This week we explored what's it like to have feathers and a beak! In this classic Audubon Camp we built nests, guarded our eggs, and learned to fly. We shared secret bird calls and found hidden perches during this week of avian adventure.
Monday we got to learn some of the bird basics. We learned how to use binoculars and hiked to Forest Camp looking for birds in the forest. We found some bird cutouts as well as some real birds like robins and crows. In the afternoon to cool off we pretended to be water birds and play some water games like a sponge relay race.
Tuesday morning we journeyed to Forest Camp and learned bird songs and calls. We listened and then repeated when we heard turning into birds ourselves. We became Ovenbirds signing their yummy pizza, pizza, pizza call, and transformed into Chickadees calling our their name Chickadee, dee, dee. We then hiked up to Mossy rocks and built some homes for our birds. In the afternoon we transformed even more through making bird masks decorating them with feathers and markers.
Wednesday we focused on where birds live through enjoying a puppet show teaching us about birds and the different style nests they make. We then headed to Forest camp to learn about bird nests and make nests of our own. In the afternoon we made a tasty nest treat before going back to Forest Camp to start building a giant bird nest.
Thursday we got to learn about bird food and in the morning went searching for some “critters” in the garden, like some snakes, millipedes, ants, dragonflies, etc. We then started our day right away with a hike down to the clubhouse area where we had snack and got to see Bird Banding with Mark LaBarr. We got to see a Red-eyed vireo right up close! After snack we hiked to Beaver Pond where we tried to catch some “bird Food”. We talked about what at the pond birds may like to eat and shared that a Heron may find a bullfrog tasty or a tree swallow may enjoy the bugs flying around. We caught some frogs, leeches, and other cool critters. We even caught a young Snapping turtle too! In the afternoon we had three stations, we made seed bombs with thistle seed that you can throw into your garden and plant some plants for birds and insects. We also had a station where we learned about different bird beaks and how those beaks are designed for certain food. The last station was where we made a gelatin suet for the birds to have in the winter.
Friday morning we took flight and made some bird kites. We then hiked to Peeper Pond and had out snack in the shade. We then split up and created our own scavenger hunts, looking for signs of birds, listening for birds, and acting like birds. In the afternoon we painted our own birdhouses that can be put up in the winter and put the final touches on our giant nest where we enjoyed closing circle with our adults.
What a bird-tastic week!
