube on top of my leftover broccoli in my container on the deck.

This week though we have had signs of early spring popping up in our backyard.



Violets....mmmmmm. They smell so delicious.


Daffodils in big bunches all around the yard. I can hardly wait!

We are hoping for some good rain and then perhaps some snow next week so the boys can go snowboarding. I will pack up my snowshoes as well in hopes that I can take a romp in the snow.

A Couple of Weeks Ago

My camera and I haven't been out much lately while I recover from my cold. Looking back at some of the very cold days we went out (and probably caught the jolly cold) here is another image from St James Park. If you look closely you will see all the birds sitting on the lake.

Gulls at the Park

It always seems strange to see gulls in London. Even stranger when it is snowing. I associate them with a sunny day at the beach.

A Stroll in the Park

I just can't resist an umbrella. This one was taking a stroll in St James Park.