Great Backyard Bird Count, Day 1 and Other Fun

Today was the first day of GBBC. Mikro and I were thrilled to have a beautiful spring-like day for it. Kev says it was 65 degrees in NYC! We took our sketchbooks and my camera out to the Blue Beast (my car) and used it as a bird blind.

Today's Count:
Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 1357-1455
60 degrees F, sunny, clear skies, residual snow cover 3"-12".

1 seagull (We have to check the bird book to figure out which species);
2 House Sparrows;
3 Mourning Doves;
2 Downy Woodpeckers;
4 American Crows;
and I heard a white breasted nuthatch.



Mikro tried drawing some birds, and I gave him a quick drawing lesson...



And then I let cabin-fevered boy loose to play in the sunshine. He goofed around with a garden spade in the snow, pulled some weeds and turned them into imaginary creatures with complex adaptations to their environments, and just generally ran around and had fun. We have been indoors too much lately, courtesy of the nasty winter weather. It was great to have a break from it, though I hear there is snow in the extended forecast...



But there were also signs of spring...



Back indoors, there has been lots of playdoughing going on. Mikro made me a really cute little gnome, but Mr. Gnome had an unfortunate accident with a hot cup of tea and ended up rather the worse for being dunked. As did I, since I discovered his plight by drinking the tea, which tasted horrible and chemical-ish...



And we've both been doing a fair amount of drawing. I really liked Mikro's crocodile! And he is almost done with the pile of overdue library books. Hurray!