Hiking and Hummingbirds

On Friday we went for a hike at Ijam's with my sister and her kids and one other cousin.   It  was the perfect hike for the little kids.  The kids loved playing in the play area and checking out the spiders in the greenhouse, along with all of the other critters in the pond.    

On Saturday we headed back to Ijams for the Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival.  We got there first thing and stayed until it was almost done.   We had a lot of fun.  The favorite for all of us was the butterfly walk.   The kids caught lots of butterflies and learned tons!   It was so hot so we were wiped out by the time we left.

I couldn't get a good picture, but we spotted this Barred Owl along the trail. 

Bird Banding at Seven Islands

We have never attended a bird banding with the KTOS (Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society).   We were able to attend one this week and it was great!   We saw a few birds we had never seen before and everyone was so great with our kids.   I'm so thankful for all of the opportunities they have to learn more about what they are interested in and to get hands on experience with it.   The kids were so excited that they jumped out of bed when I woke them up at 5 a.m.   I didn't know if they'd really get up that early.

We got there at dusk and had a pretty good walk back to the house where they set up.   We did net runs with them and then watched the banding.   The kids got to release several birds.   After the banding we ate a picnic lunch and the kids ran around for awhile.  It was a great day!

Ethan, of course, came prepared to collect insects.

It rained just a little  and Luke was catching rain drops coming off the porch.  

"Look Mom, I have anntenas"