Cape Cod Bird Nerd

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

8.4.15 - Cape Cod Museum Of Natural History - KidSummer - Birding 101
Brewster, MA

The weather changed our plans, but for the better. I was planning on painting nest boxes tomorrow, but thunder and lightening kept us indoors for the first hour - so adapt, we did! The artistic process of children is so interesting to watch. They may have an idea of what they're going to paint, they may not, but once they get going, there's no stopping them! When I host nest box painting, I always put on music (Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake) for inspiration. I also discuss the materials we use. I never pour too much paint and when someone asks for more of one color, I always ask around to see if that color is OK to share with a neighbor. That always works out. We use recycled plastic egg crates, made from recycled plastic bottles. The eggs are cage free eggs as well. Chickens deserve plenty of respect considering what they provide for us, and cage free is the way to go. I also put paint cleaning water in recycled yogurt cups. If you're able to find a new and/or reusable use for something rather than throwing it away or recycling it, well that's benefiting the world in a lot of ways. I aim to plant that seed of reusing & recycling in the young minds I get to share my mornings with. I am hopeful and confident that they will do great things!

After their painting was finished & we cleaned up, we still had time for a brief bird walk - always the goal in Birding 101! I gave them their new set of binoculars. It is a treat to see their faces light up when they realize that the binoculars are theirs to keep. The bird walk then became a brand new experience! There were LOTS of smiles! Looking forward to tomorrow! (double click photos to enlarge)

Our List:
Osprey
Barn Swallow
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Mourning Dove
Red-winged Blackbird
European Starling
American Crow
Gray Catbird