Outdoor Nature Challenge

Outdoor Hour Challenge - Autumn Series: Goldenrod or Other Autumn Flowers


We live in an area that isn't a meadow-y, and I knew we hadn't seen any Goldenrod in the past couple weeks, so I instructed my kids to be on the lookout for flowers of any kind.

There were plenty of Common Sunflowers

Lots of Bird's-foot Trefoil

Thickstem Aster

And this shrub/flower which I haven't yet been able to identify. I've been trying for a couple weeks now.

Here is a close up of the blooms:

Here is a close up of the stem and leaves:

I will probably give the kids the opportunity to journal about today's nature walk, but I don't think the flowers will beat out the other highlights of our walk. We were able to watch this mule deer grazing along the trail, and then a short time later we saw 6-8 more as they all crossed the street together. It's was weird to be in this stand of trees watching deer with the sounds of cars passing and construction in the distance.

Another highlight: as we walked by the fishing pond a nice man let the kids reel in a couple fish.

A couple more wonderful nature experiences from earlier this week:

Nyah found this beautiful spider - if you click on the picture you can see it is carrying its young on its back.

From the cattail challenge we had gathered some cattails to bring home, and they exploded yesterday as we sat around the kitchen table. I'm still finding seeds all over the place.