My brother is in town for a couple weeks and we took him on a fun hike today at the local nature center. We got to see lots of water birds… no babies yet… but nesting in action.
Sandhill Crane
Great Blue Herons
Mallard Ducks
Swan
Canadian Geese
And something that was really interesting… the local fire department was conducting a controlled burn on one of the trails. The kids wanted to check it out… how can a few birds compare with firemen? We watched them for a little bit from a safe distance.
We were finally able to participate in an Outdoor Hour Nature Study project this week… it has been awhile. This week’s focus was Cardinals, Finches and Robins… super easy assignment for us. Our feeders are filled with the first two species and the Robins have recently returned… much to the kids’ enjoyment. For awhile there with every Robin sighting in the yard, Bug would pull us away from our other activities to watch at the window.
The kids have been stalking the Robins in our yard. Watching them trying to catch one makes me laugh and remember how my grandpa had teased us as kids. He told us that if you sprinkled salt on a bird’s tail feather you could catch him. Of course now I know that the joke is if you can get close enough to shake salt on the bird you could catch it… not that there is some magical property in the salt that renders the bird flightless and therefore easier to catch… as my brothers and I thought as kids. Ha… to think of us chasing the birds with a shaker of salt. š
I also dug up some photos from last summer of a Robin’s nest that was housed in a crabapple tree along side my grandmother’s deck. We enjoyed watching the little guys getting bigger and eventually take off on their own. I hope we are able to find another nest in easy viewing distance again this year.
BTW-If you can get your hands on a copy of Round Robin I highly recommend it. It is hand’s down one of my kids’ favorite books.
This morning we have been watching the buzz of activity around one of the bird houses the kids built last spring. A few weeks ago, we cleaned them up, made some repairs and rehung them. A nest is already in progress in one house (we can watch the busy couple whenever we sit down at the kitchen table) and we’ve spotted several different birds checking out one of our other bird houses. It seems like it will soon be occupied as well. Spring is in full motion around here.
Bringing in Nesting Materials
The Happy Couple
Gathering the Grasses
We made some basic pine cone bird feeders this week. We took several of the pine cones we gathered and cleaned this fall, spread peanut butter on each of their scales and then rolled them in shelled sunflower seeds.
The older two kiddos each made a couple but as most of these types of projects go, Pixie was the one who insisted on finishing every pine cone I brought to the table. Hehe, I’m glad I didn’t bring in the entire bag full… but rather just a couple hand fulls.
We hung several on the tree outside the kitchen window not far from our other feeder and plan to take the rest to Gammy’s house. The birds don’t seem to have discovered them yet… but I’m sure they will enjoy them once they do.
Did you know that collecting feathers from off the ground was illegal? Iāll admit that I did have an inklingā¦ but had no idea of the extent of the law. After an wonderful impromptu nature hike with Daddy (we did a 2.5 mile wetland hike), we came home with two amazingly beautiful feathers. ‘A’ had actually IDed them on the trail as Red Tail Hawk feathers… and I believe he is right. Of course in the process of looking them up I came upon this statement as well…
“Possessing a plume from nearly any bird species in the United States is verboten
– even if you just happened to discover it lying on the ground, and even if it
was shed in the normal course of molting. Most birds, save a few nonnative ones
like starlings and house sparrows, are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act, which makes it illegal to kill them or possess any of their body parts.
The maximum penalty for possession of feathers, a misdemeanor, is six months in
prison and a $5,000 fine. If you sell items containing such feathers, you’re
asking for more trouble: You could be charged with a felony, spend two years in
jail, and face a fine of $250,000. If you continue to use feathers in your
crafts, stick to those from domestic fowl, such as chickens and turkeys, or from
game birds that you have legally hunted, such as ducks and pheasants. If you
need further clarification , call the nearest state or federal fish and wildlife
agency.”
The law actually includes any part of the bird, feathers, nests, eggs, etc. And in an attempt to figure out what one needs to do to actually get a permit I finally came across this file from my state’s government site.
(6) A permit shall be issued only to a qualified person who will use the specimens obtained for bona fide scientific
or educational purposes. An applicant for a permit must be affiliated with one of the following institutions:
(a) A public or private school, such as a college, university, high school, junior high school, middle school, or
elementary school. The school must be recognized as a legitimate educational institution by the Michigan
department of education. The primary listed applicant, or the advisor named on the application, must hold at least
a bachelorās degree in the biological sciences or an educational field.
(b) A public agency, such as a federal, state, city, or county unit of government associated with a wildlife or
scientific area of study or research.
(c) A non-profit educational organization, which has obtained an exemption from federal income tax under the
provisions of section 501 (c) (3) of the internal revenue code. The educational organization must be associated
with a wildlife or scientific area of study or research. The primary listed applicant, or the advisor named on the
application, must hold at least a bachelorās degree in the biological sciences or an educational field. The applicant
must provide written documentation to the department certifying that 501 (c) (3) status has been achieved.
(d) A scientific research organization, working in cooperation with a college or university, whose primary listed
applicant holds a post graduate degree in a science-related field.
(e) A scientific research organization licensed by the United States department of agriculture.
What do you think are the chances of a homeschooling family meeting these requirements? I’m thinking very slim. I did send an email to the DNR asking how I might go about applying for one. I will keep ya posted.
‘A’ did a nature journal page on them and they have now been returned to the wild (ie our backyard). I guess it is for the best since I was leery about how to safely clean and store them. I understand that they don’t want poaching of birds… but seriously, can’t a little kid bring home a feather? What about that bird’s nest you clean out of the bird house or your eaves? And those robin egg shells sitting on my nature table? Hmm… how are we supposed to raise kids who care about the environment if they aren’t allow to INTERACT WITH IT!
For more information on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 you might want to check out Wikipedia.
UPDATE: Response from the DNR
In the email response he asked me to email him directly so he could forward me the Research License form but he also said this…
Ā
In the Information Circular, please note on page 4, number 1, the criteria for qualifying for this permit as a school. While it may be subject to debate, the intent of the language here is to exclude home schools (i.e. a home school is not a school such as a college, university, high school, junior high school, middle school, or elementary school). If you otherwise qualify (i.e. you have a Bachelor’s Degree in the biological sciences or educational field), you may wish to apply as a home school and allow me and other in the Department to determine if you qualify.
We made Blue Bird houses with the kids a couple weekends ago. Othy precut all the wood for us and everyone got to ‘make’ their own. We finally got them up yesterday and after a nasty storm this morning, we watched a cute littleĀ bird (I didn’t getĀ a good enough look for a true ID but it looked like a Wren)Ā checking out each of them. The kids were very excited to see a bird using their houses. It was actually very funny to watch. TheĀ Wren flew in and out of each on, sat on top of each one, flew from the door to a nearby branch from each and in general was performing a full blow home inspection. We saw the Wren again about an hour later… but I’m not sure if it has set up a permanent residence yet.
Ā
HereĀ we are inĀ the process of building our bird houses.
The Girls Working on a House.
Ā
Othy Helping ‘L’.
Ā
The Boys Building.
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Updating with a bird house plan link and a couple fun game sites.
Blue Bird House Plans free from the Progressive Farmer
Right now our nature studies are focused around birds. ‘A’ is becoming quite good at IDing our local birds. He is working on coloring native species for his own bird book.
Here is the free online bird coloring book (about half way down the page).
