'Boro Wild...Water Habitats

Our local nature center's program today was about different things you can find in different types of water habitats (ie, ponds, rivers, lakes, ect.).

We hiked down to the Stones River, which also runs about 30 yards from our front door, to see what we could find.
We saw lots of minnows. The kids enjoyed trying to catch them.


We saw lots of snails.


We saw a craw fish.


I hope there are programs like these in the area we are moving to. They have been a great resource for us.

Bird Habitat

I have been wanting to create a bird habitat in our yard for quite some time. It's no secret that I love birds and enjoy watching them and listening to them. We have had bird feeders stocked with seed and get many visitors. It's hard to set it up the way I would like since we live in an apartment and don't have an outdoor space to call our own. However, I have tried and this is what we have...


We've staged it outside the boy's window so we could view them without disturbing them. The feeders hanging from the fence are ones the boys made. We stock our feeder with sunflower seeds to attract my favorite bird, the Cardinal. The blue tray on the ground is our bird bath. The red bag full of stuff hanging from the feeder is full of material birds can use in the construction of their nests. Barb at Heart of Harmony posted this idea on her site. I would like to set up some bird houses, but since we are moving, I would have to take them with me and I would hate to do that to the birds.

Oh, and I have to share a success story with you. As I mentioned, we get a lot of visitors to our feeder. For the past week, I have been trying to photograph two house finches, a male and a female, who feast together every morning. I finally got them!

'Boro Wild...Attracting Wildlife to Your Yard

Our local nature center's 'Boro Wild program last Thursday was about attracting wildlife to your yard. This topic is of great interest to me because I enjoy watching wildlife and particularly enjoy having it in my own comfortable surroundings. Someday when I have a yard to call my own, I hope to have several different "habitats" to attract animals.

This week they talked about attracting toads. Toads are great to have around especially if you have a garden. They eat bugs that are harmful to your plants. They need to have a shady spot to hang out during the day to keep them cool, as well as a source of water they are able to soak in. So, the boys (and their friends) made "toad abodes".



During our hike, the instructor shared some really good advice that I wanted to pass on. We like to turn over rocks and look under logs for insects and animals. She mentioned that when rolling over a log to check for living things, to always roll it towards you and make sure that no one is on the other side. That way if there is a snake or another harmful animal, it will have a way to escape and not attack you out of fear. I had never thought of that and am very glad to have that advice. As much as I love snakes, I still want to keep my distance just in case.


Once we got home we set to work establishing our toad habitat. We found a nice shady spot under a bush, propped one side of the abodes on a rock so the toads could get in, and set out a large enough source of water so they could soak.

We don't have any residents yet, but we are hopeful.

The "Boro Wild

We have some great nature programs organized and taught by the local nature center where we live. On Thursdays we attend a program for homeschoolers called The 'Boro Wild. This program is concentrating on habitats. The class is 1 1/2 hours long and includes teaching (not done by me!), an activity, and a hike to put our new knowledge to use. This past Thursday we discussed the four things needed within every habitat...shelter, food, water, and space...and how those pertained to backyard habitats. For our hike and activity, we walked around the Nature Center and looked for those things. Here are some pictures...




We are very fortunate to have programs like these offered in our area. We do not take them for granted yet take advantage of them when we can. There is also a Nature Detectives program meeting on Tuesdays that we will attend when swim lessons don't coincide and on Wednesdays we may go help out with the butterfly garden. I encourage you to try and locate programs like these where you live. The kids enjoy them and you get a break from teaching!