Brewster, MA
PAINTING DAY! I just LOOOVE painting bird houses! Of course, I don't paint them, the KidSummer Kids do, but I thoroughly enjoy witnessing their process and their color choice and of course, we do the painting while listening to Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" in the background. It always happens that a calm settles over our small crowd, and the paint does its magic. What I love that happens later is when bird nerd send me photos and stories of the bird houses that they've painted and mounted in their yard somewhere. We're succeeding in making the world a better place by giving shelter to the birds. While we were outside painting, one of the KidSummer Kids noticed some nearby House Sparrows taking a dust bath in the museum's mock archeology dig. They were having a grand old time! There are suspicions about why they take dust baths; to remove mites, to cool down, because it feels good... the birds are not telling. It's fun to watch them taking the dust bath, and when they flutter away, they leave tiny dust clouds when they flap their wings. GREAT observation bird nerd!
We also went for a quick walk on the Lee Baldwin Trail. We didn't get too far, but as we walked along the trail, there was a breeze. I stopped and asked our group to pause for a moment. I wanted them to hear the seabreeze as it blew through the reed grass... it's a special sound and I wanted them to notice. We tend to have better recall when we're using as many senses as possible, and when it's appreciating natural beauty, all the more reason to pause. As I asked them to stop and listen, a car happened to be speeding down Route 6A, so I joked and said that THAT wasn't what I wanted them to be listening to... but I also asked for the difference between the natural sound and the human made sound. One of the bird nerds volunteered her version of the different sounds: "The car sounds loud and annoying. The rustling of the reeds is so calm & pretty." Calm & pretty indeed, I had to write that one down to be sure to get it RIGHT! (double click photos to enlarge)
Our List:
European Starling
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
American Crow
Blue Jay
Painting Nest Boxes
Quiet beautiful work!
House Sparrows taking dust baths
I tried to get a video of this, but we got too close
and the birds stopped what they were doing.
Finished exterior decorating bird house style!
Making an entry in the Bird Log Book
Hey BIRD NERD!
I have some excellent helpers this week!
European Starling
Bird Nerd - focusing on a fascinating subject
So much to see on the salt marsh!
American Goldfinches
Happy Birding!
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