Explore Outdoors ~ tricolored bumble bee

 Last week - on the first sunny day since the rain (and maybe since the eclipse...) I headed outside to see who was up and about. Yes, there were flies in the forsythia, and a woodpecker drumming on a tree somewhere nearby. Then I heard buzzing... the sort of buzzing a bumble bee makes. Sure enough, down in the tiny purple deadnettle blossoms.

There were actually two of them - probably queens out for lunch and possibly house-hunting - Bombus ternarius, commonly known as the tricolored bumblebee (aka orange-belted bumblebee). It was a good day to be flitting about; I also saw a mourning cloak butterfly and a smaller orange butterfly that wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a good look at it. 

What's buzzing, flitting, and flying about in your neighborhood?

Explore Outdoors ~ A Listening Walk

 Three days ago I went for a Listening Walk. I hadn't intended to; initially I was heading out for a brisk walk to stretch my legs. But the wind blowing through distant trees sounded like the ocean waves upon rocks. Then it roared through, bending tree boughs above, leaving in its wake a breeze that rattled the desiccated beech leaves still clinging to twigs.

Other things I heard, as I stood still for a few minutes:

honking geese flying overhead

tree trunks creaking as they swayed

maple leaves skittering across snow crust

the dee-dee of chickadees

engine of ATV down the road

This week take a few moments to stop and listen to the sounds around you - distant noises and those nearby, natural sounds and those made by people, machine-generated noises and those made by living things.

Explore Outdoors ~Sit and Listen

 A few times a year I like to just sit and listen to the world around me. My backyard stretches up to a hayfield, so I am usually surrounded by the sounds of nature. But town is less than three miles away as the crow flies, so sometimes I hear sounds from the village: dogs barking, people talking in their backyards.

A couple weeks ago I slogged up the snowy logging road. Half-way to the field, I stopped to listen. I spent five minutes just listening to the sounds surrounding me. This is what I heard: 

wind rattling dried leaves

 a chickadee singing

crows  calling

something - maybe a snowblower - down in town

 

 If I had stayed longer, I might have heard more sounds.

 

To record my observations, I made a sound map - a trick I picked up during a Highlights Foundation workshop on Science & Nature Writing.

 

I cut a cereal box to make a stiff sound map that I could write on outdoors. Then I drew myself at the middle, and an arrow to show what direction the sounds were. I can see now that I should have drawn the nearby sounds (leaves) closer to me, leaving the edge for distant sounds.  

 

There is something else I should have added to my sound map. Can you tell what I forgot? If you guessed the date, you are right!

 

How to make your own sound map:

• Cut a circle from a cardboard box
• take a sharp pencil with you
• go somewhere and sit (or if it's very snowy, stand) for at least 5 minutes
• draw yourself at the center and note direction you are facing
• write the date, time of day, and location
  
• listen
• note down what you hear and from which direction. closer sounds should be closer to you on the map, with distant sounds farther away.  

 Can you do a sound map in the city? YES! Include sounds from nature as well as human made sounds, machinery sounds, and music.

Books that encourage nature exploration

I thought it would be fun to end Earth Day week with these two books that celebrate inter-generational exploration of the natural world  - and encourage children and the adults they love to get out and explore nature where they are.

theme: observation, nature, language

The Keeper of Wild Words
by Brooke Smith; illus. by Madeline Kloepper
62 pages; ages 5 - 8
Chronicle Books, 2020

 At the end of a long cinder lane, surrounded by meadows and pine trees and sky that wrapped around and back again…

Brook runs to her grandma’s door. Summer is almost over and Brook wants something to remember. Grandma Mimi is looking for something, too. Wild Words. Words that, when not used, disappear. Words like acorn and dandelion…. So Brook and Mimi go off on a walk to collect wild words. And they take readers with them through blackberry brambles, to the pond, and up to the top of the meadow. All along the way Brook is collecting words to keep and to share with her friends.

What I like about this book: I love that Grandma Mimi crowns Brook with flowers and bestows upon her the office of The Keeper of Wild Words. And the importance of protecting and celebrating the natural world through language. And the very real loss of words that are disappearing from the English language: apricot, buttercup, drake…

And yes, there is back matter: a note in which the author explains how she noticed that words about nature were being replaced in the dictionary by other words such as “database” and “voicemail.” Brooke Smith wrote this book to share her love of nature and the need to sustain the language of the natural world. She challenges everyone to become a Keeper of Wild Words and there’s an envelope bound into the back of the book where kids (and their adults) can collect words from the nature surrounding them.

Under My Tree 
by Muriel Tallandier; illus. by Mizuho Fujisawa; translation by Sarah Klinger
32 pages; ages 3 - 8
Blue Dot Kids Press, 2020

There once was a tree different from all the rest.

So, maybe all trees look the same to you: trunk, branches, leaves. But every now and then you run into that special tree. Suzanne discovered her favorite tree while visiting her grandparents for the summer. One day, walking through the forest with her grandmother it began to rain. They took shelter beneath a tree, and when Suzanne heard noises from an owl and her babies, she knew this tree would be a safe place.

Over the summer Suzanne visits the tree and notices how its leaves blow in the wind, and the insects that live on and around it. She and a friend build a tree fort. And  before she leaves to go home, Suzanne gives her tree a hug.

What I like about this book: As Suzanne learns about her tree, readers are challenged to discover more about the trees in their neighborhood. Sprinkled throughout the pages are text boxes filled with tree facts (Did You Know?) and hands-on activities (Try This!). It’s a fun introduction to conservation for young children.

Beyond the Books:

Did the Oxford Junior Dictionary really dump nature words? Yes. Check out this article to see some of the words deleted from the dictionary and the tech-oriented words put in their place. Which of those "lost" words do you want to keep?

Become a Keeper of Wild Words. All you need is paper, something to write with, and an envelope or tin to keep them in. If you can go outside, do so, or open your window. What words about nature do you see? Hear? Smell? Feel? My words from today are: phoebe, acorn, and daffodil.

Go Hug a Tree. No, really – it will make you feel better (check out this article). And while you’re hugging your tree, notice the texture of its trunk, and whether it has leaves or buds, and what insects, birds, or other animals are using the tree.

Find a way to show how your tree changes over the summer. Will you write haiku? Create collage art? What will you do to show what is different about your tree after each visit?

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publishers.

Wednesday Explorers Club ~ Drumming in the Spring

photo by Ken Thomas, Wikimedia Commons

Listen!
Can you hear the season changing? There.... drumming, from the far side of the field. A woodpecker tapping out secret codes to anyone with the right decoder ring.

This week, find a dry place to sit outside. Close your eyes and just listen. You might hear woodpeckers drumming on dead trees (and anything else that gives them a resonant sound). You might hear birds calling. A few days ago a couple of mourning doves filled the early evening air with gentle coos. Are there other birds calling out?

Check out the woodpecker drumming on this short BirdNotes recording.

Wild Outdoor Wednesday

Sit by a pond or wetland area and listen to frogs. Capture the colors, sounds, smell, feel of the area.

Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers

How does spring sound?

A couple weeks ago the sun burned through the clouds, and soon I could hear the drip-drip-drip of icicles melting. Faintly, from the other side of the ravine, I could hear the dull drumming of a woodpecker tapping out coded messages from a dead tree.

Spring is but a day away - what do you hear around your house as the season changes? Go outside for a listen. Find a dry place to sit, and close your eyes. Just listen. What do you hear?

Then take a minute to jot down some notes. If you can't determine what bird is calling, then describe how the call sounds. Does it slide up the scale, whistle, or chitter? Are there woodpeckers drumming on old trees or against the metal roof of a garage? Can you hear water moving? Snow melt? Sap drip?

Make sure you write the date on the page. Because every year is different. Two years ago it was 80 degrees in early March here in my neck of the woods. This year, on the same date, it was barely over freezing (32 degrees)... quite a difference.

If you're looking for more end-of-winter start-of-spring activities, check out this book review and related activities.

Earth Day Sound Scavenger Hunt

The best way to celebrate Earth Day is to head outside and get to know your natural neighborhood better. One way to learn more about the place you are a part of is to go on a listening scavenger hunt. The object: to collect as many natural sounds as you can find.

Here's a short list to get you started: 

• the sound of a peeper, toad, or other frog
• thunder
• a sound made by leaves
• a bird singing
• a woodpecker
• water running or dripping
• a noise made by insect
• call or noise made by a four-legged animal

The Noisy Season

March is the month for awakening – at least here in the northern hemisphere. This is the time of year when birdsong fills the air and peepers sing the night away.

It’s also a good time to go on a “listening walk”. Pull on your boots and make sure your ears are ready, then head outside to hear what there is to hear in the awakening spring.