Duck butts, money math, and more

This morning the kids and I went on a guided nature hike at a local pond, reclaimed from a gravel pit 40 years ago, that has become a major bird habitat. I was briefly upset when P, half an hour in, decided she wanted to go home. The pace of the hike, with frequent stops for explanations, wasn't working for her, and she couldn't hear the naturalist very well. I had caught a fair amount, though.

As we began to walk back to the car, it occurred to me to ask whether P would like to go on a walk on our own. She said yes, so we did. Not much happened for a while, but on the way back to the car, we stopped at a spot on the boardwalk across the marshy margin of the pond. It was a great place to watch and listen to the many ducks, geese, coots, red-winged blackbirds, and other birds at the pond. P visibly and audibly relaxed and settled into the peaceful atmosphere, and we stayed about an hour. (T was easygoing throughout all this.) P regained interest in what the naturalist had been talking about, so I passed along what I remembered of what I'd heard. Here's some of what we learned:

• We learned how to tell the difference between squirrel nests and bird nests. Squirrels are very messy nest builders and use a lot more leaves than birds.
• We learned that ducks can be divided into diving ducks and dabbling ducks. Diving ducks go all the way underwater in search of their food, and their legs are positioned far back on their bodies, so they dive easily but walk very awkwardly. Dabbling, or surface, ducks, have their legs farther forward for better walking but aren't good divers; they just dunk their heads underwater, leaving their "tutus," as the naturalist called them, on display. With P and T, it was more fun to call them "duck butts."
• We saw an oriole nest hanging from a tree branch. It was neatly built, but incorporated some fishing line, which can be hazardous to birds.
• We got a close-up look at lots of cattails.
• We heard the noises that dry marsh grasses make when the wind blows them.
• We learned the call of a red-winged blackbird, which sounds like an old-fashioned screen door (the kind with a spring joining it to the door frame) opening.
• T learned how to handle binoculars without getting his fingers on the optics. P learned to use the single-eye diopter adjustment. P now wants her own set of binoculars. I was relieved to learn the compact kind we were using today don't cost much. P will be able to afford some with her allowance next week!

I think a field guide to the birds found around here might be in order soon. We picked up a bird checklist for that particular pond area from the naturalist.

On the way home, I suggested we figure out what P's allowance should be, based on 75 cents per year of age. With a little support, she did the math (three quarters times six years equals eighteen quarters; then she subtracted 4 repeatedly to figure out how many dollars that was). I realized four ones and two quarters are often hard to find around here, so we talked about buying rolls of coins from the bank and did some mental arithmetic to figure out how many quarters are in a $10 roll, or how many dimes in a $5 roll. Next up: interpreting three-digit numbers. P is fine with two digits already, but a little fuzzy on the hundreds.

P came home and decided to practice handwriting in her handwriting book, which she brought home from school this week along with her other school supplies. Now she and T are both painting with watercolors.