A Nature Walk - Field and Forest

Last Friday, my husband had the day off from work.  Although the children completed a few lessons in the morning, while my husband finished a few errands, we did spend the afternoon at a state park. 

Our nature walk took us from field to forest

and back to the field again. 

Since it is technically mid-winter {tough the temps have been very mild}, there was not a whole lot of foliage to examine.

 
We did find a few different kinds of moss, some fungi, and crustaceans.
Then, there was this weird red stem.

Along the path, we found a few fallen trees.  One was completely hollow, and the children could {and did} crawl into the tree. 

We also found evidence of erosion from the stream when we looked at bared roots.

Perhaps the neatest observation was the determined woodpecker we found pecking away at a tree.  It was with some difficulty that all the children saw the woodpecker,

as this bird was quite far off the ground, and a bit hard to observe closely.  Can you see him along the branch?