The theme of the day on Thursday was Birds of Prey for the Young Naturalists. Campers discussed birds and their adaptations and went for a morning bird walk, and the craft of the day was making bird nests! In the afternoon had a visit from Katie the camp director, whose favorite animal is birds. Katie showed campers some of the bird mounts we have here at the Hitchcock Center and pointed out the sharp beaks, strong talons and forward-facing eyes that all birds of prey, or raptors have in common. There was a lot of interest in the process of taxidermy! Then everyone stood up and flapped their "wings" like the different kinds of daytime raptors: buteos, accipters, and falcons. This may sound very sophisticated for young ones, but afterward, the counselors sent silhouettes of these birds "flying" over the campers' heads and many identified them correctly!
For the Explorers, the theme of the day was NOT birds, but birds managed to squeeze their way in anyway! It was a perfect teaching opportunity when on the walk to the natural history museum at Amherst College, campers came upon a red-tailed hawk perched on the train tracks! It did not fly away as campers got a closer look. It soon became apparent that it was a young red-tail still dependent on its mother, who visited to give it food. Awesome!
In these photos, campers enjoy the Beneski Natural History Museum at Amherst College., posing in front of rocks and minerals, and comparing human feet to dinosaur feet!
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