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Guide 4C Field Sketching

Resources

Additional activities, a behind-the-scenes gallery, recommended books, and more.

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About this Guide

Life of Birds

The closest the most of us get to regularly encountering wild animals are the birds that have adapted into cities and suburbs around the world.  We may feed and water them, build them nest boxes, or plant gardens that attract their prey.  But they still maintain many of their instinctual behaviors; migrating with the seasons, succumbing to parasitic diseases, and communicating in ways we still do not fully understand.  They may be commonplace, but they are anything but ordinary.
Lesley

Additional Activities

Winter Feeders

Keep track of how many birds you encounter in a single day: wild birds, food, decorations, movies, cultural references… It is quickly apparent that we interact more with these animals than most others.

Squirrel!

If you want a reliable animal source of data, find a squirrel’s territory and watch it at different times of day and from one season to the next.  For some reason, we do not have a squirrel population on our 10 acres, even with an oak grove and plenty of nesting spots.  It could be the fox or feral cats in the neighborhood.  So we live vicariously through everyone else’s squirrels.
Set up different seeds in different feeders and record bird preferences. See if it correlates with beak shape and size.

Seed Study

Set up different seeds in different feeders and record bird preferences. See if it correlates with beak shape and size.
Some birders put out suet blocks in the winter as a calorie source for birds. Suet is a hard white fat made from the kidneys and loins (area on both sides of the spine right above the hipbones) of cows and sheep.

Winter Energy

Some birders put out suet blocks in the winter as a calorie source for birds. Suet is a hard white fat made from the kidneys and loins (area on both sides of the spine right above the hipbones) of cows and sheep.

Behind-the-Scenes

It never really gets easier working with recently dead organisms, but we try to turn them into educational opportunities whenever possible.

Learning Experiences

It never really gets easier working with recently dead organisms, but we try to turn them into educational opportunities whenever possible.
For those species that are protected and uncommon, we use replicas of bones and fur. Some are so well made, they are difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

Replicas

For those species that are protected and uncommon, we use replicas of bones and fur. Some are so well made, they are difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

Recommended Books

The companion book to a series with amazing bird footage.

The companion book to a series with amazing bird footage.

Step-by-step guide to produce high quality nature illustrations.

Step-by-step guide to produce high quality nature illustrations.

Claudia Nice has authored a number of useful books on capturing nature in watercolor.

Claudia Nice has authored a number of useful books on capturing nature in watercolor.

Build a Library

Whether its digital or print, collect resources that assist in exploring, describing, and explaining the natural world.

Field Sketching Product Page

Complete this module’s products before advancing on to the next module

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4B: Identification

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4C: Field Sketching

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Research Question 5:

Why is it here?