Fultondale Elementary School RLC-Gifted

Yep, us 5th graders had a garden treat today. Well, actually, we had 18 garden treats…we found snake eggs!!! Ms. D removed the small pile of pine straw in the corner of the rectangle flower bed of lilies and cannas. And there they were in a small pile. 18 small oval white eggs! Cool and weird and scary all at the same time. None of us had seen snake eggs before in person.

At first, someone asked what bird laid 18 eggs. Then someone asked what turtle laid them. Ms. D told us that they were snake eggs and that she would call a reptile expert to see what to do with them.

K., K., N., and T. almost finished the compost bin. Mr. D will place the wire around the 4 sides for us and we lost 1 hinge set. So we asked Ms. D if he could also fix that part. But, all agreed it looked great and we still cannot believe that it took us 3 weeks to build it.

A barrel was used by L., L., and C. to plant purple and white petunias and yellow and orange marigolds. They placed it on the opposite side of the 6th graders Circle of Life. There are 2 Knock-out rose bushes between the 2 circles.

T. also planted a pink hyacinth plant in the perennial flower raised bed. It looked great with the peach colored lily and the purple verbena and the orange daylily. And it smelled so good.

We also planted 2 fountain butterfly plants that Ms. D gave us from her home garden. She said that the blooms are different from the butterfly bush blooms that we already have in our butterfly garden. The fountain bush bloom is a long straight stem of little purple blooms. We can’t wait to compare the 2 different blooms. What fun it will be watching the butterflies and hummingbirds at 2 different bushes!

We all also pitched in and helped with THE mulch pile. Thank goodness for our wheelbarrow. We also helped in weeding around the raised beds.

We also watched a female bluebird at the nearby bluebird house. When we monitored it for the NestWatch last week, we noticed that she had laid 5 eggs in it. We don’t want to disturb her this week. We stayed as far away as possible from the house.

C. and T. set up a trellis for the yellow climbing rose bush and a trellis for the yellow Carolina Jasmine. We wanted to have matching trellises to be on the sides of the garden bench. It was hard at first trying to get the trellises to be level and straight because of the rocks underground. But the rain from yesterday helped us with putting the trellises in the ground.

Another treat for sure was watching a Great Blue Heron fly overhead. Ms. D pointed it out to us and we all stopped to watch it. We could see that it flapped its wings slower than our resident red-tailed hawk. We also saw what its long legs looked like when it flew. We hoped that it was flying to our neighborhood park where there is a creek.

Another HOT day for the record books! Where is the rain? Well, it’s not here.

Since it was so hot, us fourth graders decided to split up our time working in the garden. We worked in the morning and in the afternoon.

It sure did feel good being in Ms. D’s cool trailer after working in the hot sun. And we all got a lot of things done even in the hot sun!

In the morning we saw several different type of birds. We saw mourning doves, red-winged blackbirds near the cattails. Someone said that they can build their nests in the cattail plants. of course, we saw our favorite bird, the Eastern bluebird.

A.’s group planted a pomegranate fruit tree from Ms. D. I had never seen one. Some classmates had never seen a pomegranate until today.

We also helped with THE mulch pile and the pathway.

But, we were all excited to see how our veggies grew from 2 weeks ago. We have cucumber plants from the seeds that we planted!!! And we have lettuce! They have the smallest plants. They are SOOO small that they look like little green dots in the ground! There are also a few green bean sprouts that are wanting to break through the ground. They look like they are hiding!

We also took turns walking to the school building getting water for all of the plants. But, the best thing was eating fresh strawberries from our garden!!! YUMM!! They were so fresh!

The saddest part of the day was at the end of the day. We found 2 dead baby bluebirds and 1 unhatched egg in one of the houses. We monitored the bluebird houses for the NestWatch program. Last week, there had been 4 baby birds in the same house. Ms. D told us the birds could have been suffocated accidentally by the other birds that flew away or fledged. They will be removed from the nest so that the area bluebirds can make another set of eggs. All bluebirds can have 2 or 3 clutches or broods per year.

Today it was ninety degrees in our garden! And it’s still springtime!

Us 6th graders worked on THE mulch pile that has been a top priority with every gardening class. We are all building a pathway around the raised beds. Some of us shovel it and others rake it level on the path. But it takes all of us working together to get THE mulch pile removed. We found an ant bed in part of it and we are having to work around it.

M. and S. designed a cool flower bed. They called it the Circle of Life. They planted orange zinnias and white and pink begonias in a large circle. Then they planted a bee balm or Monarda plant in the middle of the circle. They planted them near the butterfly garden to entice more butterflies to “dine” there.

J. and X. decided that they would plant the Confederate rose plants. Ms. D gave us these plants from her home garden. She explained to us that they are heirloom plants and not a thorny rose plant. They will bloom pretty pink blooms in the fall. J. and X. did a great job digging around the rocky soil to find a good place to plant.

Another group planted a cypress plant. The tag called it a Leyland cypress tree. They planted it in the large pathway in the middle of the raised beds section. Ms. D. told us that a few years ago some former students wanted to plant a tree in the same location, but they changed their minds and planted it behind the garden bench. That tree was the red maple and it looks better near the bench because it will be a great shade tree one day.

J. and the veggie group planted tomatoes, peppers, and sweet potatoes. None of us have planted sweet potatoes so we are excited to see how they will grow.

The MEALWORMS are here! Okay, bluebirds, we hope you eat them. J. set up the bird feeder for the dried mealworms. Tre said that they make great protein source for their diet. I don’t plan on eating one to find out if that is true.

Here is a link to a live cam of a Great Blue Herons’ nest in Ithaca, New York. Two eggs hatched on Friday, one hatched on Saturday & 2 more are trying to hatch.

The nest is HUGE! We have a pair of Great Blue Herons that visits our neighborhood park. Now, we want to go see if we can spot one in our neighborhood.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433&utm_source=Cornell+Lab+eNews&utm_campaign=ce09557467-BirdCams+News+Flash+Herons+Hatching+-+2012_04_29&utm_medium=email

Today us fourth graders did so much stuff in the garden! I think we sweated as much as we worked, but it was fun working in our groups and then helping out the other groups.

One group tackled the mulch pile and I mean we literally tackled it! We shoveled it and took it to the flower and veggie raised bed squares. We then placed it on the pathways between the squares. Then another group raked it level across the pathways. We still have more to place there next week.

One group built another Eastern bluebird house to replace a blown away one from last year’s tornado. We used an old one as a pattern. Mr. D had cut the wood for us. After we finished it, we helped the mulch pile group. While we were shoveling, Ms. D asked us all to look at the table where we had been building the house. We all stopped working and watched a male Eastern bluebird try to get in our newly built house! It was flitting at the opening as if it was checking out our construction. We all stood frozen watching it. Ms. D didn’t have her camera ready to take a photo of it. It would have made a neat photo, but I think we will all remember it. Ms. D said that it reminded her of the quote “you build it and they will come”.

One group planted different types of tomatoes, pepper and sweet basil plants. Us fourth graders have our own veggie square to take care. We also planted seeds of carrots, green beans, cucumbers,and lettuce. The lettuce seeds were so small. They looked like black pepper grains that you sprinkle on your food. After we cut off the plastic paper and the peat pot around the plants, we dug holes with trowels in our veggie square. We watered everything. We hope we will have some sprouts by next week.

Another group dug a hole for a tree, a red maple tree. We wanted a red maple tree because one was planted a few years ago by another class in our garden area. It makes a pretty good shade behind the bench. We don’t have enough shade in the garden area. It would be nice to have some shade trees to sit under when you want to rest from working in the garden.

One group built a bird feeder station for 4 birdfeeders. It came in a box and had to be assembled. The ground was very hard, so other group members helped with placing it into the ground. It will be good to have more birdfeeders so more birds will visit and we can identify them.

We also watched a female Eastern bluebird sitting on the chainlink fence. She was watching us as we worked. Today was a good day in the garden. Our clothes are proof that we worked in the garden. Some of us said that we couldn’t wait to get home and take a bath.

Us 5th graders worked in our garden last Friday. Every grade is responsible for a different part and we all decided what we are going to do with our part.

We are doing: a veggie square, flower square, compost bin, trees, birdfeeders, new bluebird house, and a trellis for a climbing rose. We used our trowels and gloves. We also used Ms. D’s wheelbarrow, rake, shovels, and other stuff in her truck. Some boys got to use Mr. D’s drill for the birdhouse with Ms. D’s help of course. Ms. D and some of the boys carried the huge 25 pound bags of soil in the wheelbarrow to the garden.

In our flower square, Ms. D and the boys brought 3 bags of the soil to us. We already had some soil on top of the cardboard and newspaper from last year. We do lasagna gardening. It is fun to make the layers. The best part is splitting the cardboard boxes to lay down in the middle of the square. After we made the soil even with a rake, we planted yellow zinnias, purple and pink petunias, and yellow and orange marigolds in our flower square garden. After we planted them, we watered the flowers and we placed newspaper and pine straw around them. This will help to keep their moisture and take care of the weeds.

In our veggie square garden, we added more soil to the soil from last year. We planted cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, chili peppers, yellow squash, and green zucchini. We watered the plants and placed newspaper and straw around them. We are going to make a calendar for the summer to decide who will water them and pick the veggies.

A group of us are building another compost bin. We found the design on the Internet and Ms. D helped us get the supplies. It has 2 doors with hinges and latches on it. It is also portable, so we can move it if we need to some day. It is taking us 3 weeks to build it. We are using meshing plates at the corners and not nails and screws. It is fun using the big hammer to pound the meshing plates into the wood. Oh, we are also wearing safety googles to protect our eyes and gloves for our hands. Next week we are going to place the wire on the wood and it will be ready to use.

Some boys planted 2 fig trees. 7 boys took turns digging the 2 holes. Our school ground is very hard and it has a lot of rocks underground. We do not know how deep or how wide the rocks are. Someone said one rock might be like the Titanic iceberg underground or the discovery of a new dinosaur fossil. So, we decided to change our placement for 1 fig tree. We covered it up with the soil we had dug so the janitors won’t hit a dip when they cut the grass. We watered the 2 fig trees and placed newspaper and pine straw around them. The fig trees are about 3 feet tall and are named Brown Turkey fig trees. Some of us have fig trees at home and we know how good they taste.

4 boys built a new bluebird house. We had 4 bluebird houses to be blown away in the tornado last year. So we are building new ones for the empty poles. Ms. D brought an old one from home to use as a design. Mr. D cut the cedar wood and drilled the hole opening for us and Ms. D showed us how to use a drill. It took us a while to line up the ends of the wood flush together and to keep the screws straight.

One group of boys used yardsticks, clipboards, bird guide books, and graph paper to mark off the location of the birdfeeder. We measured the distance from the squares and other things to decide where we want to place the birdfeeder. We used our graph paper to have a design of the garden.

Another group of boys were going to build the trellis but we decided to help the tree group to dig the holes. We can build the trellis next time.

Today we observed a barn swallow perform acrobatic moves through the sky and hopefully eat a new batch of mosquitoes. We all stood still as we watched the amazing swoops and dives that it made. It seemed like a circus in the air!

Two killdeer flew above our heads as we noticed their black & white striped necks with our binoculars. We also marveled at the sharp white coloring of their underwings in flight. It was the whitest white. We heard their famous call of “killdee, killdee” as they moved away from us.

Three American crows quietly followed each other and did not squawk “Caaw” as they headed to the baseball fields. They landed in the midst of the tree branches hiding like undercover officers.

We admired the red wing markings of a red-winged blackbird as it flew from the ground to the top of the fence. The red markings reminded us of red epaulets on a soldier’s shoulders, such vivid red against the dark charcoal feathers.

A male Eastern bluebird proudly displayed his bright blue wings as he flitted from different perches on top of our chainlink fence. Someone remarked that it was wearing the sky on its back. We all agreed. Then, two female Eastern bluebirds landed on top of the fence and began to “talk” to each other. It looked as if they were chatting with each other similar to when we travel to visit distant relatives. We wondered what their conversation was. We hoped that they were “talking” abut creating nests in our bluebird houses!

Yep, it was a great day in our neighborhood! How about yours?

We have Eastern bluebirds visiting our bluebird trail. They are building nests in 4 of our bluebird houses. We are also constructing 4 bluebird houses to replace the ones that were blown away from last April’s tornado. Ms. D won an Audubon grant to purchase the materials to build the replacements. We hope more bluebirds return to use the new houses.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is over this year. Our little community submitted 174 checklists and saw 39 different bird species. The American crow was the most seen bird on the checklists and the European starling had the highest number seen at one time. What was the most seen bird on your GBBC checklist?

SO far, the red-winged blackbirds are the most seen bird in our community for the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). But, we have until Monday, March 5 to submit all of our checklists. It might change between now and then. What bird is the most seen one in your community for the GBBC? Let us know.