Nature Study Outing :: Walk Around the Block

With a couple sick kids in the family, I thought it better to forgo our usual nature study outing in lieu of a walk around the neighborhood last week.  Funnily enough, we actually hadn't done that in a while--we usually save our trips out for the park with friends or our nature study treks, and then on the rest of the days the children just play out back.  So it was fun to check up on what's going on right in our local neighborhood.

Our most exciting find: the first blossoms of the year!

sorry for the terrible photo, but they were up high!

It's always a bit thrilling to see a hint of spring, isn't it?  (Yes, it is still in the 70s here, so pretty spring-like!  But it's still fun to see those obvious seasonal changes appear.)  I had our "first blossoms" sighting marked on January 25th of last year, so it's right about time.  During the next couple days while out and about, I looked to see blossoms elsewhere around town, and I only saw them in one other place--and those trees were at about the same stage of blossoming as the ones by our house.  It's nice to know that our little park is a great place for us to observe the first blossoms in our city!  I'll be filing that mental note away for springs to come--and, of course, it went into our journals and Calendar of Firsts too.

We also watched a pair of woodpeckers (either Downy or Hairy--I can never tell them apart) chasing each other around a couple trees down the street.  We have seen woodpeckers many times, but never on our own block.

 

Isn't my 4yo's woodpecker just the sweetest you've ever seen?

And then there were the usual sights: sycamore balls (which never cease to be a favorite with bigs to littles), black walnuts, acorns, crows, squirrels, clover...

...and last but not least, I spotted a couple really cute babies.  I've definitely seen them before, but it's a thrill every time. ;)