The final session of our science classes with the Stokes Nature Center was held Thursday, 10 May. This time we met at Benson Bridge to learn more about the wetlands. It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for bird watching and other activities.
We observed cliff swallows and a few barn swallows flitting all around the bridge trying to catch insects to eat. As we were waiting for things to begin, we watched them fly to and from their mud nests which lined the underside of the bridge.
The children were divided into 2 groups and participated in several different activities. Megan's group started off with a lesson about bird identification, and they used field guides to help them identify birds they saw.
Ian's group started off learning about aquatic insects and their characteristics. Then they collected water samples and tried to identify the creatures they found. They also learned about soil composition and looked at a cross-section of a soil sample taken by an area where cattails were growing.
Walking along the river's edge, we saw some recent beaver activity and some fairly fresh raccoon tracks in the mud.
Ian asked if we could return sometime and try to follow the raccoon tracks further. He also wanted to try to catch some frogs. We promised to bring the children back for another adventure at night (see future post).
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