The Pines and the Playground

When my kids were younger we used to go to nature classes at a park about a half hour away. When the weather was nice, the homeschooling families would stay after, and our children would play under the trees and brambles surrounding the nature center. There was an old playground at the other end of the park, about a ten to fifteen minute walk, but it never seemed necessary to trek over there. The children had plenty to play with. Our side of the park had a copse of tall pines that made the best hangout. Some of the kids had actually climbed fifteen feet up in those pines. The ladder-like branches made it easy for them. Sometimes they found owl pellets among the bed of pine needles at the base of the trees. They carried home pine cones in their pockets and pine tar on their pants. A hill beside the trees made the perfect sledding hill in winter, and if that didn't hold your interest you could walk over to the river and see what treasure high tide left upon the shore.

At some point, the county decided to add a playground to our side of the park. It was newer and shinier than the other playground, with lots of climbing apparatus, slides, and a plastic wall with pretend fossils hidden underneath. The county planted native trees and shrubs around it to help it blend in. The first thing our children noticed was that the playground was right at the bottom of the sledding hill. Luckily, it was spring, so they recovered pretty quickly from that disappointment. It was shiny and new, after all. Eventually, however, all but the littlest of our group were back in the trees. That would always be where they played the most.

Playgrounds are fine for a short time, but they are limited in how children can use them, just like any themed or educational toy. The natural world offers much greater opportunities for exploration and adventure.

Learning the Ropes

On Thursday, our homeschooling nature class took a trip to a different park to use the ropes challenge course. The ropes course is set up as a team building exercise, with low and high elements. Unfortunately, the high elements were unavailable for our group, but there was plenty to do. They had fun on the "whale watch," which is like a giant balance board.

They had to separate onto either side and try to bring the platform level. The "nitro rope" was a rope hanging in the center of four platforms. The kids had to figure out how to get the rope and then each person needs to swing from one platform to the opposite platform. The trick is to not lose the rope so that you can pass it back to the group.

There were several other challenges, all designed to improve communication skills among participants.

The park itself was beautiful, and we had a crisp, not-quite-autumn day to enjoy the great outdoors. Sierra found a tiny frog, and someone else found a little snake.

I will have to plan another visit to this park to check out the trails. We are lucky to live in an area with so many beautiful parks.

Chocolate Dragonflies and Cookie Lily Pads

Sierra wanted a dragonfly cake for her birthday. We planned to celebrate at the nature center. I've always tried to take advantage of having a group of homeschoolers to help sing in my children's new year. I figured I would go with the dragonfly theme and suggested lily pads for the critters to rest on. Sierra also enjoyed the class on mushroom identification, so maybe I should put a little "dirt" on the cake with mushrooms popping up.

It took me three days to put this all together. I needed to have extra cupcakes, since we never know how big a group will come to the class. I needed to bake cookies for dirt, mushroom caps and lily pads. I wanted to make lily flowers as well, but my cookies did not cooperate. No problem. It is still early in the year for water lilies. I needed to make dragonflies as well. I decided to dip pretzel sticks in chocolate for bodies and the wings were simply chocolate. Simple is always good. Considering how much I was running around while trying to make and assemble the cake, I was satisfied with the results.

 You can't see it from this angle, but the mushroom caps are set on mini cupcakes. Below are the extra cupcakes, each with its own dragonfly. Next time I might opt for just cupcakes if I have a large group. It's simply too time consuming to cut pieces for everyone.

 After the cake, we hiked up to the quarry with a couple of Sierra's friends. I thought it was a nice way to finish the day.
 

Spot the Salamander

 March has brought unusually warm weather to our area. Because of this, several events have happened earlier than usual. My crocus and daffodils are popping up all over the yard, the pussy-willow catkins are already starting to flower, I saw my first robin, and the spotted salamanders began their annual migration.
 
According to our local park ranger, Taro, every year, the salamanders leave the woods and make their way to the vernal pools where they were born. I had a chance to see these pools teeming with life on a warm night. Of course, when we came back for our homeschooling class, the temperature had dropped about twenty degrees. This made it much harder to find the salamanders.


Sometimes you have to lift up logs and stick your hands in stinky muck so that your child can marvel at the wonders of the natural world. 


I happen to think it's worth it.

And then I had the chance to marvel at my child. I suggested she go wash her hands so that she could take a picture of the salamanders we found. When she came back, she brought a wet towel for my own hands. I didn't even have to ask her to do it.

Finding Our Way in the Dark

On Friday I took Sierra for an overnight class at the nature center. "Overnight" as in "sleeping in a tent." She had been asking to sleep outside for at least half of the summer. I was hesitant because, well, I have never slept outside in a tent. It was unknown territory for me. When you know your backyard is home to raccoons and skunks, you tend to be hesitant about the whole sleep outdoors thing. Add to that all the what ifs, like what if it rains, what if she suddenly starts sleep walking, what if a stranger enters my yard and kidnaps her. You know, basic mom worries.

So when an opportunity arose to camp with our homeschooling group at Cranberry Lake, I decided to take her. And aside from the chilly overnight temperature of 45 degrees, it was fun. My first time outside, sleeping in a tent, cooking over a campfire, and night hiking with the park ranger.

For those of you who have never done it, night hiking is an adventure in itself. The point of it is to hike in the dark without the aid of flashlights so that you can truly experience the surroundings at night. We followed our park ranger in single file as he passed back vital information: "Rock." "Root here!" "Big log, step over." You get the idea. And I still stumbled over rocks and roots and there was one really squishy muddy section, but we all managed to find our way as our eyes learned to see in a different way.

In the dark, everything takes on shades of grey. You rely on your feet more, feeling for changes in the terrain. At two points, we were given the opportunity to experience a solo night hike. One was a simple straightaway, but the second was trickier, with curves in the trail. Twice during that second hike, I found myself wandering off the path, but I immediately realized it because the ground changed to a softer texture, or there were more leaves and brambles. I won't deny it was scary, but you really felt like you had accomplished something when you reached the bridge over the lake without relying on your flashlight.

Which, of course, makes me think of the decision to homeschool, or deciding to switch homeschooling styles. It's a lot like walking in the dark. The familiar becomes unknown territory, possibly even frightening. There are times when we shuffle along, afraid we might fall on our faces and look like failures. We might even feel the need to turn on a light, and that is perfectly OK, because we know we don't have to depend on it. We can shut it off again and readjust our eyes to the darkness at any time. Light is now an option, not a crutch.

And the shadows hold their own treasures, because sometimes they reveal their own special light. Light we would never have seen otherwise. Like the tiny mushrooms we found that twinkled in the dark. We also experimented and found that if you pull apart a bandage wrapper in the dark, it sparks! We end up seeing things in a completely new way.

At the end of the hike, when the nature center came in view, it seemed so much brighter after the grey gloom of our hike. I felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment and a desire to try this again sometime. It's a great feeling.

Of course, if it's cold outside, I'll be sleeping in my own bed, thank you.

Making Fire!

Our last class of the school year at the nature preserve included making fire. We were shown several techniques. Flint and steel seemed to work best for the kids. Here is a collage of our day...

Rock Climbing at the Quarry

On Thursday we went to the Old Quarry for a homeschooling class on rock-climbing. It was a lot of fun, even though it meant I had to do two hikes. Marina works on Thursday, but I wanted her to have a chance to try climbing before I took her, so after she climbed, we hiked--and ran--the mile back to the car. I got her to work with 3 minutes to spare. Then I went back to the nature preserve, but I didn't really want to wait for the group at the nature center, so I hiked back up to the quarry. The park ranger said it was a mile, but since it is up a steep incline it feels more like a mile and a half. I also didn't return the same way I came. So I will say I hiked and ran between 4 to 6 miles on Thursday. I should wear a pedometer and check the distance.

The climbing was fun. While one group climbed, another looked for snakes. At least 3 black racers were spotted. I saw one of them. Those snakes can move! It sped across the leaf litter faster than I could gather the kids to see it. The park ranger also found a red slider turtle. Two turkey vultures circled ominously overhead while the kids climbed. During my hike back to the quarry, I had a red-tailed hawk fly in front of me as squirrels chittered nearby. It was an excellent day!

Here are the kids climbing:




Looks steep, doesn't it? It's not as bad as it looks. There are lots of wide ledges. Marina and Chase reached the top very quickly. Sierra spent a lot of time free-climbing all over the rocks after her turn in the safety harness. That scared me a little, but she was safe.


Sierra didn't make it to the top when she was climbing with the harness. The shorter the child, the harder it was to find foot and handholds. Sierra later told me that when she was standing on the ledge pointing out footholds for another child, she learned how to do it. She could better see what she had to do when she stepped back and looked at it. She may have some teaching blood in her.

Going on an Eagle Hunt...

When ice drifts down the Hudson River, it is time to head to the nature center to look for bald eagles. I tend to always have the same luck at these events. Either I have the camera and there are no eagles, or I forget the camera and we see many. The stars must have aligned last Thursday, because we finally had everything--camera, eagles, and fair weather!

Of course, the mature eagles still decided to take me down a peg and stayed far enough away that this was the best my camera could manage...

At least it's visible! Considering I couldn't see it in the viewfinder, I'm amazed it came out this well.

The swans were more cooperative. My son took this wonderful shot of a swan on the river:



Then I took some shots of the kids to prove they were there...

Afterward, we went back to the nature center to warm up a bit. (Could you tell we were cold?) I took some shots of the feeder birds.

Another birdwatcher came in to tell us he had sighted a juvenile eagle. Marina and I dropped everything and rushed over (Chase and Sierra were in play mode by now, no sense in dragging them away from their friends.) We were rewarded with a wonderful view of this immature bald eagle, possibly a first year. We thought it was very griffin like.

Park Clean-Up: Our Way and the Hawk's Way

Thursday we went to Nature Class. It was a beautiful day. We went to look at the old wine cellars in the park and then we walked over to the south beach to do a little pre-Earth Day clean up.

Here you can see Chase helping pile some of the trash they picked up along the Hudson shore.



It was nice to have my husband on vacation. He doesn't usually get to join us on these homeschooling outings. And he made the find of the day--a small glass flask from the 1800's with the stopper still on it! We gave it to the park ranger so the resident archeologists could look at it.

The children found some really nice river glass. I started feeling jealous because all I found was, well, trash. I was also taking a lot of photos.



Here is Sierra. Take a close look at her jacket pockets. They are drooping down from the weight of all the rocks and river glass she collected.



When we returned to the Nature Center after clean up on the beach, we were treated to a close up view of this red tailed hawk.



Isn't it* beautiful? Yes, that's a bird feeder it's sitting on. But songbirds weren't on the menu for this guy. When we took our pictures off the camera, we realized it had caught a rat! If you want to see the two shots of the hawk chowing down on the rat, look here and here. They are a bit graphic, so I didn't want to post them on the blog. Consider yourself warned. We were amazed at how close it let us get after it caught its prey and moved to a tree. We stayed until it flew down the hill to do some more hunting. Some of our homeschooling friends let us know that it had caught two more rodents. I guess it was hungry!

What a great way to end our day at the park!

*I'm using "it" because I really couldn't tell if it was male or female. If anyone can tell from these shots, let me know!

All Things Avian

We've done a lot with birds this past week. On Tuesday, we had some snowfall and I found these tracks:



I love how the sparrow tracks seem to make a U turn away from the cat prints.

On Thursday, we studied birds at the Nature Center. Class started with examining some of the stuffed birds the center has for display. Scott, our park ranger, showed how to look at different parts of the birds to help identify them. Next we were going to look at birds at the center's feeders. It was freezing outside, but luckily there is a nice big window to watch the feeders in comfort. I managed to get some great photos of the regulars. Here are a few of my favorites. You can see all of the photos on my Flickr page.

Junco:


Mourning Dove:


White Throated Sparrow:


They look cold, don't they? I'm glad I was inside. At one point Chase thought he saw an eagle, but the rest of us missed it. Eagles are pretty fast. I've never been able to get a photo of one in flight.

We also looked at some feathers under microscopes. This is the first time we ever tried to take pictures through a microscope. All three of us had some success. Again, you can see the full size pictures on Flickr. The first photo is some hawk feathers. I took that one. Chase took the second shot. I think those are blue jay feathers. I tried to show an enlargement of the details. Marina took the third photo of some blue jay down.



Watching birds is very therapeutic for me in the winter. Their bright feathers and birdsong remind me of spring and summer. You need that boost when snow has covered the ground all month.

Birds of Prey Sightings

We were at the nature center twice this past week. We helped clean up one day and went to our regular homeschooling class the other day. We love the nature center because we are always able to see some neat bird or critter. This week we saw some early butterflies, a mourning cloak and sulpher butterfly fluttered near as we loaded branches onto a truck on Wednesday. Over the field, a kestrel hovered as it searched for crickets. It's very cute to see. They look like they are pretending to be giant hummingbirds. This was the best picture I could get of it when we returned the following day with a camera.



I had much better luck with a long-eared owl that was sitting in a clump of pines.



Here is a close-up of this owl. Isn't he gorgeous?

SUCCESS!!!!

The eagles and our camera were finally in the same place at the same time! This incredibly patient pair waited for Chase to walk up for a closer view. They both cooperated by turning their heads toward the camera, unlike last week when the only stationary eagle was facing away and refused to lift its head. The eagle on the right eventually flew, but not before Chase snapped four pictures. He's been trained well. Never assume the first picture came out, just keep photographing while you have the chance.

Birdwatching Photo-Op

Today was a cold day at the Nature Center. Perfect for eagle spotting along the Hudson. And one of these days we will actually get a good shot at one. Our usual reaction goes like this: "Gaahhh! Bald Eagle!" We fumble with the camera, try to find the bird in the viewfinder, realize we have the camera on the wrong setting, readjust the camera, zoom in...and the eagle flies. Fast. Seeing an eagle soar is an incredible sight. It makes you realize why this bird was chosen as our national symbol. Photographs do not do justice to its size and majesty. But I would still like a picture.

In the meantime, I will have to satisfy myself with the more patient birds. Here are some photos we took of other feathered visitors to the Nature Center. Have I mentioned that I love my camera?

The Blue Mountain Hike

We walked...

And we walked. And we walked...



Then we climbed...

To the top!