We started the morning by touring the Nature Center and learning about different birds. We noticed that the snowy owl has big, yellow eyes and the loon has small, red eyes. Their eyes are different because they search for different types of food! Owls hunt at night, often looking for mice in fields, but loons dive underwater looking for fish. The red of the loons' eyes help them see underwater.
Then, we found a feather on the floor and went on a search to find who it belonged to. It had an iridescent/rainbow coloration to it when we held it in the light. We knew immediately that it did not belong to the loon, woodpecker, or snowy owl. We narrowed it down to two birds: eagle and turkey. We decided the eagle feathers were too big and went to look at the turkey… It was a perfect match! Ms. Paige read the book, Gobble, Gobble by Cathryn Falwell, about a young girl who studies the turkeys in her yard throughout the year. We learned their footprints look like arrows, they can fly, and they can sit in trees.
After snack, we made a turkey craft! We used red, yellow, and orange paint to make feathers around our turkeys and used forks instead of paint brushes because sometimes it is fun to try new and silly things. After we each took turns helping Ms. Paige clean up, we hiked down to the Rock Beach and Jack’s Creek to look for turkeys. We did not find any, but we did find deer tracks by the river and sticks to go fishing with. We look forward to one more adventure together this fall!
