Birds, Birds, Birds!

Birds, Birds, Birds camp was held at the Darke County Parks this summer and the topic was, you guessed it, birds! The week startedoff withBrukner Nature Center bringing in a few of their rehabilitated birds, including a crow, and turning our intern, Travis, into a Turkey Vulture to further illustrate what makes a bird a bird. The camp covered many bird-related topics such as food, feathers, nests, migration and eggs. Each camper received a pair of binoculars and a Birds of Ohio Field Guide, both of which were put to good use with bird hikes every day. The campers traveled to bird watching sites at the Greenville City Park, Turkeyfoot Preserve and Shawnee Prairie Preserve. When they weren’t bird watching, the campers were busy building bluebird boxes, bird feeders and a nest large enough to fit all of the campers. The campers snacked on various bird-themed snacks, including home-made bird seed, yummy “earth worms”, and miniature bird nests complete with eggs throughout the week. If your 8-9 year old missed out this year, be sure to sign up to receive Darke County Parks’ Nature Notes emails or printed newsletter so you can get them signed up for summer camps in 2011.