Spring Nature Hike

 

It was a beautiful day, so we went to the lake in town for a nature hike.  On the way we saw American Goldfinches, American Robins, Eurasian Collared-Doves and Common Grackles. 

At the lake we saw a cute little Bufflehead swimming and we saw it fly to the other side.  Then we noticed two Canada Geese swimming together.  Then Mrs. Preheim said that there should be Song Sparrows in the cattails, so she played the song and one popped out right in front of us, so everyone got a life bird, which means its the first time they've seen it in their life.  Then we saw the Bufflehead again, but this time he had a buddy and that was a Ring-necked Duck. Levi pointed out some Ring-necked Pheasants flying low.  We also heard Killdeer, a Northern Flicker and Blue Jays.

Next we hiked through the "Spooky Forest", but it didn't seem spooky this time.  There were not any leaves yet, but we could see the leaf buds.  We also saw plants sprouting up from the ground.  Then we saw a huge log, so the big, tough kindergartners lifted it up and then Sean and Daylin fell down and scared the teacher to death, but they were fine!

We couldn't leave the lake without going on the bridge, so they ran over and that is where they saw the turtles sunning.on the shoreline.  We even saw on itty, bitty turtle.

Except for complaining about what order they were standing or walking in, we had a really great time!  Today they learned the rules of sneaking up on animals:  1} move slowly 2} be quiet and talk softly.  We had a lot of fun looking for signs of spring!

We saw this American Goldfinch on someone's bird feeder.

The American Robins were nearly everywhere.

Here they are sneaking up the hill to quietly look for ducks.

The first one we saw was this cute Bufflehead {female}.

This Ring-necked Duck was hanging out with the Ruddy Duck.

These young ones have good eyes.

We heard this Song Sparrow singing.

We decided that these little prints were from a raccoon.  
Was Rascal out here last night?

I did ask them to share the binoculars. 

These perma focus binoculars are great for kids, so 
that they don't have to mess with trying to focus them.

The kids loved seeing the Canada Geese.

Here is another way to share the binoculars, but it 
doesn't work as well.

The Painted Turtles are a very popular animal at this lake.

The kids are watching the turtles' heads pop out of the water.

These good kindergartners even volunteered to 
pick up trash when they saw it without me asking them to.

They were showing me how strong they were.

Wow!  They are strong!

The kids love the bridge!

One more look at the ducks and geese before 
we head back. It was a beautiful day for a nature hike!