Spring Time Visitors

Lately we have been noticing some new spring visitors around. The first one we have been seeing we named Tom. He is a swan. He seems to live on the reservoir near our house. Unfortunately we only see him when we are in the car and cannot get close enough to the water safely to get a picture of him. (There is no sidewalk on the water side of the street and it is a busy street.) I am pretty sure Tom is a mute swan. Here is a picture I found on line of a mute swan.

Source: http://www.wildanimalsonline.com/birds/muteswan.php

Our other visitors showed up this morning. I believe they are the same Mr. and Mrs. Mallard that we fed last spring. They live at the pond at one end of the brook that goes around our back yard. The pond is at the other end of our street. At least that is where I have seen them recently. My guess is they have a nest somewhere along the brook since last spring Mr. Mallard came by himself later in the spring.

Needless to say Hazel loves having the ducks come visit our house and we run out and feed them. Afterall her best friend is a duck.

When we started noticing Tom, Hazel began asking questions about what swans eat. I had to do a little research. I googled it but also we went to the library to find some books about swans. The first is a non-fiction book, Swans by Lynn M. Stone. It is a little above Hazel's age level, but she definitely got some good information from it, and I learned a lot more about swans. It is a chapter book with five chapters and lots of pictures.

The next one we got is Little Swan by Jonathan London. This is a picture book that follows a young cygnet from hatching to migrating the first time with details about eating, swimming, etc. This is more age appropriate for Hazel. It is about trumpeter swans, but is general enough for information about most swans in North America.

With our visitors this morning we also pulled out our favorite duck themed books. The first being a classic from this area, Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. This book takes place in Boston and tell the story of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard looking for the best place for their nest and then having the eggs hatch and the ducklings, etc. and making their home in the Public Garden in downtown Boston. To show how much this book means to Boston, there are statues of the Make Way for Duckling Ducks in the Public Garden.

Source: http://www.freefoto.com/preview/1211-06-10/Make-Way-for-Ducklings-Sculpture--Boston-Public-Garden--Boston--Massachusetts

And of course we pulled out the classic, Ugly Duckling, which of course combines both types of visitors for us.

Well Hazel has a bit of a fever today. When I spoke to the nurse at her pediatrician's office she said there are many viruses going around with just a fever and no other symptoms, so it looks as though Hazel caught one. So we are having a day of rest even though it is beautiful outside. Ugh!!

Our First Version of Tom the Swan

Well this morning we did some crafts. We started with some paper plate crafts. All you need for any of these is a paper plate, paint, feathers, glue and construction paper and googly eyes. We made a swan and a mallard couple.

Hazel decorated both sides of Mrs. Mallard.

That is what we have been up to. More duck and swan crafts to come. Hope you are having a great day!

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