Hawk Rising and Desert Animals

Hawk Rising
by Maria Gianferrari; illus. by Brian Floca
40 pages; ages 4-8
Roaring Brook Press, 2018

themes: animal families, birds

Father Hawk stretches wide his wings.
You stretch your arms as Mars rises red in the sky.

Dawn is breaking and hungry chicks are waiting for their breakfast. Father Hawk is on the hunt! But catching food is harder than we'd think - and there are other dangers facing hawks.

What I like about this book: The alternating viewpoint between the child ("you") and the hawk. The reality of being a predator in a hawk-eat-rodent world. I love Brian Floca's muted watercolor illustrations. I love the suspense: will the hawk nestlings get a meal?

And, of course (!) I like that there is back matter. More details on the lives of red-tailed hawks: where they live, how they fly, what they eat (just about anything!) and tips on spotting a red-tailed hawk. Maria also includes suggestions for further reading as well as websites for learning more.

Over on a Desert, Somewhere in the World
by Marianne Berkes; illus. by Jill Dubin
32 pages; ages 3-8
Dawn Publications, 2018

Over on the desert resting in the hot sun, lived a tall mother camel and her little calf one.

Set to the tune of a familiar children's song, Marianne introduces readers to ten desert animals: camels, gila monsters, javelinas ..... real hot weather critters. Each spread introduces a new animal family as the number of young increase one by one to reach ten.

So why pair this book with the one above? Because hidden in one of the desert scenes is a hawk! In fact, each spread has an animal hidden in plain sight in the arid scene, but you might not find it until your second - or third - reading.

What I like about this book: It offers a wonderful opportunity to sharpen observation skills, plus we learn about desert life. I like that there's a map on each page that shows where these animals live.

The other thing I like about this book - and indeed, all Dawn books, is the back matter. There's a half page on desert facts, a challenge to find the "hidden" animals scattered through the pages, and more information about each animal family featured in the book. Plus there are activities to try!

Beyond the book:

What kinds of hawks do you have flying around your neighborhood? Here's how to distinguish a red-tailed hawk from other species.

Go on a hunt with a hawk! Here's a video from a hawk cam.

Make a hawk mask - or a mask of a desert animal.  

Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup - and we're also joining others over at Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review ARC's from publishers.

Wednesday Explorers Club ~ Going to Seed

This year my purple coneflowers went to seed early. The runner beans have long pods drying in the sun. Sunflowers have disks filled with fat seeds set in spirals - and the birds have already discovered them! Milkweed pods are cracking open, leaving room for their seeds to take flight.

What kind of seeds do you find in your neighborhood? Some form sticky balls like burrs, that velcro to cat hair, socks, and sneaker laces. Some form parachutes, while other seed pods burst open, shooting seeds through the air. Go on a seed walk and draw pictures of some of the seedpods you find.

Who is collecting seeds? Around here, goldfinches cling to the tops of plants, pecking seeds from the centers. In some places ants collect grass seeds for the colony. What animals do you see collecting seeds?

Draw pictures of different kinds of seeds produced by plants in your neighborhood.

Belle's Journey

At the end of August, I headed out with a passionate osprey-watcher to check on a nest near Cayuga Lake. It was atop a high pole, on a platform built for ospreys who, the locals hoped, might repopulate the area.

Mother (Ophelia) and daughter were there, calling loudly for dad to bring home the fish. "I figured mom would have left already," said my osprey buddy. With the youngest able to fly and learning to hunt, there was nothing left to do - and dad ospreys are the ones who stick around until the last fledge is ready to live independently.

Osprey are hawks. Big hawks who thrive on fish. Some folks refer to them as fish hawks. They hang out in upstate NY, and in the northeast for the summer and, when fall comes, they fly to South America.

A lot of what we know about ospreys comes from researchers like Rob Bierregaard, who has been tagging young ospreys with radio transmitters and following their migratory paths. One of the cool things he discovered is that young ospreys - at least those on the east coast - tend to make their initial southbound journey over the ocean.

Five years ago Dr. B (as his students call him) was waiting for a young osprey to return to its nest so he could fit it with a backpack radio transmitter. A neighbor, seeing him there, suggested he write a book. So he did.

Belle's Journey, An Osprey Takes Flight
by Rob Bierregaard; illustrated by Kate Garchinsky
122 pages; ages 7 - 10 (and older)
Charlesbridge, 2018

The story of Belle begins with her parents, who return to their nest on Martha's Vineyard in March (brrrr!), and the two scientists who are scouting for active nests. By the middle of July, the young ospreys are nearly as big as their parents and they're stretching their wings. One day, while the birds are out hunting, Dr. B and his fellow researcher climb up and put a fish in the nest as bait. Then they cover the nest with wire mesh to trap the birds.

Success! They capture Belle, fit the backpack straps over her wings and sew the harness so the radio transmitter won't fall off in flight. The transmitter will send signals so the scientists can track her migration.

So here's the thing about a young osprey's first migratory flight: they don't have maps. Their parents have already gone, so there's no flock to join. They may run into danger, such as hurricanes, eagles,  or people who shoot at them. And the journey is long - three to four thousand miles.

What I like about this book: The story is written from Belle's point of view. We see her adventures during migration through her eyes. Chapters about the scientists are written from a different point of view. I like the back matter that gives more information about ospreys, migration, and what to do if you find injured birds. There are also lots of resources.

And I love the illustrations! Full color spreads are soft and inviting. Sepia-colored vignettes give us quick glimpses into the lives of Belle and the children following her journey. There's even a series of sketches illustrating how an osprey captures fish.

Check out this interview with Rob Bierregaard  over at the GROG blog.

You can find out more about Rob Bierregaard's research and osprey tracking here. There are links to interactive maps as well, and brief osprey bios.

Want to see what life in an osprey nest is like? Here's a birdcam from Montana, and this one in Georgia.

Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup. Review copy from the publisher.