Thursday, April 3, 2014

Nature Study

So, it's been a rough few weeks.  Monday morning I felt like I just could not do "school".   That's when I knew we needed to head for the hills.   The kids wanted to go through Cades Cove so that's what we did.  I'm so glad!  It was a great day and we all learned so much!  It was so warm so the kids had fun splashing in the creeks.   The kids each found some things of interest to them and then we looked them up in Anna Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study.  Then the kids did some nature journaling.   The rangers were out with lots of fun stuff for the kids, such as pelts and  old-fashion toys.   As we sat on our blanket trying to read, a little sparrow (I think) sat on a branch singing.   Every time she started to sing she threw her head back and closed her eyes.  It was so adorable.   We all needed the refreshing time together and to be in nature, reminded of God's glory and love.  













The bird that kept singing for us.   I just thinks it's face is adorable!















One of the highlights of our trip was seeing this pileated woodpecker!   It's one that we have never seen before.   We saw the male and female.   




2 comments:

sarah in the woods said...

What a beautiful day! Your happy little bird looks like a field sparrow, probably a male singing to find a mate. Jeremiah really likes your bee picture. We're looking forward to getting our bees soon too.

TheBowlingFamily said...

Yes...we looked up what kind of sparrow it was but I forget now! There were two singing back and forth for quite awhile. Are you getting bees this spring?