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<DIV>Last Thursday was a pretty cool day.</DIV>
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<DIV>It was the annual Young Naturalist’s Field Day for the Prior Lake/Savage
schools held at McColl Ponds ELC. We lucked out and got a rare sunny and
DRY day. I do the bird part.</DIV>
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<DIV>I have to find birds for some 60 odd – third, fourth, and fifth
graders. </DIV>
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<DIV>The first class starts off with a bang. The bushes are full of
sparrows; House, Song and White-throated. The kids like the little birds
but it is hard to get a good look, the birds are shy and hanging out in the
grass. We find some blackbirds in a tree. I get them in the scope –
wow - one is a Rusty! but fourth graders are not impressed with
blackbirds, no matter how rare. But wait – there is a pair of Red-winged
Blackbirds in the scope, a male and a female. The kids are
impressed. They have never seen a female RWBB. All the kids get to
see it. A Killdeer flies overhead, scolding us. I tell the kids
about the female bird’s decoy behavior.</DIV>
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<DIV>We move on to the wetland. Some sparrows hiding in the
cattails. Three boys wander off to the other side of the wetland, probably
looking for snakes. One says “We have a Raven here!”, No I don’t think so,
I say. “No really, it is a big bird, it is gray with yellow around the
eyes”. OK – we go check it out. The rest of the group heads
over. As we approach – the birds flushes. “Green Heron, cool
bird”, I say. All the kids see it fly to the other end of the
wetland. It flushes again but all the kids get to see it. OK – cool,
they say. I say, “Good spot” to the boys – they seem pleased.</DIV>
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<DIV>We still see more birds – Chickadees, finches, mourning Doves, and
others. Time to head back.</DIV>
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<DIV>The second class – how are we going to top this one? Off we go and
stop at the Chimney Swift tower. We discuss Chimney Swifts. One of
the kids looks it up in Tekiela’s book and starts reading to the other kids
“Migration to South America”, “one of the fastest flyers in the world” ,” flies
all day and doesn’t perch”. wow – interesting.</DIV>
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<DIV>We get to the lake and one of the kids’ dad, a volunteer, hears a “sploosh”
on the lake. I set down the scope and find the Kingfisher on the other
side of the lake. The kids line up and all get to see the
Kingfisher. They ask me “How did you see that?” I play it cool. I do
not tell them that I heard it earlier in the day and the parent in our group
heard the ‘sploosh’. I’m not giving away all my secrets – it is not all
that easy to impress a fourth grader, you know.</DIV>
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<DIV>We see some more birds – lots of Ring-bills overhead. Time to head
back. But the kids have found many of the birds. I compliment them
on their observation skills</DIV>
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<DIV>Third class after lunch. Now it is even more challenging. Off
we go. Stop at the Chimney Swift tower, check out the wetland, not much
there. We get to the lake and I spot a Great Blue Heron across the lake. I
get it in the scope but only a couple kids see it before it flies off. We
continue. Ahead, a cooperative family of Eastern Bluebirds. I get
them in the scope - the birds sit on the Bluebird box and a nearby post.
All the kids get to see them. Two go inside the box and stick their heads
out. The kids get a big kick out of that. The kids are great with
the scope. I tell them to line up – they do so immediately, they are
polite and patient – and no one “hogs” the scope. They are much better
than some birding trips I have been on.</DIV>
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<DIV>We go around the lake and in the woods. I re-find the Heron across
the lake. I love watching kids at the scope – squinting, first one eye –
then the other - trying to master the device. It’s harder than it looks –
closing one eye and opening the other. But eventually, they get it, I see
the little light go on, and they say “Oh, cool – he (the bird) looks so
big”. It is cool.</DIV>
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<DIV>Time to go back – Again, the kids have spotted some of the birds. The
parent volunteers are a big help.</DIV>
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<DIV>Last class of the day. But by 1 PM, most of the little birds have
scattered. Even the Red-wings have had enough of 100 kids in their
territory. This is going to be rough. Plus, everybody is tired,
especially me – lugging that scope all day, 5 hours on my feet, and – NO NAP!
Off we go. Not much in the grass, the wetland. One of the kids yells
out – “What is that?” We look up – adult Bald Eagle soaring lazily just
over our heads. It continues to circle, not very high, either. All
the kids get their binocs on it. One girl says “Cool” and proceeds to tell
me about a bird with an even bigger wingspan. We talk about the
Condor. The kids have all seen my bird wing cut-out – full eagle size –
six feet wide. They all say “cool”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We continue on – just as we get to the other end of the park – WHOOSH – out
of the west, an adult Red-tailed Hawk, no more than 20 feet above our
heads. The kids all go – “Whew, that was really cool!”</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Indeed!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sid Stivland</DIV>
<DIV>Plymouth, MN and MOU YMP volunteer</DIV>
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