We took the boys to the bird sanctuary Sunday afternoon for some free displays and activities in honour of Earth Day later this week. We attended a presentation on composting (in which Daegan was the only child and the most vocal and engaged participant!), met a Great Horned Owl, listened to a storytime about animals and the earth, chatted with folks from the Calgary Gardening club, etc. This last was quite amusing, as while we were talking Daegan asked if he could have a nibble on some of the fresh herbs in the display pot. “Can’t get him to eat lettuce,” Jim said to the lady ‘person’-ing <g> the display, “But he’ll demolish your entire herb display if you let him.” A moment later I noticed some young romaine lettuce leaves growing in a different pot. “Daegan, have you tried those yet?” I asked. “No. What are they?” he replied. “Try it first and I’ll see if I can find out,” I said, at which point both Jim and the display woman clued into the dynamic. He nibbled. “What do you think?” “Hmmm….delicious! (another nibble) What is it?” All three adults in unison: “It’s LETTUCE!” LOL! To his credit, he ate much of the rest of the piece (sharing with Gareth), stating that fresh-picked lettuce was actually quite good, and “could we grow some in the garden this year, please?”

After finishing up in the displays area, we headed to the bird sanctuary proper for a nature walk. We saw mallards, Canada geese, goldeneyes, wood ducks, scaups, chickadees, gulls, robins, a small bird of prey (we think it was a merlin), starlings, flickers, a blue heron in flight overhead (way cool!), a muskrat, and several ground squirrels. Here’s the highlights (hover over image for details):

This next picture needs a bit of explaining. These are common goldeneye ducks, the male (white and black) following the female. The male was putting on his courtship display, which involves a crazy amount of head / neck bopping (up, down, out, back) and then this move, where he arches his head back and makes a loud raspy beeping sound. It is soooo funny to watch—nothing subtle about this duck’s desires!

Are you doing anything special for Earth Day this week?