After about four days of observing the little critters we brought home from the pond, we decided it was best to return them to their rightful home. Why? Well, one one variety of little critters swimming around was mosquito larvae!! No, thank you for them finishing their life cycle in my house!
We also believe we had tadpoles, caddis fly larvae, water louse, some sort of teeny tiny black shelled snails (we saw two mating!) and unidentified microscopic black spots swimming everywhere. That was a lot of critters in one cup full of pond water!
Before heading home, we visited two springs near the pond. The first is a small spring flowing into a creek. The second is a spring that was dammed up many, many years ago as a watering hole for farm animals. Isn’t it pretty? Does anyone know what sort of plant is growing in it?
Oh, and look who we heard, then saw as we headed back toward the truck. If you can’t tell, its a woodpecker!
Mahayla and one of her best buds have been planning a camping trip since January. Yes, that’s FIVE months! After many revised lists, faxes to one another and late nights on the phone planning, the trip finally happened this weekend. The two girls and two other best buds (along with a couple of Dads and, to their dismay, a brother) spent two nights on the back of our farm.
The girls planned every single aspect of the trip and even raised money to buy all their supplies! Now, for a planner like Mahayla, it was a tad difficult when a few plans had to be changed, but overall the trip was great! It was even more great that I didn’t have to go!!
We’ve known about a couple of sinkholes on our farm since we bought it six years ago. Of course, when you think sinkhole, you think cave. Especially living in Central KY and knowing that limestone is a predominate rock in our area.
A couple of summers ago, we found cave dwelling salamander – fittingly called a Cave Salamander near one of the sinkholes.
After a huge amount of rain this spring, one of our sinkholes is eroding in a big way. In fact, last fall my husband was easily able to drive his tractor over the area as the sinkhole was hard to see if you didn’t know exactly where is was. Take a look at it now!
There are three main holes with several smaller holes all in the same area. As you can tell, hubby has put up markers to keep the tractors away!!
Here is a picture of the lay of the land. After visiting Mammoth Cave, this lay of the land looks very similar to the sinkhole land you find there.
Now I just need to find someone willing to do some exploring and find out just what sort of cave system we might be living on!
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Erosion is a fascinating topic for nature study. Don’t know where to start? I do. With Everchanging Erosion!
We have hawks on our farm that we’ve spotted before. Usually we see them swooping through the sky or hear their screachy call. On occasion, we’ve come upon one on the fence post, but it’s always flown away very quickly. The other day, though, we were given a rare opportunity by this red-tailed hawk to sit in the car and watch it for almost a full minute! It’s a beautiful creature that’s even more lovely when it flies. And those talons – watch out mice!
And just what do you do when you happen upon an awesome opportunity like this? Keep the learning going by pulling out Beautiful Birds, of course!
So here’s what I had envisioned. A peaceful day at the pond with children who ever-so-quietly and diligently explored life in and around the pond. Children who would pull out their nature journals at every interesting find, writing lovely poems and prayers. A day of discovery and awe.
Here’s what happened. Children racing around the pond, boys jumping in, muddy water, lots of laughing, and yet lots of exploring still. I’m not sure much nature journaling was accomplished, but most of the children went home with a cup full of nature to continue exploring. Their plan was WAY BETTER than mine! (Oh, and Colleene, SO sorry about the shoes!! )
The day started in my house with prayer, a little pond talk and the making of our underwater viewfinders. (These are easy. Cut the bottom out of an old container – milk, 2-liter, large yogurt. If needed, cut a bit of the top out, too, so you can easily look down through the container. Cover the bottom with plastic wrap, securing with a rubber band or duct tape. Submerge the plastic side into water and see what you can find under the water!)
Then, off to the pond we went. The kids had to first walk all the way around the pond, observing life on the edges. They were supposed to journal something they found. (Notice these are all girls!)
Then, they used the viewfinders to look down into the water. Again, they were supposed to journal something they found.
Finally, they used jars tied to poles to scoop water and life out for observation. Again, they were supposed to journal something they found.
Talk about hands-on learning. I think we might even be able to call this body-on learning. They had so much fun and I’m sure learned a thing or two in the process. At least that’s what I’m still envisioning.
We brought home a bit of moss and pond water. This morning, we were able to identify at least SIX different forms of life in about a cup’s worth of water!! For sure we have some tadpoles, water bugs and tiny snails. There are also tiny, tiny, tiny specks swimming around, tiny, tiny, tiny snake-like creatures and some oblong clear eggs with no observable animals inside. I can’t wait to see what grows!
Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems is a book full of pond poetry. Yes, I had even carted this to the pond thinking some sweet child would just love to write poetry in their nature journal. It wasn’t cracked open until later in the house! HaHa!
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Would YOU like to have wonderful pond studies? You can! Peaceful Ponds gives you all you need – except the pond.
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is a book full of pond poetry. Yes, I had even carted this to the pond thinking some sweet child would just love to write poetry in their nature journal. It wasn’t cracked open until later in the house! HaHa!
