Monday, July 11, 2011

Nature Study: Summer Trails Part 3

This mornings nature hike was a bit overcast and very comfortable as far as weather is concerned.  The kids were looking forward to it.  They've been wanting to hike to this great Teepee set up in the middle of some trails.  It wasn't the longest hike there, which was a good thing, because we didn't have much time today.  Two weeks of swimming lessons started this morning at 9:45, so our time was on a clock.  I asked the kids to look for living creatures today, specifically insects and bugs.  This is what each one discovered:

Bush or Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani)

Fly
 Please forgive me,  this area of classification of the animal kingdom, I admit to be pretty bad at.  Just never really got into insects and such.  (do you smell a phobia, I'm getting better, I'm really trying) We're definitely working on figuring these out.
Bee (you know someone had to spot it)
If anyone knows what these are, please let us know.  My son couldn't get enough of it, especially its color.  I don't even know how to begin to find out.  : (

We spotted a blue bird that landed on this tree.  I wish you could see it better.  It really was very pretty.  My son said "Oh, where was he last week, we needed blue!"

On the way back, we decided to take a second trail that also led us to the entrance.  It was definitely more adventuresome.  We had to go through some of these:
And these:

The last time we went through here, my 18 month old was only an infant and my husband had to carry a stroller for my now 3 yr old.  We had no idea they were there.  No stroller this time : )

7 comments:

Silvia said...

Amazing nature, right? I love your pics and your hikes, thanks for sharing.

Jenny said...

Thanks Silvia, We've always enjoyed this very sporadically, but it is nice to have started this routine. I'm glad I can bring my camera to share, even if my husband teases me and says I look like a tourist on our hikes :)

Serena said...

I love all of these beautiful images, especially the one of the bee. It's wonderful to make time for hiking and enjoying nature. It's really fun to be a tourist in your own back yard. We love to do that!

Eva said...

About the bug, I have seen similar ones in southern France. Could it be a milkweed bug?

Jenny said...

Thanks Eva!! I think you're right. There are milkweed bugs in Southern CA. This looks like a large one vs. the smaller ones. : )

Eva said...

You are very welcome!

Charlotte Mason in the City said...

You found some amazing things...and I'm especially impressed that you accomplished this BEFORE the morning swim class. I'm going to be inspired by this for my own efforts to have productive mornings.

I laughed about the stairs. Those are some mighty big staircases. :)