Yesterday, we had "the best day ever," according to the boys. We went on an adventure with one of their favorite people, Jim. He is the local naturalist and his hobby is to watch over and band birds. He counts them and keeps track of what is going on in the boxes he puts up all over the area. The boys and I joined him yesterday. We went to at least 5 boxes (birdhouses) before we found one with a nest and babies. He said it was pretty strange. One box we looked in had a nest in it for the last 5 years, but not this year. We were just happy to find one.
One of the birdhouses for the American Kestrel...the bird Tyler studied this year.
On the ladder getting the birds out of the nest to band them. I was just afraid the mother was going to dive bomb us. She just watched from a distant tree top.
When I say adventures, I mean of all kind. We got stuck out in a weird sandy area. The boys thought his car was the coolest. It had an oven, refrigerator and a pop up in the ceiling. Jim had to call his friend to come tow us out. Meanwhile, we banded the birds, so it wasn't such a long wait. The boys wanted to know if I would ever buy a car like that because it was so cool. What did I say?! Maybe. Jim could hear the whole conversation.
This baby fell out of our grasp and didn't want us near him. Check out that wingspan at 4 weeks old!
Tanner holding one of the babies. The gloves were to protect him from their huge talons (claws). They were scarey looking! Not to mention their sharp little beaks!
Tanner gently caught the one that didn't want to be caught.
Tyler with his baby Kestrel
Jim banding the bird.What you didn't see, is that I did hold tw0 of the loudest babies, all the time looking over my shoulder for the mother and praying they wouldn't poop all over me. It was an adventure!
Another thing I didn't take a picture of was the driving experience. At one point Jim stopped the car and jumped out and ran behind the car. He then noticed we were rolling backwards down the hill. He hurriedly jumped back into the drivers seat and told us that he saw a racer and he wanted to catch it and show us. A racer is a snake. He is more in tune with nature and animals than anyone I have ever known. The boys ate it up!
12 comments:
Wow. How did you get involved in that? That's seriously cool!
That is AWESOME! Reminds me of my days at Champoeg and the bluebirds. They are beautiful. Great experience for the boys. I can hear it now - they are going to want to become naturalists. I'm not sure about the snake and the driving experience. Ask Maggie about mama birds divebombing her.... they thought her hair was a nest. The rest of the women were screaming and laughing and running.
Sooooooo cool. What a neat experience for the boys.. I wanna go!!
ps: I love the picture of the boys on the ladder with Jim. Wish it would blow up.
Wow what a fun day, and neat experience! I want an adventure with Jim!!
Jim said that the american kestrel just keeps its distance when you come to band the babies, but he has seriously been attacked by other birds. Pretty scarey when you check out there beaks and claws!
Yikes! That's a cool experience but I would be with you worried about the mom in the distance! Looks like the boys had a blast
P.S. How did the "cool" tub work out for the boys and their friend?
that definitely sounds like an adventure! how you do find these people. and tyler and taner seem very in touch with nature themselves. I am glad that you didn't get pooped on...that hs happened to me before, right down my clevage one time in junior high...SWEET!
It's official. The boys have spent more time outdoors in their lifetime than I've spent in mine! They've definately got some Head blood in them, that's for sure. Keep up the blogging, I'm loving it!
I just tagged you! see my blog for instructions. plus looks like youcould use some new material like I did. love ya!
WHERE ARE YOU???
that was wierd I just posted my comment and now you have additional post showing.
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