Nature Journaling ~ Wood Thrush

I don't remember ever hearing a Wood Thrush before moving to our current wooded location. The bird is is plain in appearance, but its song--oh, you must hear it! Be sure to click on the link above, then click on "typical voice" and listen. It's so very unique and beautiful. I always stop what I'm doing when I hear it, and listen for a few moments.

There is a male wood thrush in our woods right now, singing all day long, though I've read they often sing only in the evening. He doesn't hide from us in the deeper woods, either, as some identification guides suggest. He perches about half-way up on our tall beech trees near the house and grazes on the ground like an American Robin. 

We decided to learn more about the Wood Thrush this morning while he was singing loudly in our back yard.

I read from several of our bird identification guides to the children as they drew, asked questions, and listened to our Wood Thrush.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm really enjoy a new bird identification resource (new to me--thanks Mom!), The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides). It's the orange book, second from the top, in the stack of bird books in the first photo above. I have lots of bird guides, but really like this one for its accessibility for children. We use it almost daily and always take it with us on bird watching nature walks.

This was a great 30 minutes of drawing, chatting, looking at our bird books, and listening to the Wood Thrush just above our heads. What wasn't visible in this post was all the thick, yellow pollen all over the table and chairs which had to cleaned before we could sit down and spread out our supplies; Katie scraped her ankle on the foot of one of the chairs somehow, and screamed; then the boys lost interest the moment they completed their drawings, and ran off to the play set where Ben rammed into Jacob in the tube slide, and Jacob yelled in pain so loudly that the Wood Thrush left and flew away to a different part of the woods. I was self-conscious about neighbors overhearing the yelling (as if they haven't heard it all before). Then, when Maggie was helping to carry supplies back into the house, she tripped on the concrete steps and hurt her leg. Just at that moment, everyone reminded me I had skipped Tuesday Tea yesterday, and expressed how very much they longed for chocolate cake, tea, and reading. It really is a good day. ~smile~.

Comments

[Wasted Textbooks]

Loved this post!! Not just the sharing, but the SHARING!! Sometimes I think my friends and readers get the very wrong impression of our home school, and now I know why!! I'm not SHARING enough!! :D

[Bookworm]

WOW! Your back table looks EXACTLY like mine! I mean the set and the fact that it's covered with nature journals, field guides and color pencils!

I'm adding you to my blog roll now!

Fabulous blog!

[Amy]

I'll have to listen for that in our own little woods, thanks for the link to the bird song.

I'm so glad you shared what the time was *really* like...I so often think I'm the only one to have every moment be a little nutty. :)

[Nori Coleman]

There is an awesome children's book called, Flute's Journey, about the life of a Wood Thrush. We read it last year. Maybe you and the kids would enjoy it.

[toni fangmann]

I have the Anne Comstock Nature Study book as well, and love it. We really need to do more nature study and journaling. We have a wood thrushon our porch who built her nest in my bag of potting soil she now has three eggs in it, its right outside our door and we can see in it from the side windows. its quite interesting indeed.

Love your blog btw , great ideas.

[ramona]

What a beautyful place for the project. This is soo lovely!