Jane Kirkland on Connecting Children with NatureJane Kirkland Bloghttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010-12-03T19:58:12ZSquarespaceHappy Holidays!http://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/12/3/happy-holidays.htmlJane Kirkland2010-12-03T19:37:48Z2010-12-03T19:37:48ZAs I write this holiday wish I can see four pheasants running across my neighbors lawn. The suet feeder just outside my window is a very popular place and Blue Jays, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Titmice, and Downy Woodpeckers are all visiting frequently. Out over the lake I see two giant white birds and from this distance it’s hard to tell but I think they are Mute Swans. Cardinals are on the ground just outside my window and Ms Beanz is sitting at her favorite place on my desk where she watches the bird feeder. It’s a Good thing she’s small—there isn’t much room on my desk. Bo is at my feet under my desk and Rob is upstairs teaching a systems class online. I am reminded that life is good and minding the small stuff is sometimes a very good thing!
Despite a lousy economy and a bad year for business in general, I’m a happy camper. We survived the year, overcame two incredible health issues (his and hers), and added to our family (Ms Beanz). We are hopeful for our future and thankful for our family, friends, and followers! And we wish you the best of holidays.
I thought you might enjoy seeing these photos of Bo and Ms Beanz helping to decorate (or should I say deck?) our Christmas tree. If you don’t have pets I highly recommend it. These photos say it all!
Happy Holidays and wishing you the very best for a wonderful new year!
Jane & Rob
]]>An Environmental Education Through Citizen Sciencryhttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/10/1/an-environmental-education-through-citizen-sciencry.htmlJane Kirkland2010-10-01T19:23:20Z2010-10-01T19:23:20ZI admire high schools that require their students to do some kind of community service to graduate. I think we should all volunteer for community service at least once during our lives and preferably more than once. I also think that schools should require students to become citizen scientists. Perhaps elementary schools could adapt a citizen scientist requirement for graduation. They might if they knew what it meant to be a citizen scientist, how easy it is to participate, how much their students would learn, and how valuable their contributions would be to our environment.
A citizen scientist program is one in which everyday people (like you and me) volunteer to make scientific field observations and report their observations to a group of scientists. This soundsPhoto by IStockPhoto veryscientific but it isn’t. For example, in Cornell Laboratory’s Project FeederWatch citizens observe the birds at their backyard feeders for 15 minutes a week and report the species and numbers of each species that they see. Scientists benefit from this information; learning more about the movement of species, food preferences, eruptions, and general populations. Subscribers benefit by learning (from Cornell) how to identify species, from observing nature (which is proven to be beneficial to our health), and from knowing they are contributing to science while feeding and supporting wild birds. Besides all that, it’s fun!
From birds to frogs, stars to butterfly migrations, wildflowers to buds on trees, there is a citizen scientist program to suit every taste. Because these programs are designed for “everyday people” (like you and me) they are also well suited for your children to participate.
So let’s get together and ask our schools to promote (and someday require) participation in citizen sciencry (I just made up that word). And until they do, let’s you and I participate with our families. Take baby steps. Start with one simple program you can do with your kids.
Here are some programs, suggestions, and further reading:
]]>Whatever a Blue Jay Feels He Can Put Into Languagehttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/9/22/whatever-a-blue-jay-feels-he-can-put-into-language.htmlJane Kirkland2010-09-22T22:19:31Z2010-09-22T22:19:31ZThere is a group of Jays that live in my neighborhood who come when I call them. You can often hear my out on my deck calling “Peeeaaaaaanut” and those jays will fly to the trees closest to my deck. I’ve even seen them turn in flight at the sound of my voice. Once in the nearby trees they wait quietly as I toss peanuts over the rail or place them on the table on my deck. Then the birds fly quickly to retrieve the peanuts and retreat back to the trees. They will do this as long as I continue to toss nuts. The group of jays can grow to as many as five.The title of this blog is from Mark Twain’s “Jim Baker’s Blue Jay Yarn”
Sometimes they eat the peanuts right away, other times they bury them. I recently read that jays will move their cache during the winter to avoid predation. How do they remember where they buried them the first time, let alone the second or third?
What amazes me most about the jays is how they seek me out. My office is located in my walk-out basement. My computer is right next to a window. When the jays want peanuts they fly to the ground just out side my window and hop around trying to get my attention. They make a two syllable call that, with some imagination, could sound like “Peanut! Peanut!” They sometimes perch on the hose winder which sits just below my window. From there they can see me closely as I sit at my desk.
The jays definitely observe me and know which floor I’m on in the house. Some mornings, if my bedroom curtains are open, the jays perch in the very tops of the trees and call and call until I get out of bed and feed them. My neighbors must hate that.
Here’s another interesting observation. I don’t feed the birds in the summer. It’s nesting season so and the jays don’t come around. But come fall, every year, for about six years now, those jays remember where to find food and how to get it easily. I hadn’t seen them since spring when they showed up about two weeks ago.
Outside my windows they look for me. Calling “Peanut Peanut” - at least, that’s how I hear it. I’m so impressed with the minds of those jays. They’ve done a great job of training me.
]]>The Ants Go Marching One By Onehttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/8/25/the-ants-go-marching-one-by-one.htmlJane Kirkland2010-08-25T14:33:59Z2010-08-25T14:33:59Z“We also checked out some ant activity on the roots and trunk of another nearby tree. This was the first spot where the big explorer actually took several minutes to examine the ants up close with his magnifying glass. Then he explained to me that ants follow a scent (he called it a bad smell). You could break up their game of follow the leader (the only game ants know how to play, he added) by creating a new scent with your finger. He showed me how with such glowing pride that I was speechless.”
That is from the blog of Debi Huang, a Los Angeles-based wife, mom and adventure guide for two young boys. Her blog is the story of her nature-inspired adventures. The “big explorer” is her son.
Their ant adventure reminds me of a book I saw on Amazon and have been meaning to get. It’s called “Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon: Nature Activities for All Ages” by Edward Duensing.
Here’s an excerpt.
To demonstrate that the ants are following a scent, and not just marching behind one another, run your finger across their path, roughing up the soil. The next ant to arrive at the rub mark you made will act quite confused. It will move from side to side and even backward trying to pick up the trail you erased by removing the pheromone with your finger. After much scouting around, the lost ant will eventually recommend the trail you have disturbed and go back to the business of gathering food for the colony.
I can’t honestly recommend the book because I haven’t read it yet but it does look like it’s packed with a lot of ideas.
This summer Debi picked up a copy of our “Take A City Nature Walk” and she discovered some incredible and surprising urban nature. Debi also reviewed City Nature Walk on her blog.. Check out what she thinks of the book, what she discovered on her urban walks, and what her readers have to offer about nature in the city:
]]>Treasures of the Rahway River Park by Jessica Kirste, New Jerseyhttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/5/27/treasures-of-the-rahway-river-park-by-jessica-kirste-new-jer.htmlJane Kirkland2010-05-27T15:34:34Z2010-05-27T15:34:34ZThanks to photographer Jessica Kirste for sharing her photos and memories of the Rahway River Park in New Jersey:
The Clark, New Jersey section of the Rahway River Park is a short walk from my house. There I have discovered many creatures and birds to photograph. Everyday is a new day filled with new photos and new sightings. I’ve always walked by or around the river, even when I was young. When I got into digital photography in 2007 and started to practice using my camera by the river, that’s when my eyes were really opened up to all that lives right in my own backyard. I’ve seen things I have never seen before & been fortunate to have gotten close up with all sorts of wildlife which I would like to share with you here & hope you feel just as close as I have been through my photos.
My favorite is a wood duck that lived in Rahway River Park and hung out with the mallards instead of other wood ducks. I named him “Woody” and would watch him almost everyday. Wood ducks are normally a very skittish duck, but Woody acted more like a mallard and followed a female around.
The closest I have been to Woody would probably be about 5 feet away, and he is beautiful! In a way Woody had helped me because at the time I discovered this colorful little gem, my leg was in a brace and I was awaiting my surgery as my knee needed a ACL reconstruction, but I was motivated
to walk to the park to see Woody and photograph him as much as I could, he got me out there a lot!
My favorite time of year to take pictures has to be spring when the flowers are blooming and the babies are being born. Its a time to celebrate new life in the natural world! So far this year I have come across a mallard, and her eight babies, Canada goose family with six babies in which I have been photographing their progress every weekend, American robins feeding their young and bunnies out to play in the backyard. Its important to note that I don’t disrupt wildlife families when photographing them, I don’t go too close and give them the choice if they want to come closer & many times they do!
The geese seem to accept me and came over with their babies & laid down right along side me.
Last year while photographing Canada geese that only had one gosling, they took the baby too close to the waterfalls and due to the storms we had the day before the gosling got swept over the waterfalls, but survived. The parents flew to him but he was swept down stream. My sister & I searched for him & it wasn’t till the next day that I found him in the park where the river runs through, with a slightly broken beak and bleeding, he survived the cold night alone in the park and I named him Miracle. Miracle’s parents could not be found, so he went to Raptors Trust in Millington, NJ and was rehabilitated and released back into the wild. He recieved a second chance at life!
Photography has helped me to see nature better then ever before. Its also a fun hobby and a great way to connect with nature, hope you all enjoyed my photos and I encourage you to go out with the camera and take photos as well. The camera taught me to see better and I’m sure it will for you too!
Jessica Kirste
]]>March 27 is Earth Hour. Turn off your lights for one hour at 8:30 PM.http://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/3/26/march-27-is-earth-hour-turn-off-your-lights-for-one-hour-at.htmlJane Kirkland2010-03-26T18:56:57Z2010-03-26T18:56:57Z
Celebrate Earth Hour this year by taking a nature night hike for your hour and tell us what you saw and heard!
For more information about Earth Hour visit Earth Hour.org
]]>April is Nature Monthhttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/3/24/april-is-nature-month.htmlJane Kirkland2010-03-24T15:28:36Z2010-03-24T15:28:36ZPodcast: Nature Challenge #1: Find Red-winged Blackbirdshttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/3/23/podcast-nature-challenge-1-find-red-winged-blackbirds.htmlJane Kirkland2010-03-23T09:18:17Z2010-03-23T09:18:17Z
]]>Coming soon (real soon) Podcastshttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/3/22/coming-soon-real-soon-podcasts.htmlJane Kirkland2010-03-23T02:13:40Z2010-03-23T02:13:40ZI’m going to start doing podcasts about nature (what else). The first one is a challenge to go outside and find a red-winged blackbird. If you don’t know that species of bird, this podcast is perfect for you. Watch for a link to the podcast soon (real soon)
NDBTUCGR25ZQ
]]>Top 10 Signs of Springhttp://www.takeawalk.com/jane-kirkland-author/2010/3/19/top-10-signs-of-spring.htmlJane Kirkland2010-03-19T23:58:36Z2010-03-19T23:58:36Z
