Kelleys Island Field Station Nature Camp

Not that anyone needs another reason to love summer, but if they did, we have two words for you: Nature Camp!

Black Swamp Bird Observatory staff traveled to Kelleys Island Field Station to participate in their 2024 Nature Camp. Each day, educators joined these young naturalists focusing on a different nature topic to help the campers develop authentic connections and deepen their understanding of the local ecology through investigation and observation.

​Our first day of camp was June 24 and we had two groups of students varying in ages 4-8. The youngest campers learned about bird identification by having their own Audubon plush stuffed bird, learning about the different adaptations birds have with their beaks and feet! We finished the session by creating a bird craft that campers got to take home.

Older campers rotated through three different stations. Campers went with Miss Jackie Taylor, Field Station Director, to look for pollinators in the beautiful pollinator garden at the field station. They also visited Jasmine and Jamie from BSBO where campers learned about bird identification and adaptations of beaks and feet. They also played a fun and educational game where campers pretend to be birds, competing to see who could gather the most worms (spaghetti) and seeds (real seeds!). They learned about different adaptations, but mostly, we learned that being a bird is hard work! The third station was a take home bird craft.

​The second day of camp was July 3 and the BSBO staff team of Jamie and Annalise headed to the field station for Environmental Adventure Camp for campers varying in ages 9-12.

The first group, ages 9-10, were incredibly excited to get out and do some birding! We went over birding basics like being quiet, how to use binoculars, and using field guides. The group was quick to spot over a dozen species on our short walk and the kids loved practicing how to look up the birds they found in their field guides. We ended our session with information about owls and had fun dissecting owl pellets. The kids dug in, literally, and found all sorts of cool bones!

The second group, ages 11-12, enjoyed the opportunity to visit Kelleys Island State Park, just across the street, where we found quite a few species. The favorites were Baltimore Oriole and Northern Flicker. The campers were really into the owl pellets and enjoyed learning about all of the owl species that can be found throughout Ohio. The campers ended their session with a fun migration relay game that helps them understand how important stopover habitat is to birds. 

Black Swamp Bird Observatory would like to thank the Kelleys Island Field Station School, the Kelleys Island Audubon Club, and the Ohio State Parks & Watercraft for the opportunity to be part of these nature camp/ We relish the opportunity to teach and inspire young people to care more about birds.