Nature Study–On the Computer

The topic for this week’s blog cruise is “Winter Nature Study”. Well, we love being outdoors, but the problem is, we live in Florida. Our winter temperatures usually run in the 70’s, and this year have been running in the 80’s, so, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between our summer and winter nature studies around here! We look foreward to sea turtle nesting season in the spring, but for now, to get our “winter nature fix” we have to go online!! That’s why I love this website, that features live wildlife webcams we can watch!!

The site (Sportsman’s Paradise Online) first came to my attention when a friend of mine shared a link on facebook of these cute baby owls. You could watch them in the nest, sleeping, eating, etc. After checking out the site, I realized you could see all types of birds, from owls to hawks to eagles, as well as bears, deer, fish and other animals. The camera’s are operational at different times of the year, and the site includes some links to information about the animals that you can use for instruction. Typically, we will simply go to our local library and check out books about the animals we are watching, and my kids will usually log information in their nature handbooks.

To check out the webcams, click here:
http://sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Webcams.html

Another thing we try to do is study the various types of birds we see in our yard as they migrate south for the winter. We live on the river and typically, a lot of birds end up in our big oak trees. We have a HUGE redheaded woodpecker that visits our yard, as well as finches, ducks that like to swim in the pool, and the occasional falcon looking for a squirrel. I have the boys take pictures of the birds when they are in our yard, and we research them, either online or at the library.

I even found this cool website “The Great Backyard Bird Count” for kids, which encourages them to keep track of the birds they see in their yard, and submit the info online. The site has info about birds and maps you can check out too!

So, that’s how we do our winter nature study. If you have other cool sites I can check out, let me know. To see what other TOS Crew members have to say on this topic, click here: