Summer is a great time to hang out with the birds! Their variety in size, shape, color and song is fantastic. Take hikes to different types of forest areas, along different bodies of water, and at different times of the day and you will see and hear an amazing array of birds.
Bring a pair of binoculars if you have them and you will be able to see the stunning detail and beauty of even the most common birds. Bring a bird I.D. book to learn the names and other interesting facts about your favorite birds. Record their songs or listen to them from a bird song C.D. or from the Internet.
To attract birds to your house, make some simple feeders by collecting pine cones, smear peanut butter between the seeds and then push different kinds of bird seed such as sunflower, millet and thistle into the peanut butter.
Tie a string to each cone and hang them from tree branches next to windows so you can watch the birds as they come and go. Another simple way to attract birds is to put pieces of fruit such as orange halves onto a spike or wedge them into the crook of trees.
Make a bird mobile by coloring and cutting out these common northern Minnesota birds. If you aren’t sure what color they are, find them in a bird book, or watch for them outside. Glue the cut-outs to cardstock paper and then cut them out again, poke small holes at the top of each bird and hang them with thread to a stick. Hang your new mobile from the ceiling or a lamp. As you learn the different birds, draw your own and add them to the mobile. Soon, you will have a whole flock!
Kelly Dupre of Grand Marais is an artist, children’s author, and educator with over 20 years teaching experience with all age groups in a variety of settings. The activities in this once-amonth column are spin-offs and combinations of ideas she has used and learned from teachers, parents, kids, books, and workshops. Only some of the activities has she actually thought of herself! Do you have a project or an idea you would like to see on the Whirligigs page? Let us know! Send your suggestion to starnews@boreal.org.
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