Southern California: Hope, habitat, and happenings

Amidst a mid-week rain storm, The Bird School Project was back in action this week in Southern California. We kicked off the week visiting Hope Elementary School in Santa Barbara.
We visited two 6th grade classes (Mr. S. and Mrs. Thurston) in the morning. Students were excited to learn that the trees surrounding their soccer field made great habitat for Yellow-rumped warblers and Bushtits, two common birds in California. We spent some time comparing call notes between the two. What do you think?

Bushtit sounds

Yellow-rumped sounds

A tried and true method for a bird photographer without a zoom lens.

Another highlight from our morning walk was when we took the students outside and before going to look for birds, we asked them to just stand quietly and listen. Upon doing that, a young girl's eyes got very wide and she said, "I never knew we had so many birds here! This is incredible!" It is moments like this that make all of our work this fall worth it.

Oh, what you'll find if you sit and listen a while!

Most schools have a large area for play, like a field or blacktop, but what happens when you add a few trees?

After lunch we switched age groups and took Mrs. Thornton's 1st graders for an energy packed walk about campus. They managed to discover a few quiet spots along the fences that made good sit-spots, despite having to avoid predation from the Red-tailed hawk!

The male Bufflehead duck is a beautiful sight indeed!
(credit: allaboutbirds.org)

During our time off during Thanksgiving week in Santa Barbara, we had the chance to visit the Campus Point Lagoon at UC Santa Barbara and were able to see the groups of migrating ducks that only just recently arrived in the area from areas further north. A personal favorite of ours is the Bufflehead duck. The males have bright white patches on the back of their head and bright white bodies that allow them to stand out amongst the rest. Look in your local pond or lake for these dapper ducks!

On Tuesday, when the storm began (Woohoo! California's kinda wet again!), we showed up to a wet and wild Santa Paula High. We taught a section of Ms. Mitchell's wonderful AP Environmental Science students and also a section of Zoology.

Santa Paula High zoology students read up on the ranges of the common birds in their neck of the woods.

These are the oldest students we have taught yet, and some of the most inspiring. The attitude changes when students are in a class because they chose to be, and these students really cared about the subject. We specifically focused on a lesson about what birds need to survive. We talked about the components of a good ecosystem and what makes an ecosystem a habitat. The students then designed their own habitat for common California birds.

Time to map it out. What are the key components to good bird habitat?

These birds are singing in the rain.

Then, into the mist we drove. To Los Angeles, where the Rock Pigeons, Crows, Gulls, Mallards, and Mourning Doves make illustrious distractions for the many warblers, sparrows, finches, sandpipers, and Buffleheads that share the city's space!