Bird-a-thon is a tradition at Audubon Vermont, where staff, board members, and friends walk and bike the property and neighboring towns to see or hear as many birds as possible in 24 hours. We counted a record breaking 87 species this year on May 21. And while it is good fun to spend the day searching for birds and being able to add them to the list, it is one of our biggest FUNdraisers (emphasis on fun) of the year. Donors choose to sponsor a staffer, donate a dollar per bird, or just get caught up in the excitement and make a lump sum donation. Either way, all donations support programs here in Vermont. So, coming to Forest Preschool the next day, Fisher and I were still wrapped up in the excitement of Bird-a-thon. We thought that it would be so much fun to have a Forest Preschool Birdathon. At story time we would read Bird's Build Nests by Yvonne Winer. Then we would look at real nests and build our own in forest camp. Finally, we would wrap up our day with a mini Birdathon by hiking the sensory trail and count as many birds as we could find. It was going to be great. But, if there is one thing that preschoolers are really good at, its reminding you to stay in the present. So we did this for a good while: Once we had gotten some energy out, we headed to forest camp to start building those bird nests. Then with Chickadee, some of us started building a giant nest in which everyone could fit. After nest building, and some good ole FPK fun, we hit the trail with our binoculars in hand to see what we could see. Now Fisher swears she saw an Indigo Bunting, but otherwise, our bird-a-thon list was looking pretty slim. No matter, we had fun walking and took some time to build and explore along the way. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8346","attributes":{"class":"media-image size-medium wp-image-82 aligncenter","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"168","height":"300","alt":"20150522_112832"}}]] Another great day at Forest Preschool. Days like today are good reminders for us adults to not try and over-plan every minute because you don't know what you might miss. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8351","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter wp-image-83 size-medium","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"168","height":"300","alt":"20150522_112936"}}]] Keep Calm and Forest Preschool On.