Songbirds and More

We had the joy of learning about birds today with Ms. Ruth.  So much fun learning with her and enjoyed her expertise.

We started our meeting a little early so we could have the first of our 4Hers present about the management techniques.

Brianna shared information about Controling Non-Native Invasive Vegetation and Fish or Wildlife Survey.

Naomi taught about Decrease/Increase Harvest.

And, Coty told us about Wildlife Damage Management.

Then Ms. Ruth arrived just as we were discussing the possibility of a fundraiser to help cover the cost for the State contest next month.  We are looking at having a raffle.

Ms. Ruth jumped right in telling us about how to identify birds by looking at distinguishing markings.  She passed out stuffed animal birds for the group to view as she spoke.  Some of the main areas of interest on a birds are:

Beak
Crown (and sometimes Crest)
Nape
Back
Rump
Tail
Chin
Neck
Chest
Legs

It was also so fun to hear Ruth's stories of how she started birding.  She says it started when she found a baby starling that she raised.  However, I think she was born with a love for birds.  Her stories of her childhood experiences were amazing!  I especially loved hearing how she wanted a pet pigeon because she had read about homing pigeons.  She thought she could catch a pigeon and teach it to send messages!  She went downtown on the city bus and actually caught a bird that she fed in order to catch in a paper bag.  She succeeded and carried the bird home in the bag with everyone staring at her on the bus as the bird was trying to escape!

We reviewed all of the birds on our list (well beyond the songbirds she was originally asked to discuss!) and showed us many pictures from her field guides.

She ended our time together with Bird Bingo.  I did not know if the 4Hers would like playing but they asked to play three rounds and they were also so quiet as they concentrated on her pictures of birds!

A big thank you to Ms. Ruth for sharing her amazing knowledge of birds with us!