Katie woke up on May 7, 2009 at 4:45 AM to join her mom in bird banding at the World Bird Sanctuary. She was pretty excited to go the night before, but fell asleep on the floor as we tried to get her dressed. After a little food in her system, we were off. Katie chatted the entire way there. who knew one could talk so much that early in the morning.
Even though it was dark outside, and she was young, the workers quickly put her in charge of pulling off the ribbons that held all the nets shut. I think she appreciated having a job instead of just standing around. They all worked really hard to give her a memorable experience.
Here we are with the second bird (a Swanson Thrush). Katie and I had some wonderful moments in the woods. Katie kept saying "Oh my" with every new discovery and although I have no idea where she heard this, it was endearing to all around to hear her enthusiasm caught in those two words.
After a bird is taken back to the processing center, it is hung on a line where it waits to be identified and recorded.
Katie then got the bird off the line and brought it to the
the processing center where it was measured, banded, weighed, and
checked for parasites and gender. The ladies allowed Katie to see the wing feathers, the feet, to look closely at their eyes and basically to really understand up close and personal some pretty cool songbirds. And I must say, while Katie was learning all this information, my brain knowledge increased as well. It's pretty amazing when you think of what a busy job the creation of the world was. There are some really beautiful creatures out there.
Katie then was taught how to release it back into the wild. She
was able to release two birds. A Swanson thrush and an ovenbird.
She was able to participate in this migration study and learn
about birding at the same time. The ladies there were so sweet. They involved this little six year old in every aspect and made her feel special and excited about birding.
Now you know you belong in our family if you stick your little tongue out. it always helps you to concentrate. I can see why some people home school. You can just experience it so much more in person than in a book. What an educational day we had...and all before school even started.
Even though it was dark outside, and she was young, the workers quickly put her in charge of pulling off the ribbons that held all the nets shut. I think she appreciated having a job instead of just standing around. They all worked really hard to give her a memorable experience.
She caught her first bird, an Ovenbird in net # 5. After it was
removed from the net and tagged with a clothespin to identify the net, Katie’s job as a runner took over. The birds were generally still in the bag, but this Ovenbird loved to flutter around and the first time it did it, Katie jumped but held onto the bag. I was so proud of how calm and brave she was.
removed from the net and tagged with a clothespin to identify the net, Katie’s job as a runner took over. The birds were generally still in the bag, but this Ovenbird loved to flutter around and the first time it did it, Katie jumped but held onto the bag. I was so proud of how calm and brave she was.
Here we are with the second bird (a Swanson Thrush). Katie and I had some wonderful moments in the woods. Katie kept saying "Oh my" with every new discovery and although I have no idea where she heard this, it was endearing to all around to hear her enthusiasm caught in those two words.After a bird is taken back to the processing center, it is hung on a line where it waits to be identified and recorded.Katie then got the bird off the line and brought it to thethe processing center where it was measured, banded, weighed, and
checked for parasites and gender. The ladies allowed Katie to see the wing feathers, the feet, to look closely at their eyes and basically to really understand up close and personal some pretty cool songbirds. And I must say, while Katie was learning all this information, my brain knowledge increased as well. It's pretty amazing when you think of what a busy job the creation of the world was. There are some really beautiful creatures out there.
Katie then was taught how to release it back into the wild. Shewas able to release two birds. A Swanson thrush and an ovenbird.
She was able to participate in this migration study and learn
about birding at the same time. The ladies there were so sweet. They involved this little six year old in every aspect and made her feel special and excited about birding.
Now you know you belong in our family if you stick your little tongue out. it always helps you to concentrate. I can see why some people home school. You can just experience it so much more in person than in a book. What an educational day we had...and all before school even started.
4 comments:
Wow, that's impressive, first of all getting up at 4:45, second, she was able to help catch, release, etc. the birds. We were cutting down some palm tree branches that had died and found a tree frog that we were trying to help get in another tree. Kai, my 6 year old, had gloves on so we were trying to get him to actually do it. He kept dropping it, jumping back, he was totally skittish (like I wouldn't be).
How awesome! What a great memory for life.
What a wonderful mom to let Katie experience this! 4:45 Wow!! Looks like she had lots of fun!
Wow -- what an experience! Love the pics, too!
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