Page 101 of 561

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2017

January 5, 2017 / Roberta / 0 Comments

Want to learn more about your local birds? One of our favorite bird-related activities, the Great Backyard Bird Count, is coming up next month:Â February 17-20, 2017.

This bird count is a prime example of aÂ child-friendly citizen science project. Basically all you need to do is count the birds you see over 15 minutes and then report them on the website. Although it is called “backyard,” you can count anywhere birds are found, including parks, preserves, or fields.

There is plenty of information and instructions about getting started at the website.

Looking for more children’s books about birds? Check out Taking Flight: a List of Childrenâ€™s Books About Bird Migration at Science Books for Kids or…

…the list of children’s books for young birdwatchers at Science Books for Kids

You may also want to try:

The bird activities category here at Growing with Science
Our For the Birds Pinterest page.
Â Bird Song’s Harmony is Music to Our Ears at Share It! Science
The Cornell Lab FeederWatch Project for even more educator resources.

Are you planning to participate in The Great Backyard Bird Count? What kinds of birds do you see in your backyard? Let us know!

Bug of the Week: Cotton Leaf Perforator Caterpillar

January 4, 2017 / Roberta / 0 Comments

Even after all these years of recording insects in our yard, it is still possible to discover a few new ones.

Take last week. I found this tiny caterpillar feeding on a Thurber’s cotton leaf.

(I’m afraid the photograph is a bit blurry because it was a windy day.)

With a little research I found out it is the larva of the cotton leaf perforator moth, Bucculatrix thurberiella. The youngest caterpillars mine the leaves on the inside, creating tiny tunnels. When they get larger, they stay on the surface chewing out window panes of leaf tissue.

You can see photographs of the adult moth at Discover Life.

Am I worried about this caterpillar feeding on my plant?

Well, no. First of all the caterpillar is very small, and the plant is very big. Secondly, it is winter and the cotton plant is losing its leaves anyway. What difference does it make if a caterpillar takes a few bites before the leaf falls off?

__________________________________

This is what the Thurber’s cotton plant looked like earlier in the year:

You can see more at this related post about Thurber’s cotton.

10 Favorite Insect Photographs of 2016

December 28, 2016 / Roberta / 2 Comments

Going over my photographs from the last 12 months, I realized I took many fewer shots of insects than in years past. It was still difficult, however, to limit the selection of favorites to just 10.