A rainy day workshop with UCSC's Mini Slugs!

During the past week we had the opportunity to visit our former tromping grounds at UC Santa Cruz and teach our first workshop (!) about the birds of the campus. With a bit of wet weather engulfing Santa Cruz for the day, Kevin and forty 6-9 year old campers hunkered down in an "activities" room and talked about bill shapes and sizes.



A big thanks to Chris Lay, curator of the UCSC Museum of Natural History, for letting us use some bird specimens. We spent the morning talking about different birds in Santa Cruz and wondering, "What do they eat?"


True scientists, hard at work, examining a Rufous Hummingbird noggin and accompanying bill


After a discussion about the different types of bills and what they are used for, we built homemade bird feeders out of pine cones, sunflower seed butter, and bird seed.

For more on this art project, follow the link here.

Question of the day (from the campers): Do birds sing in the evening before the sun goes down, too?
Answer: What do you think? Get out there and listen!

We are thankful to have two more workshops scheduled with the campers at UCSC's Sammy Slug Summer Camp. Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare for our adventure this Fall!

Summer Stirrings...

We hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July and are settling into the relaxing and focused time of summer.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot (Sierra Nevada)

Planning for The Bird School Project continues! We have had an overwhelming response from teachers in our first 5 counties (we are fully booked from Crescent City to Marin!) and we continue to reach out to teachers and districts. We have also gained some support from outdoor gear and bike companies who have offered to give us discounts on whatever gear we need for the project. Things are really getting underway!

We are planning and communicating remotely right now. Kevin has been in Port Townsend, Washington spotting the migrating shorebirds while playing his fiddle and Darrow has started working a season of field research in Yosemite National Park studying Pikas and Bighorn Sheep and finding marmots and beautiful alpine Gray-Crowned Rosy Finches.

We plan to be launching our Kickstarter project within the next 2 weeks and are looking forward to getting some support so we can start gearing up for the fall. So keep your eyes out for that!

Also, we are officially on Facebook! Please go like our page at: www.facebook.com/birdschoolproject

We are reaching out to anybody and everybody who can help us get in contact with teachers on the coast or donate gear to our cause. We are currently on the lookout for the following gear:

Bike trailers
Bike tools
Binoculars
Bird Field Guides (can be used)

A White-Tailed Ptarmigan (Sierra Nevada)

As for all of you supporters out there, the summer time can be a great way to get to know the resident birds of your area and to get a look at some of the visiting migrants. Some birds may still be singing in the morning and evening times so try listening out for those before the singing season wraps up! Try putting out a bird bath (can be homemade!) to attract birds during these hot times. This is a simple practice that has the potential to really bring the birds to a central viewing area. Don't get discouraged if they don't come immediately though! Sometimes it takes birds a little while to get used to changes and to simply find new water sources. You can also try visiting areas with natural bodies of water--local ponds, streams, or coastlines. Any place where you might like to swim could be a similar destination for the birds!

And if you're really wanting to learn more about where to go looking for birds or what birds are in your area right now, check out ebird.org. This is an incredible resource for anyone interested in learning more about birds. Go to the "explore data" tab then click on "explore a location" and enter your city or county. You will be able to see all of the birds recently found in your area and where they were found.

Have fun out there and thanks for your support!