Week 5 Nature Scavenger Hunt for Families Tasks and my week 4 pictures

How wonderful was your colour hunt this week? I love stopping to take pictures of wild flowers so the colour hunt is always fun for me. But the number of bonus entries added I'd say you all had some fun with this past weeks colour tasks too.

What will be doing this week? Well you are going on a bug hunt. You'll be looking for creepy crawlies of all kinds. Sometimes we overlook all the little critters and they are an important part of our world...even if you don't really care for them. have you ever rolled over a rotting log to see what lives in the decay? Please be careful of their natural habitats and be sure to roll the log back carefully so you don't disturb the residents too much.

Remember to upload all your photos by Aug 3rd with the hashtag #2014naturehunt and the date your picture is for as well as a description of your picture to help me award points more easily.

July 28th: Beetle 5 points (10 bonus points if you can identify it)
July 29th: Snail 10 points (10 bonus points if your find a snail for each family member and have snail races. Take a picture of the winner crossing your line)
July 30th: Ants 5 points (10 bonus points: how many body parts do insects have and what are they?)
July 31st: Worm 10 points (5 bonus points if you find a worm over 5"long...use a measuring tape in the picture)
Aug 1st: Pill bug aka rollie pollie 5 points (1 bonus points for each additional pill bug in the same picture up to 25)
Aug 2nd: Spider 5 points (10 bonus points if he is pictured in his web)
Aug 3rd: Centipede or millipede 10 points (5 bonus points if you tell me what the difference is between the two)

WEEKLY BONUS5: Invite bugs to your back yard (your birds will thank you). Make a "bug hotel" and take a picture of your finished hotel 25 points

Don't forget about the overall bonus's which may be uploaded at any time during the 9 week period:
EXTRA bonus 1: A family portrait with a waterfall 25 points
EXTRA bonus 2: Discover a cave 50 points
EXTRA bonus 3: Make art with natures bounty 25 points
EXTRA bonus 4: Go camping... show us your favourite experience while camping 25 points
EXTRA bonus 5: Explore a hiking trail and share with us some of the wonderful natural things you saw while hiking 50 points
EXTRA bonus 6: Use natural items (rocks, sticks etc) to spell the word for how being in nature makes you feel 25 points
EXTRA bonus 7: A family portrait at either a National Park or a Provincial or State park. Let me know at least one thing you learned while at this park  100 points.

Here are my week 4 pictures:

Multiple photos were allowed this week for extra points. I must admit I am surprised by the quantities of certain colours I found. I expected to find a lot of pinks but didn't find many. I didn't expect to see many orange things but yet I found a lot.

July 20th: Red

Red dragonfly

Possibly honey suckle berries and a raspberry

 Choke cherries ( I think) and some red maple leaves

 Red berries

July 21st: Orange

Pine tree bark and fallen pine needles

 Orange Maple leaves on a tree with green ones and yellow ones. It's not fall yet is it?

 An orange lady bug with hardly any spots showing and two beetles

 Butterfly Milkweed...I love this plant

Possibly another variety of honeysuckle and Spotted Touch Me Nots

July 22nd: Yellow

A sweet little bee on a Yellow Hawkweed I think

 Common Goats Beard and St Johns Wart

 Great Mullein

 and yellow centers in an Oxe Eye Daisy

 Buttercup and a mystery???

 Black Eyed Susan

 Butter & Eggs and Perennial Sow-Thistle maybe

 Lovely yellow snails

 Birds-Foot Trefoil and a mystery. It's got to be in the succulent family

Golden Rod 

July 23rd: Green

Green Damselfly

4 leaf clovers...only found 3 this week

 The tall grasses around the pond

 Leaves of milk weed and horse tails

 Lush green of the forest

Cat tail leaves and English Plaintain 

Northern Leopard Frog

 A turtle in a pond of green duckweed and a fern

 Grasses and bushes around the pond

July 24th: Blue

Blue Damsel fly

Blue water from our plane view and the bright blue sky

July 25th: Violet or Purple

Alfalfa 

 I'm not sure about the first one but the second is Chickory

Purple Crown-Vetch

 Bird Vetch (Cow Vetch) and Swamp Vervain

Creeping Bellflower

 

Deep purple leaves on a bush and Self Heal

Spotted Knapweed

 

Another one to research and Nightshade... (gets very red berried that are poisinus).

Wild Bergamont

 A thislte and Fireweed,

July 26th: Indigo or Pink

Red Clover

Common Milkweed

 Some very light colour Purple Crown Vetch and Sotted Joe-Pye Weed

July 27th: White and Black on same object 

Ian found this guy on the boat for us

A rock and tent caterpiller nests

A dragonfly with black and white wings but he was very elusive. the other pic is from a moth

 Happy happy heart rock

Week 4 BONUS: Go outside and paint a picture of a rainbow. Your entrance photo should show: you with your painting outside. Finger paint, brush paint, try making natural paint brushes, use hand prints...the choice is yours 50 points.

We made natural paintbrushes by using sticks, leaves and grasses we found in the yard. We also used liquid water colour paints on real water colour paper. The effect is always so pretty and the colours are so vibrant. The kids all had a fun time painting outdoors with their natural paint brushes.

Now it's time to head out on a bug hunt! Hope you all have a great week catching critters to examine carefully or at least photograph.