Spring Nature Table: Birds, Eggs, Nests part 3

It is hard to believe we are close to the end of April.  Spring is blooming around here and I've been meaning to post about our spring nature table. No surprise, my kids have really enjoyed our bird watching so after Lent I decided to take down the crosses and decorate our board with a beautiful set of California bird eggs & a few nests.

A few months back I found an Etsy shop (oneeyedog) that had ornamental bird eggs.  I contacted the owner and asked if she could send me the eggs with the corresponding bird names.  She was kind enough to suggest creating a set of popular California bird eggs just for us.  They turned out just wonderful, thanks Scarlett:

Our table also has a few wood pieces for my little ones.  I ordered from another neat Etsy shop filled with the creation of a homeschooling family, The Fig and Thimble, a life cycle cube and a set of bird/nest matching game (the squares come in an adorable recycled fabric pouch; you can see it hanging under our board).  Their art work is just beautiful and if you want to know more about them visit Kimberlee's blog Pondered in My Heart.  They're amazing and wonderful:

And as you know, the table couldn't be complete without our book basket filled with some great titles:

• In the Nest by Anna Milbourne and Laurence Cleyet-Merle
• Tony's Birds by Millicent Selsam
• Bird Watchers and Bird Feeders by Glenn Blough
• Dancers in the Garden by Joanne Ryder
• The Birdwatchers by Simon James
• Backyard Birds of Winter by Carol Lerner
• Backyard Birds of Summer by Carol Lerner
• Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds by Jim Arnosky
• An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Aston
• Secrets of the Nest by Joan Dunning
• The Nest by Maryjo Koch

And our field guides:

• Sierra Birds: A Hiker's Guide
• All The Birds of North America
• First Field Guide: Birds (National Audubon Society)
• Birds' Eggs (Eyewitness Handbooks)

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post: the kids have been enjoying watching the birds in our backyard and are starting to branch out into learning about their eggs and even becoming fascinated with their nests.  Here are some gorgeous birds we've been able to catch in our backyard with our camera this spring:

We've also been paying close attention to all those White Crowned Sparrows that enjoyed our homemade bird feeders.  My eight year old observed lots of activity near one of our bushes and decided to quietly get closer to the scene.  She discovered a nest within the bush and was just thrilled.  We either couldn't see from our angle or were too late to capture any eggs in it:

Mind you, my spring nature table book list doesn't include our selection of John James Audubon; which we focused on last spring.  This study included a bird watching field trip with a naturalist and a trip to the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology Museum.  This was really a great place to visit; we might have to go again.  I've been working on this post all week and when I read Dawn's birthday wish to Mr. Audubon this morning;  I knew in his honor I just had to post today!  Check out some of her suggested titles and links about Mr. Audubon .