Search for the Shrieking Birds

Everywhere you look, there are adventures just waiting for you to notice them.  What can you unearth today?  What would make an intriguing writing piece?

This week, my niece was captivated by the very vocal birds she heard on her bike rides on the Rail Trail.  She and her best friend helped me to create a post that might inspire you to find your own investigation to write about.  Students, we would love if you would share yours with all of us on your blog.  Write on!

 

*****     *****     *****    The Dramatic Version     *****     *****     *****

 

Cutting through the shrubbery of the leafy Rail Trail, it came again.  Shriek!  Shriek!  Not a human, although it sounded like the cry of one.  What was it?  We set out on . . . the search for the shrieking birds.

We spotted some black, massive birds circling overhead.  Their wingspans were gigantic, and they reminded us of the size of blue herons.  We followed their calls up into the mysterious woods–deep, commanding calls, gentler high ones, along with soft peeping.  What would we find?

Some of the black giants were resting in tall, dead trees.  Others were munching on compost at a pile a nearby school discards in the woods.  Five or six birds flew off one at a time when we approached.

We examined the evidence.  We looked over how they ate and what they left behind.  We gathered feathers that we found along the ground.  We used our forest ranger knowledge to try to figure out clues from their scat.

 

 

There were no songbird songs while we were in the Shrieking Birds Woods.  We wondered why . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

***** ***** *****      The Scientific Version     ***** ***** *****

 

What could these gigantic black birds be?  We set off on an expedition to find out the truth about the shrieking birds.

In our journal we listed everything we found in our examinations of their habitat.

We used different bird search features on the internet as well as our bird guide to try to find out what they are.  So far we haven’t found an exact match because even though many of their characteristics are like crows, they are larger than the other crows we have been around.  They don’t have heads like a vulture though.

On our next trip to the Woods of the Shrieking Birds, we are going to hide so that we can get a picture.  Then we plan to send it to VINS to see what they think.

So far it all remains a mystery . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

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