Tag: nature for kids

We Each Have Our Own Role to Play

November 12th, 2019

A few weeks ago I saw a couple of black vultures feasting on carrion on the side of MacArthur Boulevard in Bethesda, Maryland. Then yesterday, immediately after I crossed Chain Bridge into Virginia, I saw a group of black vultures perched in the branches of a tree overhanging Glebe Road.

I shivered, wondered what poor creature had died, and got past the birds as quickly as possible. Seeing vultures creeps me out. But upon further reflection, I realized that wasn’t very nice of me, was it?

We each have our own special role to play in life, and even though eating decaying corpses seems awfully yucky to a vegan like me, vultures serve as a clean-up crew for us all and that’s a pretty terrific thing for them to do!

I remembered my ongoing goal of expressing gratitude on a daily basis. I decided to retrace my steps and to find the black vultures again. I was going to thank them for their sanitation efforts. Alas, they were no longer perched on that branch by the bridge. Perhaps I will see them again soon.

XOXO,
Bernice
Handsome Honkers

November 5th, 2019

Some folks think Canada Geese are pests. It’s true that the population of these birds is very large, but I hardly find it to be pestilential.

I admit stepping in goose droppings is super icky and Canada Geese leave large poops everywhere they go, but I nonetheless find these handsome honkers positively delightful!

I love the way Canada Geese honk-honk-honk and I love the way they walk. I love to watch them fly, especially when they fly in their lovely V formation across the sky. I love watching Canada Geese swim and I love it when they dunk their heads under water in search of good things to eat.

And please, don’t even get me started on how I love newly-hatched Canada Geese! There can’t possibly be anything cuter in the whole world than their fluffy yellow chicks!

Canada Geese like open, grassy areas near water, which describes the National Mall pretty perfectly. It was nonetheless an unexpected delight when Hector and I happened upon a bunch of Canada Geese on the lawn near the Washington Monument yesterday.

XOXO,
Bernice

PS: For those of you who do find Canada Geese very annoying, I found an interesting article on how to get rid of them from the National Audubon Society.
Almost Didn’t See You There!

October 29th, 2019

Hector went to visit his folks for the weekend. I missed my best friend a lot. I was feeling a tad blue, so I decided to go to Rock Creek Park, which always puts me in a good mood.

Do you know what put me in an even better mood?

I saw a brown creeper!

And let me tell you, brown creepers are not easy to see! They aren’t rare birds in these parts, but they might as well be invisible because their plumage blends in with the bark of trees so well.

When I saw the lovely little bird, I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm and I said “Oh hi! I almost didn’t see you there!”

The bird ignored me and continued its creeping. It travelled, in a spiraling journey, up the trunk of the tree. It constantly searched for insects to eat and it found quite a few to munch on. When it got to the top of the tree trunk, it flew the short distance to the base of the tree next door, where the bird began its spiraling creep anew.

XOXO,
Bernice
A Rainbow of Color

October 22nd, 2019

The days are getting shorter and you know what that means! The leaves of deciduous trees are changing color! I love autumn. It is my favorite time of year.

My parents, Louisa, Hector, and I all decided to go to the National Arboretum to enjoy the fall foliage. We didn’t need to go somewhere special to see the leaves changing color – they are doing so all around us – but it’s hard to beat the National Arboretum in terms of beauty and spectacle within the D.C. metro area.

We saw dogwoods turning a deep purple-red color. We saw a maple tree turning a vibrant orange color. We saw beech trees turning yellow. We saw green coniferous trees. And we saw purple aster in bloom.

“I see every color of the rainbow except blue,” I announced. I was feeling sassy and smart until my baby sister pointed out the obvious, which I had missed.

“The sky is blue, Bernice!” Louisa shouted.

The sky was indeed blue. And it was the prettiest, clearest, sky-blue color I think I have ever seen, too.

XOXO,
Bernice

PS: I have three more links to share with you today. All three are about why leaves change color. The first is a video from SciShowKids called Why Do Leaves Change Colors in the Fall? The second is a video from Scientific American called Why Do Autumn Leaves Change Color? Finally, here is an article from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry called Why Leaves Change Color. Enjoy!
Not Your Usual Woodpecker

October 15th, 2019

I was pretty sure I saw a northern flicker foraging for food on someone’s lawn the other day. When the bird flew up into the branches of a nearby tree I was sure: northern flickers have highly-visible, tell-tale, white patches on their rumps and I got a good look at the bird’s rump as it made its short flight.

When I think of woodpeckers, I think of birds who scramble up and down tree trunks. I don’t think of woodpeckers poking around lawns. But northern flickers are not your usual sort of woodpecker and that is indeed what they do.

The bird perched on one of the lower-hanging branches of a very tall American beech tree. The leaves had not yet begun to change color, but the branches were loaded with spiky beech nuts and the ground was covered with their shells. It looked like squirrels had been having quite a feast!

My hooves crunched over the empty beech nut shells. The northern flicker must have felt safe up above me because it did not fly away, but the bird did keep a careful eye on me as I got closer and closer. Pretty soon I was right under the northern flicker. I got a great look at its lovely, polka-dotted belly and I could see the yellow-colored underside of its tail. What a beauty!

XOXO,
Bernice
Loons Ahoy!

October 8th, 2019

Hector and I went to Sandy Point State Park over the weekend. When we got there, we decided to wade out to the lighthouse. We had a lot of fun and we saw quite a few birds. I felt particularly excited when we saw some common loons.

Common loons are diving ducks who begin arriving on the Chesapeake Bay every year at about this time. Some common loons will winter here and some will only visit for a while before continuing further south.

Common loons love to eat a type of fish called menhaden. I can’t be sure the common loons we saw were diving for menhaden to eat, but I can say it was likely. There are a lot of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.

Menhaden are very important fish in the aquatic food chain and are food for many creatures, including larger fish (like striped bass), whales, and birds (like common loons).
Let’s Talk About Gizzards

October 1st, 2019

Hector and I were lucky enough to see wood ducks when we visited the Jug Bay Wildlife Sanctuary over the weekend. Jug Bay is a mere 20 miles east of D.C. and well-worth visiting if you have the chance.

Wood ducks are dabbling ducks who like to eat a wide variety of things. The ones we saw were gorging themselves on acorns.

Acorns seem like an odd choice for an animal with no teeth, don’t they? It seems like ducks wouldn’t be able to crack the shell of an acorn to get to the food inside the shell, doesn’t it?

The secret is in their tummies, specifically their gizzards, which are specialized stomachs that can grind up food. Wood ducks are not the only animals with gizzards – all birds have them, and their ancestors, the dinosaurs, had gizzards as well. Gizzards are what make eating something hard and partially undigestible, like an acorn, possible for an animal with no teeth in its mouth.

A wood duck swallows an acorn whole and then the shell is ground off inside the duck’s body: the textured, muscular walls of the gizzard act like teeth, allowing the duck to separate the digestible nut from the undigestible shell. Isn’t that fascinating?

XOXO,
Bernice
Dive or Dabble?

September 24th, 2019

Have you ever seen the back half of a duck sticking out of the surface of a body of water and wondered: what’s going on there? If so, you saw a dabbling duck who had found something good to eat. Dabbling ducks gather food by tipping forward, submerging their top halves, and catching something floating close to the surface of water with their beaks (such as crustaceans or insect larvae).

You are far less likely to have seen a diving duck searching for food because diving ducks totally disappear below the surface of water when they hunt. Diving ducks swim deep in order to harvest shellfish, fish, and plants way down below. I found a fabulous, 90-second clip from BBC’s Planet Earth showing diving ducks in the Arctic circle hunting for their suppers. You should definitely check it out!

I have two more links to share with you today. The first is a very short podcast from BirdNote discussing the differences between diving and dabbling ducks. The second is a video from the Missouri Department of Conservation on the same topic. Enjoy!

XOXO,
Bernice
On the Move Again

September 17th, 2019

Birds’ fall migration is underway, folks! Birds all over the world are travelling long distances to get to their winter homes. It is a very exciting time of year!

Some birds travel during the day and some travel at night. Night travel seems like it would be too grueling to be a good idea, doesn’t it? But birds who choose to travel after the sun goes down have their reasons.

The sky is calmer at night, so a bird has less turbulence to battle if it chooses to fly after the sun goes down. Additionally, the night sky is cooler, so a migrating bird can work hard flying long distances without becoming too hot.

Predatory birds, like eagles and hawks, are less of a threat for small birds at night.

Birds who migrate at night use the stars to help find their way south.

There was a full moon on Friday night. Hector and I decided to keep an eye on it. We were hoping we might see the silhouettes of birds as they flew between the moon and us. We got lucky and saw a group fly by at about midnight. We could not tell what kind of birds they were, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.

Another strategy for seeing birds who migrate at night is to wake up early and get to a good birding location first thing in the morning. As the sun rises, many birds will come down to rest after a long, hard night of flying. Hector and I plan to meet near Rock Creek Park’s Nature Center before the sun rises tomorrow morning. We hope to get lucky and see some migratory birds before they settle down to sleep the day away. Wish us luck!

XOXO,
Bernice
Let’s Talk About Molting

September 10th, 2019

When an organism molts, it sheds its skin, feathers, hair or shell. Different creatures molt for different reasons but if one molts, the process is part of its regular life cycle, not a catastrophic event.

Crabs molt in order to grow. A crab sheds its rigid shell and grows quickly while its new, soft shell is still flexible enough to expand in. Once the crab’s new shell hardens, the crab stops growing. The crab will need to molt again in order to grow again. Dragonfly nymphs are another example of organisms who molt in order to grow.

Birds molt for different reasons. When the nesting season is over and it is time to fly south for the winter, a migratory bird needs new, undamaged feathers for its long journey. It therefore molts. The bird’s old, worn-out feathers fall out and new feathers grow in their place.

Many birds also molt in the spring. Some male birds shed their regular plumage for fancy, mate-attracting plumage to wear during the breeding season.

NuNu has drawn a male scarlet tanager three times for this week’s post. On the left you can see the bird wearing his breeding plumage, which is bright red. In the center you can see his mottled, half-scarlet, half-yellow, mid-molt plumage. On the right you see him in his brownish-yellow basic plumage. The scarlet tanager will molt again in the spring before the breeding season and his feathers will once again be a lovely scarlet color.