One of our topics last term was animal welfare; where we eventually ended up with a school trip to the PDSA. This was great and subsequently I felt we should continue this theme through to this term.
Every year the RSPB do a Big Garden Birdwatch. A lot of schools participate in this; this is actually how I knew of it.
If you want to join in then it is aimed to start this coming weekend; the 24th and 25th of January. If so please visit:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/
As a house with a dog we felt that we should entice the birds over this week to start revisiting our garden. We decided to make bird feeders, fill two different types of shop bought feeders and make a selection of feeding trays.
We discussed and considered a few things:
1: We wanted to see if we could entice as many birds on the websites list; big and small. We subsequently chose food that suited all types of birds.
2: When choosing our food we decided that we would be kind and cautious to our neighbours and our local area; we didn't choose any product that contained nuts. (Birds can carry their food over a fair distance, cross contamination could put others at risk!)
3: We decided to use, as mentioned above, a range of feeders; bought and home made.
4: We thought that making them in the afternoon and subsequently putting them out in the evening would entice the early bird.
Here are some photos of the start of our project:
Making fat, bread and seed balls in yogurt pots.
Filling a shop bought feeder.
Oil set seeds that are designed for bigger birds.
A pot of mealworm
An all purpose tray for big and small birds.
Hanging the different feeders.
Placing our trays.
And finally; William's observations.
William said he loved this and he can't wait to do more on this topic. He was happy that he chose different places to put the feeders as he thinks that some big birds will scare the little ones away!
He loved making the fat, bread and seed balls; he completely loved making them, especially because they're messy!! However he doesn't like the smell of the fat and is very unhappy that he still smells it; even when he has washed his hands!
His final thought, echoed by me, this is very messy maybe we should have made them outside.
19 comments:
That's awesome! I look forward to hearing how many different types of birds you attract! I miss living out in the country and seeing all the different birds. I was watching 'Sunday Morning' on, well, sunday morning, and the last video clip they payed at the end during their sign-off was of a group of cardinals. It brought back memories of winter back in the Midwest.
This is great, lovely to hear William's thoughts on it as well. I think we might check out the RSPB's garden birdwatch too, it's about time Libby started learning the different types of birds.x
Thanks! Will hopefully get another 2 home school posts out of this topic. I want to post out results but also do one on our completion of the topic.
We are fairly rural here which is lovely. I wouldn't swap in for busy towns or cities. We get so much enjoyment from our country walks as well as the benefits of the beauty of nature!
Thanks Natalie!
He is really enjoying this topic! We spent an hour just watching the birds feed and discussing the differences between them.
James is only 3 and he's really enjoying it too. It really is a great family activity for all ages. We have drawn some different birds we want to see (although I think Williams choice of a parrort is a bit far to stretch!) James made some hand print birds too. ☺
Hope you guys can join in, I'm sure you'll all love it.
I love feeding the birds over here in the states. Sloane and I keep a hummingbird feeder in the summer and we keep a finch feeder and general bird feeder stocked up year round. Just have to worry about those pesky squirrels. Continued success with the home schooling!
What a fantastic project! So very interesting for your boys...
The only birds we seem to attract are seagulls and crows....lol
Thanks Gary! I have to admit that it's been something that we've neglected to maintain this year but this has definitely given us the motivation to keep it up. We haven't, yet, seen any pesky squirrels they are a pain here too.
Thanks, as always, Kim for commenting. Lol we do have a massive influx of crows and magpies here. No seagulls though! Lol
The boys are loving it and truthfully so am I!
Awesome idea, it looks like a fun project. It makes me look forward to starting my vegetable garden next month. We get lots of hummingbirds and doves here around me.
Thanks for commenting Josh. It's really looking like a great project. We'll be, like you, starting our vegetable garden over the next months. We love our nature projects.
Am jealous about the hummingbirds.
We did the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch thi year. It was lovely to have an hour to sit down with the children and count the birds coming to our feeders.
Thanks for commenting. It definitely was something that we all could enjoy!! Hope you recorded lots of birds.
What a feast you have prepared together there, looks like lots of care and attention went into preparing this. It will keep them all visiting you over and over. #AnimalTales
Thanks. We all loved the experience and it definitely brought more to the garden which is such a great thing. Thanks for commenting.
Hi, we did the birdwatch too and this year is turning out to be the year of the bird for us. Blackbirds have nested in the garden, I went to a Bill Oddie talk a couple of weeks back and just won a bird watching book among other bird relating things that keep happening to me all of a sudden this year :) I homeschool my 5yo boy so glad to have found your blog. Sam (happyhomebird LOL)
Great activity and yes, I agree with you and William - do it outside next time! Hopefully you had loads of feathered visitors enjoying the Kitney restaurant.
Many thanks for joining in with #AnimalTales
Awesome! Wow bet you were chuffed to win.
Fantastic to find another home school parent! You've made my day!
Haha personally put the mess down to bad organisation on my part! It's been great we've seen an increase already in the amount of birds to come and visit.
I have recently started a blog, the info you provide on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work. havehegn
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