Great Backyard Bird Count ~ February 19

We decided to go to a local park which is close to a marina, since there was a couple of showings at our house this afternoon. We brought the camera and observed the birds there for about fifteen minutes. It was windy and cold!

We reported seeing:

Canada Goose - 15
Mallard - 11
Ring-billed Gull - 7
Herring Gull - 12.

We think there was probably more, but we counted at least that many before heading back to our car for some warmth!

You can still participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count tomorrow. 

Educational and Fun Events in February

February is full of fun and educational activities that you can do with your children at home! 

{photo from Mystery Class site}

Journey North Mystery Class started this past Monday, but it's not too late to register and take part. "Mystery Class is a global game of hide-and-seek. Follow photoperiod clues to search for ten secret sites around the world. Track sunlight to solve a mystery! Discover the reasons for seasons along the way".

(photo from World Education Games)

World Maths Day, World Spelling Day, and World Science Day will held again this year in March.  "The World Education Games is the exciting event for ALL schools and students around the world. It runs from 6-8 March, involving 5.5million students from over 200 countries and territories. Practice opens on 1 February. This is the global challenge to get ALL students (4-18 years of age) excited about learning, and to give the top students in each school an opportunity to see how they measure up against the best". Homeschoolers are welcomed! We have participated for the last two years and enjoyed these free events. Practice starts today!

(photo from GBBC)

The Great Backyard Bird Count is held February 17 to 20 this year. "The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds".   

Tower of Freedom statue in Windsor

Black History Month is in February as well. Black History Canada has an interesting website with teacher resources. Family Education also has excellent resources with many links: Celebrate Black History Month. I have a few reading suggestions from my past Book Sharing Monday posts here including related links.

Homemade Valentines 2011

Valentine's Day is February 14 and so many sweet ideas are floating around, especially on Pinterest! We liked making these valentines in 2010. 

Groundhog Day is tomorrow, February 2nd! Kaboose has a nice page of the history, activities, and crafts to do.,

So much to do this month! I hope you have a wonderful time with your children learning and discovering together! 

Great Backyard Bird Count ~ February 18 to 21

The Great Backyard Bird Count starts next Friday! We participated last year (you can see our post here), counting birds at our neighbour's feeder from our bedroom window. We spent 15 minutes a day for three days counting how many birds and recording which types of birds we saw. We then submitted our findings to the GBBC site.

Here is the description of the activity from their site:

"The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds."



The site is filled with helpful resources! There are special pages for kids (games, colouring pages, puzzles...), links to online bird guides, and more. I especially like the checklist that you can create by entering your location (postal code, zip code, or city). It lists all the birds that you could see in your area for this time of year. There are also more resources under  "For Educators".  

Let me know if you participate too!