Winter Woods

Spending time exploring the woods helps give children an appreciation of the natural world. When you go into the woods with "our" naturalist, Faye, you not only leave with new appreciation of nature but also a wealth of knowledge.

On this trip Faye brought along several animals from her collection. She explained that her animals were killed in accidents and then preserved for educational purposes. On this trip, she showed us a great horned owl, a deer pelt, and three weasels. She showed us how these animals camouflage themselves from predators.

Faye told us about the some of the birds that stay in Michigan all year. She had us listen to a tape with two songs of a chickadee. One song can be heard all year round; the other one is only sung by the male chickadees is claiming his territory.

In one of the photos, you will see the remnants of crabapples in the snow. Faye explained that these will be found in the snow toward end of winter. The crabapples are one of the birds least favorite foods but the birds will eat them when the other food sources are used up.

These are just a few of the tidbits we learned this trip. Exploring the winter woods was a phenomenal experience.