osprey94's Blog
osprey94's posts about: yellowthroat
May 23, 2007 | 7:54 PM PST
Tags: yellowthroat , red-breasted sapsucker , flying squirrel
Went on a field trip with my fourth graders today. We walked on a trail built next to the Chehalis River (the river everything drains into in our watershed) and learned about the species of plants and animals that depend on the river for survival. We saw the resident pair of bald eagles soaring over the river and landing in their monstrous nest. We saw a common yellowthroat (my first time seeing one in the wild)
(courtesy of enature.com)
There he is, the little scoundrel. Wearing his smart little mask.
and a woodpecker. The woodpecker had a red head and so I call out "a red-headed woodpecker!". Well, it should be called that! Red head...of the woodpecker variety...what else would ya call it? I had a tickle in the recesses of my brain telling me that that wasn't the right name. I looked it up on enature.com and lo...I was right about being wrong. Behold:
(courtesy of enature.com)
A redbreasted sapsucker. Well, okay...I guess. Now I have to do damage control tomorrow and tell the kids and the adults who were present that I actually had no idea what I was talking about. Yay! I feel like I have to do that quite a bit. Ah, well, I tried.
Didn't get any work done in the garden today. After being outside almost all day on the field trip, I didn't mind so much not going back out again after I got home, especially since it got cloudy and rainy. My tomato babies did just fine outside last night. Guess I'll leave them out tonight too. Hopefully, they'll get some sun tomorrow. I don't use indoor lights on them when I grow them from seed. I just put them in a sunny window. I feel like they'd be a little less lanky and scrawny if I had, so I'm trying to make up for it by getting them out in full sun as much as possible. I'll probably plant them in this weekend.
I'd love to get a greenhouse. I'm intimidated by what a project it'd be, though. I have enough projects going on. I've got to stop myself!
Fourteen more days of school and I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Free to garden and frolic in the meadow and lie on the hammock and read, read, read. Whoooopeeeee!!!! I'm a teeny, tiny bit excited, I think.
Here's what I hope is lurking in my forest and yard tonight:
1. flying squirrels (So cute I want to taste one. Not to eat it, just to mouth it a little. You understand, right? Right?)
2. skunks
3. raccoons
4. porcupines
5. owls (I know they're out there. I hear 'em)
Goodnight flying squirrels: one day we will be together and we will be happy.
