Outdoor Hour Challenge #34

It might seem odd that we jumped from Challenge # 3 to #34, but we'll be doing a lot of that. When it fits for us to join the current challenge, we will. Other times, we'll do whatever previous challenge works with our climate and our current interests. We had already decided to do Challenge #11, Year Long Tree Study, though I haven't blogged about it. Dennis chose our Florida Red Maple as his tree. So, when Barb announced that she would be leading a tree study, it fit right in where we are.

We planted the tree in either 2002 0r 2003. I sure wish I had written it down, but I do have pictures somewhere. Some time during this study I'll find them. The tree was around 4 -5 feet when we planted it.

Acer rubrum
Our Red Maple is sometimes called a Florida Red Maple. I'm not sure what the difference is, and that will be one of the things we'll try to find out. Some years the leaves turn color and fall off. Some years they just fall off. Some years they don't fall off. Last year we had a mild winter (in Florida terms), and the tree stayed green all year. While most people doing the challenge are probably enjoying the colors, we're wondering if this year will produce colors and leaf drop. As for flowering, that usually happens in December or January.

Night and Day

Full Moon
October 14, 2008

Morning Sky
October 15, 2008

Outdoor Hour Challenge #3 - Time to Draw

"We might as well declare that a child should not speak unless he put his words into poetry, as to declare that he should not draw because his drawings are not artistic."
--Anna Botsford Comstock, The Handbook of Nature Study

The above quote has nothing to do with my son, but has to do with my attitude towards drawing. You see, I've always been one of those "I can't draw" people. I grew up in a time and place where only those who showed talent were encouraged to draw. I'm working on unloading that baggage.

We set out early morning on the day we did this assignment. If we didn't, it would be too hot by mid-morning. We covered ourselves in sunblock and bug repellent, and got on our bikes to head for the neighborhood park. The park is really just a big lot. The original owners of the property on which our subdivision was built had that lot set aside for a neighborhood park. It isn't really used much, but we're glad it's there. Morning sunlight was streaming through the palms.

The first thing Dennis did was look for baby toads. He found plenty, and though they were fast, he was able to catch one and asked me to photograph it.


We spotted these unidentified mushrooms growing out of what once was the base of a palm tree. The tree was likely lost in the 2004 hurricanes.




We both enjoyed seeing the White Peacock (butterfly) and Eastern Pondhawk (dragonfly).





































It was now 9:30, and the heat was getting oppressive so we headed for home. On the way, we saw this curious squirrel who is either very brave or not very smart. The red-shouldered hawk will take a squirrel for a meal. My husband saw one do it in our backyard once. The squirrel kept creeping closer to the hawk, who was pretending not to see him. Finally the squirrel came to his senses and ran the other way. I wasn't able to get a decent picture because I didn't want to go into someone's front yard.



















When we got home, Dennis drew in his journal. I drew mine, the dragonfly, later in the evening.

In Which a Gopher Tortiose Comes to Stay

It was an ordinary evening. I was fixing dinner, and ds said he'd be out front riding his scooter. Seconds later he came running inside shouting something that included the words "turtle" and "driveway". Dh and I went out to see what he was talking about. The neighbors were already there.

Sure enough, there was a Gopher Tortoise in our driveway. We watched it walk across our front yard and stop at our elderly neighbor's gate. The neighbor opened his gate to allow it into his yard. Excitement over. Back to dinner. Well, no. Later that evening, it dug under the fence and came into our yard. Within a day, it had a burrow in our yard. Ds, the nature boy, was beside himself.

The Gopher Tortoise is listed as threatened in some states; endangered in others. In Florida it's a Species of Special Concern. Habitat loss due to development is the greatest threat to the future of this species. It's illegal to move one, other than to get it out of immediate danger (such as if one is in the middle of a road). So, we have a new back yard resident. Occasionally we see him in the yard eating weeds. As I prepare for our fall garden (the best time for gardening in Central Florida), I need to keep him in mind. As much as we love having him live here, I don't want him eating our vegetables.

I took some video and pictures when he first showed up in our front yard, and took pictures in the back yard a few days later. So here he is, Gopherus polyphemus, aka Tortera.

Outdoor Hour Challenges 1 & 2

As we already did the first two challenges earlier this month, I'm just going to combine them into one post. If I try to wait until I have time to post seperately about each one, I'll get hopelessly behind. Not behind on the challenges themselves, but on blogging about them.

Challenge #1
For the first challenge, we were simply to get outside for 10-15 minutes and spend time observing. Back inside, we talk about what we saw and decide on two things to investigate further. Our first day was a bit different. Observing nature isn't new to us. Formal nature study is. We went out, looked around, and commented on what we were seeing. I always find it interesting how ds and I notice different things. He keyed in on animal life, while I noticed plant life. We both however, noticed the Zebra Longwing butterfly, the dragonfly, and our resident Gopher Tortoise who he named Tortera (yes, he's a Pokemon fan).

We collected a few leaves for leaf rubbings -- from our Florida Red Maple, and one of our orange trees. We also picked a few Beach Sunflowers for pressing.

Challenge #2

We did the second challenge during Tropical Storm Fay. Though we're in an area where there was much flooding, we're thankful that all we got was a lot of wind and a decent amount of rain. There were questions to answer for Challenge 2, Using Your Words:

Use one word to describe something you heard -- toads
Use two words to describe something you saw -- toad eggs
Use three words to describe something you felt -- hot, strong wind

Not bad. I think we'll keep working on descriptions by returning to this challenge every now and then.

Formal Nature Study

We're going to try for formal nature study this school year. In addition to joining a nature study club in our local homeschool group, we plan to do Barb's Outdoor Challenges. We've done the first 2 challenges, and I will blog about them later this week. Also this week, we'll be doing the 3rd challenge.

We're armed with field guides, a camera, and our nature journals. My son (11 next week) has always been a nature lover, so he is looking forward to adding nature study to our school week.

My real blog location

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with this blog. Sometimes I have to sign in to my blogger account in order to post a comment on other blogger sites.

My active blog is here.

This blog is resting until I decide what to do with it. Please visit my homeschool blog

Learning in the Sunshine State

Not Abandonded

This blog really isn't abandoned. It's my homepage, so every time I open Firefox, I see it and feel guilty for not posting. The truth is, I'm just not gardening that much. Oh, I'm pulling weeds, and planting a few things here and there, but not really gardening.

What I am doing is enjoying taking pictures of wildlife and nature. Bugs, flowers, birds, butterflies, lizards, and even squirrels. Most often I take them in my back or front yard, but sometimes elsewhere. In fact, the flower in the heading is from my hibiscus plant on the side of our house. So now I'm trying to come up with a new blog name, and will change the focus from gardening to nature in general.