A trip down memory lane and teaching on home turf

We were well received at Darrow's alma mater

At the end of last week, we arrived in the sunny and busy city of Los Angeles. Darrow is from LA, so this trip has been a time of visiting family and working in the community. A highlight this week was visiting Darrow's old middle school on Tuesday--The Wesley School. Wesley is a tiny school with a strong sense of community and it felt great to be back! Darrow was able to reconnect with the few teachers that are still teaching since his time there and got to roam his old stomping grounds in search of birds with the current 7th graders. We worked with Mr. Vance's science class, learned some basic bird skills in the class and then spent some time in the courtyards and had some amazing looks at Yellow-rumped Warblers, House Finches, Anna's Hummingbirds, and our old favorite, the Black Phoebe. We had a couple of solid hours to work, which gave us time to journal and come up with some great science fair project questions. Some of the questions they came up with could someday be master's thesis questions! Things like, "Do the birds have specific territories at our school and are these species territorial?" and, "How come the house finches and warblers hang out in the same place if they have different bills and behaviors?" and, "What are all of the birds getting out of the gutter?" are all great questions that could be answered through continued observation and scientific methods.

If you have not gone back to visit your old school, we highly recommend it. Find out a way to give back to your school and go for a visit. It means the world to teachers!

Darrow reunited with his middle school science teacher--Mr. Vance!

Today, we worked with El Rodeo school--a K-8th school near Darrow's mom's house where his younger brother and sister--Jack and Emily-- attend. We worked with four classes in a row--two kindergarten classes, a third grade class, and a fourth grade class! It was a very full day in yet another urban school, but we continued to see beautifully inspiring birds such as the Yellow-rumped Warbler. This warbler has taken on a new and endearing name amongst Bird School students: "butter butt."

The Yellow-rumped Warbler showing off the "butter butt."

El Rodeo kindergartners sneakily watch a Bewick's Wren.

Kevin and his wonderful bird song orchestra.

We will wrap up our quick visit to LA with a second day at El Rodeo tomorrow (another four classes!). Looking forward to it!

Inspiration from the 3rd graders at Linwood E Howe Elementary

As we walked into Lili Glassman's 3rd grade class at Linwood E. Howe Elementary in Culver City, Los Angeles, CA, there was an apparent shimmer of excitement. Students were yelling across the room, welcoming us and sharing stories of birds they had seen. Some stories seemed like tall tales, but as our walk about their campus began, what also became apparent was that these kids all had a keen awareness for the natural world. Each student seemed to have a favorite spot where they had seen a bird, or thought they had seen a nest, that they wanted to show us. Some of these favorite spots even included bird feeders, bird baths, and bird houses in the yards of neighboring houses across the street.

Students hands shot in the air at every question Darrow asked.

Olivia tallies up the species list while Darrow talks about eBird.

 We spent a whole hour walking the school premises in search of birds high and low. The students jumped at the opportunity to count the number of birds we were seeing and added up a total of forty nine birds, across nine different species!

Good listeners make good scientists.

When in doubt, figure it out.

We were sad to be leaving these students so quickly, however we know that their curiosity and awareness will carry them a long way.