We went to the refuge to see some of the birds that we had been learning about during the school year. We also were being filmed by the filmmaker, Timothy Barksdale, who is creating a series titled, "Adventures with Birdman". He has a contract with PBS and he will let us know when it will air. I believe that it will air this fall. We are a small part of an episode about the Greater Prairie Chickens.
On the way to the refuge a Turkey Vulture flew out of the ditch right beside the van. The students were so surprised at how huge it was. When we first we got to the refuge we went to the lake and looked at the birds. We saw American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, American Coots, Northern Shovelers and many others. Some students were shouting out, "Life bird!"
Then we went to the trail and hiked over to the mist nets. There was a surprise! A Common Yellowthroat was tangled in the net, so Dr. Swanson took it out and brought it to his banding station.
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| Common Yellowthroat |
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| Common Yellowthroat being banded |
He weighed and measured the bird and then he banded it. He said that it was their “jewelry”. Each band had a number on it. Our teacher wrote all of the information down in his notebook. Birds are banded so that scientists can tell where and when birds travel. If you ever find a banded bird, jot down the number on the band and what kind of bird it is. Then you can report it to find out where it had been banded at.
He taught us how to hold a bird carefully and then we each got to hold the birds. After the Common Yellowthroat, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and an American Robin got caught in the net!
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| He is showing us how to hold the bird carefully with two fingers. |
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| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
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| Common Yellowthroat |
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| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
After we banded three birds we went hiking down the trail. We saw many birds flying through the air and we saw them on the water too. We knew the names of all of the birds we saw. We saw lots of feathers and nests along the trail. We also stopped and listened to birds. We heard the Clay-colored Sparrow and White-breasted Nuthatch.
Then we went back to the mist net and found a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Dr. Swanson said that it is the smallest bird in North America except for the hummingbirds. This was a female and she did not have the ruby coloring on her crown because only the males do. She sat very still while the kids held her.
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| Standing on the little dock looking at Snapping Turtles |
Then we went to have a picnic and play for awhile. We loved the picnic and it was really fun! The teacher was so busy she forgot to take photos!
After that, we got into the van and drove onto the road that crossed the lake. We looked through the spotting scope and saw: Eared Grebes, Horned Grebes, Western Grebes, a Semipalmated Plover and other birds.
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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
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| Scoping birds for the first time |
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| Horned Grebe |
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| American White Pelicans |
Then we drove back to the school. Mr. Barksdale came back with us to film us in the classroom. We played Bird Memory, showed him our published book and he built a pyramid with us using alphabet blocks dealing with the food chain and the conservation of all living things.
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| Building the pyramid |
It was a great day! We learned a lot about birds, bird banding and nature. We had fun on our picnic too! It was interesting being filmed as well. Both Dr. Swanson and Tim Barksdale were very nice to us and taught us a lot about birds! We are very thankful that they took the time to work with us! It is a day we will never forget!
