Monday, May 14, 2007

Fledglings


Just wanted to post pictures of the baby song sparrows one last time. They usually leave the nest right after they fledge. Once they do that they are very hard to find because they hide all over the place in the grass. Look how much they have grown in only a couple days. They can barely fit in the nest now!

Song Sparrow Fledglings in Nest

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Song Sparrow Nest


A pair of song sparrows built a nest in our old Christmas tree (which is in a brush pile to be burned at a later date) this spring. The eggs hatched sometime last week and I managed to get pictures of the babies on Monday of this week:


Baby Song Sparrows in Nest



I went to check on them today and almost got a picture of mom on the nest feeding them, but she got scared and hopped back into the brush pile when I pulled the camera out. I want a telephoto lense for my camera someday! Anyway, I did get another picture of the babies so you can see how much they have grown in less then a week (and even managed to remember to turn on my macro setting this time...check out those pinfeathers!):



Song Sparrow Fledglings in Nest


The needles in the tree are drying out fast now that the weather is getting hot (as you can see in the pictures), so the poor things have lost all their shade as the needles have fallen off. After I took this picture I covered them with some branches from a grape vine and they were much cooler.

One more nest...yay!!!

Oh neat! Look what I just found this evening:



Song Sparrow Eggs in Nest


Another song sparrow nest! It was getting dark, so the eggs are a bit out of focus, but I wanted to get a picture before they hatched. Song sparrows often nest on the ground (as this one did), so I always keep the upper part of the yard in it's "natural" state (i.e. I don't mow it) and I hike around frequently looking for nests. When I do find one I mark it so no one accidentally steps on it. I also keep the grass around the creek high in case a duck or Canadian goose decides to nest there. Being in the country, we can keep our grass however we want!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Oh Yeah...This Is Why I Homeschool!


Attacks On Teachers Up
CNN's Deborah Feyerick looks at vicious classroom attacks on teachers, a growing trend in Philadelphia. (Shame on these teachers for actually expecting their students to listen to them!)

Mom Starts Fight On School Bus
WTSP's Preston Rudie reports on a video showing a woman encouraging her daughter to fight on a school bus. (Momma mia!)

New Conflicts Disclosed in Reading First Program
Officials who gave states advice on which teaching materials to buy under a federal reading program had deep financial ties to publishers, according to a congressional report Wednesday. (But they had the students' best interests in mind...honest!)

Teacher Denies Student Bathroom Break During Test
A sixth-grader who was denied permission to use the restroom while taking a state achievement test this week had an accident in class. Bathroom breaks are permitted during the tests... (I am sure he was not stigmatized by his peers after this.)

Student Suspended for "Relieving Himself" In Class
School officials on Monday suspended a 14-year-old boy who said he had to urinate in a bottle after his science teacher refused to let him use the restroom. The teacher was being transferred to another school. (Um...are we seeing a trend here? As a homeschooler though, I have to admire the kid's ingenuity!)

Some Georgia School Districts to Offer Bible Classes
The state school board approved curriculum in March for teaching the Bible in Georgia's high schools. (Does this mean a child would fail if they weren't Christian and refused to take part in the classes?)

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

What the Heck is That???


Tree Fort Kids Built
This is the fort my kids built! Well, the engineering department is having problems developing a roof that supports the weight of a five year old, so it is a work in progress...

Monday, May 7, 2007

Excuse Me, Does Your Leech Bite?


We have always noticed leeches in the creek that goes through our back yard, but never one as big as the one my boys found today. He was not a cooperative leech and there was no way I was going to hold him, but I did manage to get a some pictures before he slithered away. He really blended in with his surroundings and was hard to see in most of the pictures, but here is one of him right before he slipped back into the creek (there is some sand and a piece of grass on his back):

The Blob!!!

Leech on Rock

I wish I had been brave enough to hold him so you could see just how big he was. Scrunched up like he is in the picture he would fill up the palm of my hand, but he could stretch out until he was a good seven inches long (*shudders*). Here he looks like a slug, but when he stretched out he looked more like an eel. I tried to find out what type of leech he was, but I didn't have any luck. If I ever do find out I will be sure to post it here!

I did manage to find some great websites about these strange creatures:

Leeches (Australia Museum)

Leeches!

Worm World: Larry Leech (They have a picture of one that is kind of pretty!)

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Spring Has Finally Sprung!


Not a very original title, but it sums up why I haven't been able to keep up with my blog. After a late spring snowstorm last month, the weather has warmed up very nicely and we have been spending a lot of time outside. Living on a 54-acre farm, we are never lacking for things to do outside, especially this time of year.

We went to see the midnight showing of Spiderman 3 on Thursday night (I suppose that should read Friday morning, but it was dark, i.e. night!). I only took Tucker and Dylan because there was no way Sydney would make it through the whole movie and I am not paying $5 for her to flop around next to me in an uncomfortable theater seat. She was not happy about it, so I had to promise to take her to a movie over the weekend. Guess that lets you know who wears the pants in this family! We had a lot of fun and the boys were the only kids there other then one other homeschool family who came along with us. Of course the kids all ran to the very front row, so I sat closer to the back with the other mom. Only problem is we just had one big bucket of popcorn (free refills!!) and the kids took it up with them where they were sitting. I should probably thank them, though, for sparing my hips the extra fat!

(Spiderman 3 was an okay movie, but not as good as the first two. Definitely one to see in the theater for all the special effects! Small kids might get scared in a couple places, but my boys loved it and are already asking to go see it again.)